《Earthling in Uncharted Dimensions》


 Chapter 1: Who? What? Where?

    Chapter 1: Who? What? Where?

    *ugh.*

    ''Am I dead? Why can''t I move? I can''t even open my eyes. At least my body is intact''

    With no sensory reception, Lee Shen tried to move, but an awful lot of pain weed him. He wanted to grit his teeth and clench his fist. But he couldn''t. He felt powerless. He can feel his body upside down but it felt that it wasn''t really there, as if attached and severed at the same time.

    For the time being, he thought of staying still. He can feel ground under his body with bare soil pressing against him. The faint smell of iron around him felt familiar. The pressure weighing down on him was unusually cold. He hoped to not die from hypothermia. Unknown to him, the battlemarks and scars were slowly healing. Lee Shen tried to stay alert and awake, but loss of blood and unspeakable adversities pushed his consciousness deep down to slumber.

    An uncertain amount of time passed. Lee Shen opened his eyes slowly. He can now feel his bodypletely, which was previously numb. He can tell that the pressure above him is now negligible. He can hear his heartbeat and his own breathing. He is nowpletely restored to life.

    ''Where am I? Thank goodness, I''m not dead. What is this over me? Nevermind. I need to see where on earth I am!''

    While lying upside down, Lee Shen slowly moved his both hands and pressed it to the ground. Cold ground under him prickled his hands, but he didn''t give up. He raised his body with the support of his knees and hands. His open eyes saw that snow was caving in as he rose up. The next second, he froze. Under the faint light that crept through theyer of snow, he saw that the soil was deep blue in colour. The snow surrounding him had a very faint red colour too.

    ''Maybe I am dead and in a colder region of hell. This is going to be one ''hell'' of a trip!''

    Lee Shen didn''t dwell on the weirdness of what he saw, so he tried to move out of that ce. Without much effort, he broke through theyer of snow and sun rays fell on him. After climbing out of that spot, he realised that he waspletely naked. His training trousers he used to wear is nowhere to be seen. Lee Shen stood there for a few moments while feeling the familiar warmth of the sun. The empty blue sky was pleasing to the eyes. Looking around, he couldn''t see anything at all. It was as if he''s in the middle of a snowy in. Not even trees were in his sight. He became alert by this sight and felt something very fishy.

    "There are no vast snowy ins in Kathmandu, let alone in Nepal. Where am I actually?!"

    He decided to move slowly and steadily in a direction since he does not know where he is. While he was moving, his well-trained keen eyes scouted the surroundings. But what amazed him was zero hunger or thirst all this time. He touched his stomach to make sure it was there.

    After a long time walking, he spotted a tree that looked simr to Pine. For Lee Shen, who is 1.77 meters tall and well-built, it was an average tree. After making sure that no lifeforms are in the vicinity, He ran towards the tree and quickly climbed on it. Lee Shen, who shared amon surname with Bruce Lee, idolised him from his early age. It is the devotion to his idol that made him good at physical activities. And thanks to that, he climbed the tree pretty easily.

    ''This tree smells weird. It has an unusually smooth bark and sturdy branches!''

    After reaching a height from where he can observe the surroundings, he noticed that the branch on which he is now standing is a little bit thinner than the others. But since he liked the spot, he decided to stay there and recollect his thoughts. Sitting cross-legged, he started to recollect his memories. As soon as he began to ponder, he cked out!

    -----------------------------

    When Lee Shen opened his eyes, he realised that a lot of time had passed. He stood up, checked his surroundings, and there was nothing new in his sight. Under the bright moonlight, he could spot a few quadrupedal animals moving around, very far from him. He raised his head and was shocked. A giant white doughnut ''moon'' shone in the pitch ck sky. Meteors asionally flew in the sky and some even corrected its trajectory. He struggled to calm his baffled mind and went to sit down.

    He breathed out a mouthful of air and closed his eyes again. Secondster, as if he felt something very strange, he opened his eyes and grabbed his right hand''s forearm. In the inside of his forearm, he saw the number ''284'' tattooed big and wide. He felt a familiarity from the tattoo, but couldn''t figure out why. Lee Shen sighed and let go of the matter and decided to take a nap with the support of other nearby branches. As he fell asleep, he murmured -

    "It a dream, Lee. You will close your eyes and wake up in your room. But, its too realistic to be a dream."

 Chapter 2: Beasts Trap

    Chapter 2: Beast''s Trap

    Sunshine painted the snow with yellowish golden colour. Lee Shen woke up early as he always did. He was naked, but he didn''t feel any coldness at night. He slept careless, like a baby. Perhaps it was the best sleep he ever had after joining the monastery. He sat on the branch and slowly stepped down from the tree. From the lowest branch, he jumped to the ground. His ''little brother'' downstairs swung between his legs like an elephant trunk. After making sure that he still does not have any hunger or thirst, he decided to do his usual physical exercises. But certain concerns about his nudity distracted him.

    ''If it''s not a dream, then its real. *looks down* I must do something about clothes. Hmmm...I think I saw some quadrupedal beings yesterday night. But, it will be a suicide to go hunting now. I need to build up my strength. Hope there aren''t any wolves in the vicinity.''

    Taking the cover of snow which was about his knee, Lee Shen slowly moved towards where he saw the packst night. As he neared the site, he saw blood traces smeared on snow. Later he found some pieces of bones which seem to be the only leftovers of yesterday''s hunting pack. This scene gave him chills.

    ''This means there are preys and predators hiding in in sight. Better retreat!''

    Without wasting a second, Lee Shen went back to the tree and climbed to his spot. After a moment''s hesitation, he decided to reach the highest branch of the tree. Even before climbing to the top, he nced at the sky, only to have his heart skip a beat.

    ''Two..two suns?! The heck! Which damned world has two suns?''

    His mind was freaking out! Two stars, one orange-reddish and another, a yellowish-orange, radiated it''s warmth on him. He was alright looking at them. His eyes didn''t ache. After almost losing bnce, He tightened his grip and prepared his mind for more surprises toe.

    *sigh*

    He sighed as he poked his head through the leaves for a clear sight. There weren''t any new features he could be amazed on. He and the tree were surrounded by an endless snowy in. After observing every nook and corner around him, he noticed some life-saving facts. One, he is definitely not on Earth. He considered twin stars and the doughnut moon as evidence. Two, What he saw yesterday was not adult wild animals, but children of six-legged beasts roaming around. He saw two six legged creatures as big as a bison, with two pairs of forelimbs and a pair of strong and stout hindlimbs. Third and final, everything, literally EVERYTHING around him had the ability to kill. That''s because he saw a fluffy rabbit-like creature kill and eat a child bison-like creature in a bloody fight.

    With trembling hands, he stepped down to his usual spot. He was d that he did not go to hunt. He thanked fate for his retreat earlier. Lee Shen believed that his hungerlessness was a blessing from the heavens.

    For the time being, he decided to take a nap, but was soon woken up by some irritating scratching sounds followed by a loud ''thump''. He jumped up as soon as he felt a strong vibration passing through the tree. He unconsciously looked down. And what he saw drenched him in cold sweat. That damned six-legged parent beast and it''s two children were at the bottom of the tree. The parent was charging at the trunk of the tree while it''s children were wing the bark. The tree was strong, but Lee Shen clearly heard a cracking from the trunk.

    ''Holy stupid fuck...am I about to be its food?! The tree won''t hold too long. The moment it falls, I must make a run for it. I know i can''t beat it, still...I hope to!''

    Lee Shen cursed his stupidity due to which he''s about to die. How could wild animals not have keen sense of smell?! But he wasn''t willing to give up. He knows that the beast is far more powerful than him in strength and speed, but still couldn''t just give up like that. So he mustered his courage to put up onest and final act before he died. If it worked, he would live. If not...he didn''t want to think of that part!

    Every second passing felt like a year for him. The trunk finally admitted defeat and the lone tree fell on the snow. Lee Shen jumped right before the tree kissed the ground, hoping that snow might act as a shock-absorber. His ignorance to science nearly made him a cripple, but how can one think of smart ideas when death was knocking at the door?

    Gritting his teeth in pain, Lee Shen ran with everything he got to reach as far as he could. Then, the child beasts started blocking his way one after the other. They stood in a way to let him run in a specific direction. Unknownst to him, the beasts were intelligent. He saw a gap among their formation and ran through there to escape.

    He unconsciously nced over his shoulder to see the parent chasing him, but they didn''t. It stood near the tree trunk looking at him fleeing. He couldn''t find a reason for their suspicious behaviour. The next moment, his eyes went wide as soon as he realised that he was actually running straight to where the pack had their partyst night. He gulped his saliva as he realised the trap set for him.

    The next moment, a child beast which was hiding in snow pounced on him from his right. He could only make a slight change in his posture as the sneak attack was too good to avoid. The beast''s right w made a huge sh on his stomach beforending. Lee Shen felt immense pain which momentarily disrupted his running rhythm. He fell down with the forward momentum and a bleeding stomach. His pain made him numb to run, at the least, to stand up. He mustered his strength and tried to crawl away, but the child beast was already blocking him. He lost all hopes of life.

    As the parent beast came running towards him, He wished to live again. As a vicious overgrown set of white teeth closed on him, he closed his eyes and prepared himself to embrace death!

 Chapter 3: Fantasys Pinnacle

    Chapter 3: Fantasy''s Pinnacle

    Lee Shen weed death with open mind. He made himself ready to be it''s food. His face had a serene expression, as a monk who lived his life long enough. But, it''s just that....the beast didn''t bite him. He was expecting a sharp pain, but in vain. When he slowly opened his eyes, they nearly fell out of it''s sockets from what he saw.

    Everything, literally everything was in ck and white. The sun, the snow and the deadly jaw were all in ck and white. The beast and it''s children were all frozen as if somebody pressed the pause button in a video game. But what''s surprising was, only he had colour and was able to move. Lee Shen hurriedly moved out of the jaw''s trajectory, which was opened wide only inches away from him.

    Before he could be thunderstruck anymore, a voice resonated in his ears.

    "Aren''t you a little too early asking for death?!"

    Lee Shen stood up gritting his teeth in pain. He saw no one around him.

    "Where are you looking at?! Look at the tattoo, you stupid!"

    Lee Shen quickly looked at the tattoo in confusion. The tattoo slowly turned into smoke and floated in front of him. It formed into a translucent ghost-like shape which only had an upper torso. The ghost looked at him with absolute disappointment.

    "You had one job, to survive. And you extraordinarily suck at that!"

    Lee did not have any memory of this ghost-like figure or anything from his past life. He tried to figure out what the heck this thing is. The ghost burst intoughter.

    "You don''t need to think too much. You cannot remember anything about me or your past life for the time being. I locked them. It''s for your own good, if you ask. Ohh...I forgot to introduce myself. Just a mo!"

    The ghost-like figure went a few meters backward and slowly began to materialisepletely. Soon, a human figurepletely covered in ck bandages stood before him. He was like ck bandage version of Egyptian mummies. He was more than 1.75 meters tall and had a ''disappointed'' mask on his face. His right hand held a twin ded ive which looked normal. His left hand held an orb which had a rhombicosidodecahedron slowly spinning in it.

    "I am Dnekewy Mbsilo, one and only sovereign of this dimension named Zaxaluke which is the 284th dimension in the world. Your Earth belonged to the 3rd dimension."

    "Dimension?! 284th?! Like spatial extensions?" (Lee)

    "Do not mistake dimensions as mere spatial extensions. They are an exact copy of the Origin dimension, but operate on its own set ofws. The topography, living organisms, atmosphere and evens vary ordingly."

    Dnekewy introduced himself as the soul of a deceased person. He had an air of simpleness around him.

    "But, why are you in my body?!" (Lee)

    "About that, We had an encounter in a weird space. Those memories are too much to handle. So, I sealed your memories regarding those incidents. Do not worry. When your mental strength is deemed fit, the lock shall be released."

    "Are you a human?!" (Lee)

    "No, I am not human but an indigenious species, very much simr to humans, of this, Utopia."

    "Wait.did you say indigenious species like human?! So there are living intelligent beings here?!?!" (Lee)

    "Considering the beast thatid trap for you intelligent, yes, there are!"

    "NOT THEM, YOU FOOL!!! CREATURES LIKE HUMAN!" (Lee)

    Lee shouted at Dnekewy for mentioning the beast, and the ghost silently chuckled while looking at him.

    "What are you looking at?! Go on, speak something!" (Lee)

    "Nothing. Now back to the point. There are multiple races here in Utopia. The is thrice the size of Earth. Thend is nearly 75% of total volume. It is scattered into 10 major continents, 8 named after 8 directions they are in and ''Intellus'' and ''Chaos'' opposing each other around the. There are hundreds of inds around them. The ocean is inhabited by aquatic beasts and underwater folks. We are now in the outer region of northern continent. Those fictional race of skyfolks you have read about inics exist here"

    "How do you know what I have read and have not?!" (Lee)

    "Boy, The tattoo is only a symbolic representation of my existence in your body. I actually live in your brain and can read any information that belongs to you. That''s how I locked your memories!"

    Lee Shen suddenly felt a creepy sensation all over his body. How would you feel if someone could just read your memory and yourself just like that?

    Dnekewy heard his thoughts, but took a moment to reply.

    "Be at ease. I''m not some creep who looks into other''s personal stuff. At least I have lived for a hundred millennium years"

    Lee Shen''s eyes went wide.

    "Hun.dred mill.ennium years?! What the hell did you eat?!" (Lee)

    "You don''t need to eat. You can live longer through cultivation and magic. Actually I wa-"

    "WAIT!! DID YOU JUST SAY CULTIVATION?! MAGIC?! YOU SCREWING WITH ME?!" (Lee)

    Dnekewy looked at Lee with an annoyed expression. His voice became firm and serious.

    "Before I speak anymore, shut your mouth or I''ll withdraw the Time-Break. You won''t even be able to breathe before these beasts rip you to shreds"

    Lee reflected on his rude behaviour for a moment. He raised his eyes and nodded in agreement.

    "There are Elves, Demons, Dwarves, Goblins, Orcs, Beastfolks, Waterfolks, Skyfolks and many other races along with humans. Regardless of the race, innate affinity to either Qi or Mana is determined at birth. It decides whether one can use Qi or Mana. One cannot use both, as they counteract and violently rip the host apart. In fact, Both are essentially energy."

    "To summarise, Earth''s eastern fantasy and western fantasy blend in here!"

 Chapter 4: Lecturing the Newbie

    Chapter 4: Lecturing the Newbie

    When Dnekewy finished speaking, he nced at Lee only to see sparkles in his eyes and his head nodding vigorously.

    Seeing this, Dnekewy could only sigh inwardly. He knew he had to give him aplete lecture on everything.

    "Stop behaving like a spoiled dog and listen well. Now I''ll exin everything about this world in detail"

    "Mana and Qi are two sides of energy. Mana is external and easy to control. Using spells and stuff is rted to it. Anyone can study magic, but only those with Mana Pool in their body can utilise and store great quantities of Mana. Using Mana is less straining as it is less condensed, meaning the user has a lesser chance of fatigue. Be careful when absorbing it, as contaminated Mana can cause unpredictable results to one. Some have gone crazy while some die and be Undead. But that doesn''t mean that Mana is dangerous. It has innumerous day-to-day life uses as well asbat purposes. To achieveplete mastery over Magic is very difficult"

    "Qi, on the other hand, is an internal manifestation of energy. It can connect your mind, body and soul effectively. More condensed than Mana and can wear out the user rtively faster. Qi affinity is rtively rarer than Mana affinity. As you know, cultivation is based on Qi. The contradictory forces of Qi and Mana cancel each other out in many regions, making the atmosphere devoid of either one. Mastery of Qi may seem easy at first, but the difficulty spikes to ''Ultra Legend Maximum Purgatory'' within a few realms. An innate characteristic of Qi is healing. Let me demonstrate!"

    Dnekewy thrusted the ive deep into ground and extended his right arm at Lee''s stomach. A faint glow was visible in his palm and a tingling sensation went through Lee''s body. The wound on the stomach began to close up fast enough for naked eyes to follow. Lee Shen wasn''t amazed. He had seen and heard many things enough for a lifetime''s wonder. So, he simply sighed and epted the reality.

    "Magic can also do the same thing, but you will have to learn a healing spell. But a Qi user only needs to channel his Qi just like this".

    "But not everyone is born with such affinities. A major portion of the total poption have neither Mana nor Qi".

    "Then, are there professions for thesemon folks?" (Lee)

    "Many, to be exact. Common jobs like carpentry, artistry, construction work, restaurant, etc. exists. But there are jobs that even Mana and Qi users dedicate their life to. They are Alchemy, cksmithing and Rune Mastery. People infuse their respective affinity into their talent to produce multiple varieties of products.".

    "These professions which need any one of the affinities, have 8 gradings of mastery. They are:-

    1. Apprentice

    2. Mortal

    3. Expert

    4. Grandmaster

    5. Lord

    6. Saint

    7. Emperor

    8. Singrity

    The titles are self-exnatory. Each stage of mastery is achieved through a test conducted in the public and are evaluated using a ''Judge Crystal''. In all my life, I haven''t even seen a single Saint level mastery in any three of them!".

    "Then what are these gradings for?!" (Lee)

    "I said, in ''MY'' lifetime. Legends that achieved Singrity once existed. So these gradings are not baseless".

    "As their profession grading goes, so does the product quality too. They are primarily divided into:-

    1. Mortal

    2. Iron

    3. Bronze

    4. Silver

    5. Gold

    6. Force

    7. Epic

    8. Deity

    All these 8 grades have ''Lower'', ''Mid'', ''Higher'' sub-grades. The higher the quality, the more powerful its aura will be and more expensive it be. This ive of mine is a Lower Deity grade one. But it is sealed, for now".

    Dnekewy paused for a moment and looked at the silent Lee Shen.

    "Questions?!"

    Lee understood that it is his cue to talk. He wanted to ask a lot of things, but he self-restrained. Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement, he opened his mouth to speak. But Dnekewy suddenly went on full-alert and raised his hand to stop him as he looked over his shoulder.

    "Let''s move from here. Someone is closing in".

    Before Lee Shen could voice his doubt, Dnekewy grabbed his hand and flew like wind. It all happened in a blink of an eye. When flying away, he saw beasts resuming its action. Lee Shen knew they were flying, but did not feel any wind resistance. After a while, they bothnded on some snowless clear ground far away.

    "Sorry about that. Using Time-Break too long attracted some pests, nothing to worry about. We are safe here."

    "Didn''t that trick of yours pause everything?!" (Lee)

    "Not exactly. What you see is my soul without body. So my power is greatly reduced and only effective on beings below a certain level. Time-Break will eventually weaken, if you cannot provide constant energy supply. Now....you may ask questions!"

    Lee Shen took a moment to recollect his questions and then asked-

    "From what you said, even demons and elves and dwarves have a chance to cultivate?! How about mythical creatures like Dragons, Vampires, Werewolves, Serpents, Kirins, etc..?!" (Lee)

    "About the first question, yes, anyone born with Qi affinity can cultivate regardless of their race. About the second question, also yes, many kinds of legendary and mythical creatures from both fantasy spheres exist. Metalloid creatures are the rarest in this. Additionally, mutated beings pop up here and there from time to time".

 Chapter 5: Can You Do That?!

    Chapter 5: Can You Do That?!

    "What about the way of Qi and Mana?! Please enlighten this little one!"

    Lee Shen was sitting on the ground. His fist clenched, face excited, and sparkling eyes with an ear-to-ear smile. Dnekewy understood what he was asking about.

    *ahem*

    "Even if one had Qi affinity, cultivation is only possible if he/she is willing to undergo awakening. It is a painful process. Weak-willed cannotplete this trial. Your body acquires an overall change. Repulsion to Mana and Mana rted objects is the most noticeable one".

    "There are 20 realms in Qi cultivation. As I said, the difficulty bes exponential within a few realms. Those 20 realms are:-

    1. Qi Sensing

    2. Body Strengthening

    3. Foundation Building

    4. Qi umtion

    5. Core Formation

    6. Elemental Binding

    7. Nascent Soul

    8. Soul Condensation

    9. Soul Transformation

    10. Soul Manifestation

    11. Immortal Master

    12. Immortal Grandmaster

    13. Qi Monarch Immortal

    14. Qi Emperor Immortal

    15. Prime Qi Immortal

    16. Human Saint

    17. Heaven Saint

    18. Essence Saint

    19. Lord

    20. Dimension Sovereign

    Except for thest five, all realms have 1 - 9 sub-stages. Realms from 1 to 5 belong to Mortal ss. Soul ss consists of realms 6 to 10. The Immortal ss spans from realms 11 to 15. The Heavenly Thunder Tribtion starts with stepping into this ss and urs at every major realm transition. Realms 16 to 20 belonging to the God ss don''t have any further sub-stages. Topensate this, Heavenly Thunder Tribtion is apanied with the Heavenly Army of Law of Destruction. You will have to fight this army made up of Law of Destruction while countering Heavenly Thunder Tribtion".

    "Questions?!"

    "Some are self-exnatory. But what are these Elemental Binding, Soul condensation, etc?!" (Lee)

    "Soul itself is weak. So an element is used to empower the soul. The element is not your choice, but an involuntary decision of your soul essence. Without an elemental binding, a nascent soul cannot be condensed. Elements range from fire, water, wind, void, time, space, ice, lightning.and in some cases, emotions like rage, serenity, envy, etc.

    The soul''s progression is a very long and delicate process. One should not hurry in this process. The slightest carelessness can cause soul to self-destruct. Thus, Condensation, Transformation and Manifestation are seperated into three whole realms. Soul bes an important factor in future cultivation. A wlessplete soul is your best ally.

    After Nascent Soul is formed, it has to be condensed so that the soul essence and elemental essence can cluster together inside you. For each sub-stage, the respective amount of the essence gets condensed.

    At Soul Transformation, thepletely condensed essences merge inside you. At each minor breakthrough, an iplete, but evolved and powerful form will be visible to you. At this stage, your Qi will have a faint trace of your element.

    Upon reaching Soul Manifestation, you can partially imbue your soul into objects and weapons to create a bond. Such weapons can increase your elemental affinity. Choosing the correct tool is essential. It is more powerful than simple Qi strengthening of weapons. When Manifestation reaches sufficient level, the weapon can be remotely controlled using Soul Imprint.

    This information is enough for you at the moment. I will exin as your journey goes forward!"

    "Dnekewy, you did mention about this 284th dimension and 3rd dimension. What are they exactly?" (Lee)

    "All dimensions, 999 to be exact, are the copies of the Origin dimension which is the zeroth one. Origin dimension doesn''t have any living beings there. But only matter and energy inplete chaos. This matter and energy are copied 999 times to form the 999 dimensions. But how each dimension further evolved ispletely serendipitous. Dimensions form a ''will'' of their own to govern its thews."

    "How do you know all these?!" (Lee)

    "When one bes the Dimension Sovereign, the person is one with the Will of Dimension and these mysteries are unraveled before them. Fortunately, no one had seeded me in that feat. If so, then I would have had to transfer the control to thetest one".

    "Why are there none-" (Lee)

    "To be Dimension Sovereign, you need immense luck beside skills and training. Besides, The Heavenly Army of Law of Destruction is too f**king horrible to counter! I saw death at my doorstep while facing them".

    Lee Shen went to a deep-thought state hearing this. His hand was supporting his chin, while sitting on the ground cross-legged. A silence befell on them for a few minutes. As if reaching a conclusion, Lee Shen stood up, cupped his hands and said-

    "So, can you be my guide and help me achieve the peak of cultivation? You have done it once, so leading one is easy, isn''t it?!" (Lee)

    "It is not. If two souls reside in one body with or without consent, either mine will devour your or your''s will consume mine during Soul Condensation. Thus it is impossible. My soul has reached a very higher state, so mere objects cannot contain me.

    But there is a memory of your''s which gives an ount of two consciousness residing in one body. You may not remember, let me just unlock it for you".

    Dnekewy be smoke and went into Lee Shen''s head. A few memories that looked familiar, started to surface. In it, a PC was in front of him with a popr manga in screen. The protagonist of the story was blessed with a system. He grows in his strength and fame using the system. He is promptly notified of danger and achievements. The memory started to fade and Lee Shen returned to reality.

    Dnekewy stood before him waiting for a response. Lee Shen had a mixed expression when he spoke.

    "Can you do that?! Can you transform into a system that can guide me?!" (Lee)

 Chapter 6: Soul to System

    Chapter 6: Soul to System

    "Can you do that?! Can you transform into a system?!" (Lee)

    Dnekewy was standing with hands behind his back and eyes nted in the sky, when Lee raised his doubt with excitement filled in it. Dnekewy nced at Lee and then turned around. Lee Shen was waiting for an answer. He stopped walking, after Lee''s concern spoke.

    "Is there a problem in doing that?!" (Lee)

    *sigh*

    Dnekewy spoke with a troubled expression.

    "The probability of sess is less than 1%. This dimension has not achieved any such technological advancements. All we have is your memory from some manga, that too, fictional. The risk is, I have to modify my consciousness to that of a system with all the facilities, from your memory and simultaneously assimte it to your soul. You may lose your life. We cannot afford any mistakes. There are too many risks too. Are you sure of it?!"

    His voice was damn serious. It carried a sense of danger and threat. But, Lee had resolved his mind.

    "I''m in. We won''t know unless we try". (Lee)

    Dnekewy faintly smiled as he turned and walked towards Lee. He patted Lee''s shoulders and he spoke.

    "Actually, it is possible. I just wanted to see whether you are ready to take risks. My powers far surpass yourprehension. Once, you risked your life to save my helpless soul from the Origin dimension. I''ll unlock those memoriester. Honestly... I am happy that I met you!"

    Dnekewy was a selfless man when alive. He was revered by many. He fed the poor and upheld justice. Will of Dimension took great liking on him. He achieved more than he wanted. So, it was natural to help one who dares to put his life at risk against unknown adversities.

    "Sit still. Be at ease. But be ready for itchiness and pain. You may even ck out".

    Lee Shen sat cross-legged and the orb in Dnekewy''s left hand slowly floated towards him. As soon as it neared him, Dnekewy became smoke and entered the orb. A blinding light shone and Lee Shen closed his eyes tightly. He felt an immense urge to scratch his forehead, but endured. The next second, Lee felt a sharp pain in his head, as if an arrow struck his head. Lee Shen didn''t flinch, but he soon felt his body getting weak. His consciousness faded.

    -----------------------------------------------

    Time passed like fleeting clouds. Night arrived and a coldness permeated in the atmosphere. The doughnut in the sky was bright as ever. The silhouettes of nearby trees looked spooky. A faint blue color aura floated around a motionless body in the ground.

    Lee Shen felt like shit when he woke up. He felt numb. He touched his head and stomach to make sure he wasn''t dead or hurt. After hearing a few howls at a distance, he tried to stand up, but fell on his knees. Looking around, Dnekewy was nowhere to be seen.

    [Looking for me?!]

    The sudden mechanical voice scared the shit out of Lee Shen. He screamed inwardly. He couldn''t see anyone near, but heard a voice simr to Dnekewy.

    [It''s me, Dnekewy. Call me ''D'' from here on. I have sessfully transformed to a system and integrated into your mind. You can speak to me by thoughts.

    Before I speak any further, find a ce to hide. It''s dangerous to stay in the open]

    It was then Lee Shen took notice of his surroundings. His mind went full-alert as he carefully stepped towards the nearest tree. The tree was as tall as a three-storey building. His heart calmed down when he climbed to the highest and sturdiest branch on it. He sat on the branch and spoke in his mind-

    ''D?!''

    [Yeah]

    ''Status''

    [You don''t need to call me to see the interface. Just say the damn word. I''m tired, so I''ll be asleep for a day or two. I have left enough exnations for you. Just go through it!]

    ''....ok''

    Lee Shen checked around him to ensure safety. After making sure threats are nowhere near, he pulled up the freshly created system interface.

    ''System''

    A light grey screen appeared in front of him. On it were written in ck-

    { This interface and system is the only one of its kind in this Dimension. The screen and system interfaces will only be visible to you. When near others, don''t stare at the interface or you''ll be named pervert or retard. Reserve your actions and words regarding the system. Learn to control the system interfaces with thought. Read the instructions. Under any circumstances, DON''T WAKE ME UP!!!! - D }

    Lee remained expressionless and said-

    ''Status''

    { System is currently analysing information from the host. Please be patient. }

    ''.....''

    { Analysisplete. Say the magic word! }

    *sigh*

    ''finally....Status''

    ====================

    Name: Lee Shen

    Age: 20

    Title: Newbie (new ones will be rewarded ording to actions)

    Fame: 0 (amount of reverence acquired)

    Essence : 0 (points obtained as rewards and from absorbing life essence. 5 essence upgrade one physical attribute and 10 essence upgrade one mental attribute)

    ----------

    Health: 8 (your overall well-being)

    Strength: 10 (amount of power exerted by you)

    Vitality: 9 (spendable energy you have)

    Agility: 6 (nimbleness of your movement)

    Defense: 3 (your resistance to attacks)

    Endurance: 6 (your limit of tolerance)

    Sense: 6 (your perception on surroundings)

    Intelligence: 5 (duh!)

    Resolve: 4 (intellectual reasoning)

    Immunity:- (substances/elements to which immunity has obtained will appear below)

    ----------

    Qi: 0 (for cultivation)

    Mana: 0 (for magic)

    ----------

    Cultivation Progress:

    (Cultivation skills andbat techniques)

    Magic Progress:

    (Magic skills andbat spells)

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    1. View (ability to see status of living and non-living things below a certain level)

    2. Foresight (action''s trajectories will be visible to you)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:- (Personal space to store non-living things)

    QUESTS:- (tasks given by the Will of Dimension. essences are rewarded)

    MAP:- (a 2D map of 1.5 miles around you. shows living beings and topography)

    SHOP:- (made by Will of Dimension, to buy or sell stuff. SOMEHOW pulled it off!)

    REMODEL:- (change your physical features in exchange to essence. rate depends)

    ====================

    The interface was in square shape. So he had to scroll down using his thoughts. It took him a couple of minutes, but he finally got the hang of it.

    Though the exnations by D was enough, Lee still had a lot of doubts. But, he gave priority to sleep now. Soon, he was sleeping like a baby with 3 branches supporting him.

 Chapter 7: First Kill

    Chapter 7: First Kill

    Morning.

    Bright sunshine woke Lee from his peaceful sleep. He rubbed his eyes and made sure threats are temporarily ''unavable''. A sudden urge to pee rmed him. He guided his naked body to go down to the second lowest branch on the tree. He sat on one side of the branch and held his ''turret'' to st off. He felt a great relief at the moment.

    [You know, I never had one so big when I was alive. You must teach the younger generation how to acquire that!]

    Lee nearly screamed out loud. He said in an annoyed voice-

    ''Can you just not scare me for one minute? I''m doing an important job here!''

    [Okay!]

    ''Wait, you told me that you''ll be asleep for a day or two. Then why are you here?''

    [My tiredness was greatly reduced when you fell slept. I think the connection between us can share fatigue too.]

    ''....''

    Quicklypleting the action, Lee returned to his usual ce up among the branches. He spoke inwardly-

    ''D?''

    [Yes, Mr. Lee Shen. At your service!]

    ''Lee is enough. By the way, I still have some doubts.''

    [Shoot]

    ''What is theparison basis of my attributes?''

    [An average ''human'' in this world has value 10 for all attributes. You are only 20, and you surpass others.]

    ''What is this Essence?!''

    [Life Essence or Essence in short is the vitality that flows through all beings. It is a form of energy. You may find it in stones, trees and even in the atmosphere! Anything dies when essence is gone. The system is constantly scanning your surroundings and will notify you.]

    ''The immunity thing?!''

    [When exposed to elements or substances that can affect you adversely, an immunity is built up against it. Your body will undergo some changes to be immune. For example, if you''re exposed to fire, you''ll gain Fire Immunity.

    Immunity is divided into 4 grades. Lesser, Medium, Higher and Absolute. All immunities start at Lesser and go all the way to top. All you have to do is endure. When you reach absolute immunity, what you are immune to bes your tool at disposal.]

    ''So if I reach Absolute Poison Resistance, I can drink poison?!''

    [Exactly!]

    ''Cool! And why do I have both Mana and Qi?! Isn''t it impossible?!''

    [I said only one affinity for those born ''HERE''! You are someone from another dimension. So basically, you''re an outsider living like an insider.]

    ''Hmmm...A cheat code! Thank you. And please exin the Innate Skill ''Foresight''!''

    [Foresight helps you to see the trajectories of literally anything. It''s a practical skill. It enables you to see, hear, and sense from where, how and when an attack can arrive. You will feel that the time around you is slowed down a bit, when it''s in use. It is enough for you toe up with an escape route. You cannot activate it withmand. It activates itself when a hostile being shows up in the vicinity. It is the best hunting assistant anyone can have!]

    ''Such an OP skill! But what about ''View''? Does it have a condition?''

    [Yes, it only activates when something is in your visual range.]

    ''Oh..then let''s try it on this tree!''

    Lee focused on the tree trunk. Then, an interface opened up showing the details regarding the tree.

    =====

    Name: Cold Pine

    Species: Tree

    Age: 28 years

    State: Healthy

    =====

    ''Wonderful! Such a useful skill! Thank you, D! Now...back to the point. What are Quests, Shop and Remodel?! I read the description, but I need more information. Please exin.''

    [Such a pain in the ass. I be a system, and the first thing I''m told to do is to teach a toddler! Does heaven even exist?!]

    ''You''re being melodramatic. Now exin!''

    [Whatever...''Quests'' are where you get tasks to do. These tasks are given directly by Will of Dimension, through me. So expect global scale tasks, ok?! There will be small ones, but they''ll be rare. Oh, and your actions can also trigger quests outside the ''Quests''.

    ''Shop'' was exceptionally hard to pull off, but.TADAA! You can sell and buy stuff from the Shop. There are separate sections for Weapons, Ornaments, Consumables, Outfits, Talismans, Magic Spells and Cultivation Techniques. There are certain parameters before selling things to Shop. You can''t just sell dirt and waste!

    ''Remodel'' is about altering your physical appearance. You can''t do dirty work with your normal appearance or your Fame will plunge to zero. Alteringes at the cost of Essence. The degree of alteration done will decide the cost.]

    ''I didn''t know you''ll be this smooth when transforming to a system. I was expecting some glitch or bug!''

    [Want one?!]

    ''No thanks!''

    [By the way, there''s a newbie package for you in the Inventory. Open it. You''ll get something to wear, and maybe, something to wield!]

    Hearing this, Lee was very happy. He immediately called for Inventory in mind.

    =====

    Newbie Package avable. Open? YES/NO.

    =====

    Lee screamed ''Yes'' in his mind and the interface vanished. A few secondster, some notifications appeared in front of Lee.

    =====

    Obtained ''Leather Pants''. Equip?

    Obtained ''Leather Jacket''. Equip?

    Obtained ''Leather Shoes''. Equip?

    Obtained ''Free Buy Token for Weapon section''. Use?

    Obtained 100 Essence.

    =====

    Lee was uncontrobly screaming so loud that some small wild animals ran away thinking it was some fierce beast! Before Lee came to senses, D alerted him.

    [What are you doin, fool? Stop this ruckus! You''re attracting the attention of beasts.]

    Lee suddenly shut up and squatted down on the branch without making noise. After a few seconds, some wolf-like creatures came sniffing around the tree. They nearly sniffed Lee out, but the urine''s smell was too much for their enhanced senses. They ran away making some weird noises. Lee silently witnessed these actions and sighed inwardly.

    ''See, my urine saved me! Be thankful, D.''

    [For once in life, your stupidity had saved you. Congrats!]

    ''Hey, your behaviour has changed greatly! What happened?!''

    [I don''t know. I just suddenly have this explosive attitude in me. It''s from you, probably.]

    ''Whatever.just be the old D, and Equip Leather Pants, Leather Jacket and Leather Shoes!''

    A white fog immediately surrounded Lee''s torso and waist downward. It faded away in an instant and Lee was wearing a pair of leather shoes, a leather pants and a leather sleeveless jacket. He felt an immense sense offort from these. It was as if they were tailored only for him.

    [No need to be amazed. Every outfit that system gives will be perfect for you.]

    ''What is this ''Free Buy Token for Weapon section''?!''

    [This is a token that can be used to buy a weapon from the Shop. Since you got it from the newbie package, you can only buy Mortal grade weapons with it. Remember, Tokens can only be used once, regardless of its level of purchase. Now go and get yourself a weapon!]

    Lee used the token and Shop interface of ''Weapons'' section opened up. He scrolled and skimmed through many Mortal grade weapons. There were swords, spears, halberds, des, sabers, katanas, daggers, ives, bows, whips and a lot other more. Lee didn''t feel a sense of satisfaction from them. The more he scrolled downwards, the lesser the quality became. His scrolling became faster than naked eye could follow.

    Suddenly, he stopped scrolling for a moment, and scrolled upwards slowly. A certain weapon caught his attention. It looked like a normal de, partially covered in red cloth and exposing a part of its ck de. But something was off about it. There was a feeling running through him when he saw it. His eyes went wide as he gasped for air. He unconsciously muttered-

    ''It''s my de!!!''

    Lee didn''t think twice before hitting purchase like a maniac. He was ecstatic and happy to find a weapon to which he felt a connection. After hitting purchase, the token vanished and the de materialised in his hands.

    The de had no sheath, but was covered in red clothes. He slowly removed the cloth and exposed the de to light. He doesn''t know how, but he felt an incredible connection with this de. The wavy, mottled pattern of dark grey and ck running through the de gave him a feeling of serenity. The dark-brown wooden hilt was 5 inches long, wrapped in purple leather and was perfect in his hand. The de was 30 inches long, straight and single-edged. He was sure of its sharpness like a long-term friend.

    Before he could enjoy its beauty anymore, D interrupted his train of thoughts.

    [I see that you are capable of releasing the memory seal yourself.]

    ''Memory seal?! Wait...did I just ess my memory?!''

    [It seems so. You forcefully unlocked memories rted to this de when you saw it. I suspected this, so I put it there myself. Since you achieved such a feat, I shall unlock your memories regarding ''Sword Mastery''.]

    Lee sat on the branch and closed his eyes in excitement when a few memories flooded his mind. His body began to tremble intensely. He didn''t sweat, but an uneasiness crept up his face. After a couple of minutes, he opened his eyes wide while gasping for breath. His face had an expression of fighting life-and-death battles nonstop. When he calmed down, 4 notifications appeared.

    =====

    Obtained ''Lesser Sword Mastery''

    =====

    Obtained ''Medium Sword Mastery''

    =====

    Obtained ''Higher Sword Mastery''

    =====

    Obtained ''Absolute Sword Mastery''

    =====

    Lee was wonderstruck to see these notifications. He never knew it was this simple. He raised his doubts to D.

    ''D, is it that simple to achieve mastery in weapons?''

    [Tell me, how many minutes did it take toplete those memories?]

    ''Like a couple of minutes!''

    [Outside, it was a couple of minutes. Inside, you were experiencing Sword Mastery for 7 whole years!]

    ''My god, 7 years?! What was I in my past life?! de God?!''

    [The memories were stitched together from several periods of your life, and it''s umted length was 7 years. It''s just that you were proficient in way of de beforeing here. Your body has recovered it''s muscr and neural memory to what you had before. You can try, if you want. A wolf is still lurking nearby!]

    The Map was integrated into Lee''s mind, so he didn''t have to nce at it like an interface. He turned a sharp 180 degrees to see the wolf standing near the trunk like a statue on the ground, with its head down sniffing. Lee searched for the pack in the vicinity, but they were far from this lone wolf.

    Without giving a warning, Lee jumped onto the wolf. He was silent and stealthy. The wolf only got to react when it saw a shadow, but it was toote. It couldn''t make a sound. Leended on the wolf, cushioning the impact while his de swept clean through his victim''s neck silently.

    Lee immediately covered the wolf with snow. Or else the pack will return smelling blood. He jumped up the tree and returned to his seat to inspect his weapon. There was no trace of blood on the de. It was as if it''s never used. Lee used ''View'' on the de and a panel opened.

    =====

    Name: Damascus de

    Owner: -----

    Grade: Lower Mortal (Upgradable)

    =====

    Lee was surprised to see the ''Owner'' as nk. His eyes stuck on the word ''Upgradable'' too.

    ''D, Why is the ''Owner'' name nk?! What''s with the ''Upgradable'' feature?!''

    [The ''Owner'' is set nk because the sword is yet to recognise you as it''s owner. To be its owner, you need to drip your blood over the de and say ''You are me, I am you. We''ll cut our enemies two''. The ''Upgradable'' is a feature very rarely seen on weapons. In normal cases, a weapon cannot be upgraded once it''s made. But some can grow into higher grades. This de''s grade is very low, but can be upgraded. It can even be a Higher Deity grade weapon, if nurtured.]

    Lee didn''t hesitate to drip his blood on the de. As soon as the blood touched the de, Lee said in a soft voice-

    "You are me, I am you. We''ll cut our enemies two".

    A notification opened up as soon as he finished.

    =====

    Lee bound to Damascus de.

    =====

 Chapter 8: A Way to get Essence

    Chapter 8: A Way to get Essence

    ''D.tell me how to get Essence.''

    [You will be awarded Essence afterpleting quests. But to acquire them manually, you will have to touch or be within 1 meter distance of the object. The wolf you just killed is perfect for testing.]

    Lee looked around and slowly descended. He crouched near the corpse of wolf and asked-

    ''Now what?!''

    [Touch the wolf. The Essence will be automatically absorbed. If you want, you can sell the dead wolf to shop.]

    ''Got it!''

    Lee touched the dead wolf and instantly felt a warm sensation entering his hand. After a second, a notification appeared.

    =====

    2 Essence absorbed.

    =====

    Lee decided to sell the wolf. Another notification appeared.

    =====

    Sell the Dead Wolf? YES/NO?

    =====

    ''Yes.''

    The wolf''s corpse vanished into thin air and Lee received a notification that he got 3 Essence selling it.

    =====

    3 Essence received.

    =====

    Lee immediately climbed up the tree as he was concerned for his safety. Lee brought up the Status panel and stared at his attributes and 105 Essence.

    ''Let''s increase Health by 2, Defense by 5, Agility and Endurance by 4, Vitality by 1 and Intelligence by 2!''

    ''Now disy attributes only''

    =====

    Health: 10

    Strength: 10

    Vitality: 10

    Agility: 10

    Defense: 8

    Endurance: 10

    Sense: 6

    Intelligence: 7

    Resolve: 4

    =====

    Lee Shen didn''t feel any changes happening. But he was curious about the effects.

    ''D how do my attributes look?''

    [You are now an above average being in this world.]

    ''Good to know. So, if I kill, absorb Essence and sell a wolf, I can get 5 Essence, right?''

    [Yes. It can vary from being to being.]

    ''Doesn''t this mean I can grow powerful as long as I kill?''

    Lee had a creepy smile that gave D shivers. He said in low voice-

    [I know what you''re thinking. But it''s a suicide. Those wolvese in packs. You cannot stop it.]

    ''..... show how much Essence is left''

    A notification appeared and showed that only 5 Essence is left.

    ''Add one point to agility.''

    Coincidentally, four wolves wereing towards the tree where Lee hid. They came in search of their lost member. Without much difficulty, they found the blood marks on snow and deduced that it was killed. One among them caught Lee''s scent and came near the tree sniffing. Lee, from above the tree, used View.

    =====

    Name: Cold Wild Wolf

    Age: 1 year

    Health: 8

    Strength: 8

    Agility: 9

    Defense: 8

    Endurance: 10

    Sense: 8

    Intelligence: 6

    =====

    ''I''ll better kill all of them in one go!''

    Lee jumped down on the wolf and cushioned his impact likest time. But now, the impact itself killed the wolf. The other three became alert and slowly stepped towards Lee. Lee brandished his de silently while one wolf jumped on him. The very moment, Foresight was activated. Lee saw the trajectory of the pounced wolf and stepped to his right to evade. As it came near, the de cut the wolf horizontally. It fell dead on the ground. The other two were enraged by Lee''s action, so they ran at him together.

    Lee stood still and observed. With the help of Foresight, Lee deduced that one will go lower while the other will jump on him. As he was expecting, one ran in front of the other to give a foothold to jump. The moment the wolf jumped on the other, Lee had reached their side and his de came down like a meteor.

    It was dead silent. No noise or voice came when they were fighting. Lee didn''t dilly-dally and absorbed the Essence from the wolves and sold them to Shop. He knew he couldn''t stay on the same tree, so he moved away quickly. After walking in the opposite direction of the pack for a few minutes, he came across a tree that wasrger than the surrounding ones. His effort to climb paid off, and he reached a height of about 5 stories. The branch was thick and smooth, so he sat there. Opening the Attribute panel, he invested all four points to Agility. Then he leaned onto the trunk, closed his eyes and satfortably.

    -----------------------------

    He doesn''t know how long he slept, but it was night when he woke up. He slept enough, and was feeling refreshed. He climbed and squatted on the highest branch of the tree. He observed many beasts wandering around on the ground. Some beasts that looked like birds were flying at irregr intervals.

    Lee was brainstorming to get a solution of earning Essence quickly and stealthily. His thoughts nearly made him lose his footing. He struggled to stay stable while grabbing onto the nearby branches. Then it hit him!

    ''Why don''t I absorb and sell these trees?! D?''

    [It is possible, but not at the moment. If you sell this tree now, you''ll die from gravity!]

    ''So it IS possible!!''

    Lee was delighted to get a solution for the problem. He happily returned to his position and waited for the twin stars to rise up.

    [You should increase your Intelligence. It took you half a day just to figure out that you can absorb and sell trees!]

    Lee didn''t reply andid down on the branches. He fell asleep while waiting for sunshine.

    ----------------------------

    Lee jumped up in the morning with only one aim in his mind - Essence! He checked his belongings and made sure that the de was well in the Inventory. Without further ado, he came down the tree and started absorbing Essence and selling the surrounding trees like a maniac. He was so absorbed in the process that he didn''t hear any notifications he got.

    By noon, an empty patch ofnd with a radius of 100 meters was surrounding therge tree. He dide across some small beasts, but they were all killed in one cut. Exhausted, he reluctantly came to the tree and climbed to a sufficient height.

    ''D, gimme a summary please.''

    [238 trees were absorbed and sold. Each tree gave 14 Essence. So you acquired 3,332 Essence points. You killed 14 small beasts, absorbed and sold them. Their umted Essence points is 23. Total acquired is 3,355 Essence points.]

    ''How did trees give me more Essence than those wolves?!''

    [These trees are over 25 years old and have condensed more essence. Plus, a one-time boosting from the system is involved. You''ll not get this opportunity ever again.]

    Lee was euphoric. He sighed and slowly skimmed through all options in the interface. Then he remembered about the ''Upgradable'' feature of his de. He retrieved his de from Inventory as he asked-

    ''D, How to upgrade my de?''

    [It is currently at the Lower Mortal grade. You can use 2000 Essence to upgrade to Mid Mortal grade and 3000 Essence to upgrade to Higher Mortal grade from there. Grade upgradation cost increases at a rate of 1000 Essence all the way to top. Remember, you cannot skip grades!]

    ''Rename ''Damascus de'' to ''ck''''

    =====

    Rename ''Damascus de'' to ''ck''. Confirm? YES/NO.

    =====

    ''Yes.''

    The panel disappeared and another one popped out.

    =====

    Name: ck

    Owner: Lee

    Grade: Lower Mortal (Upgradable)

    Strength +1, Agility +1

    =====

    ''D, what''s this new set of information?!''

    [After dripping blood, it recognised you as it''s owner. So it can give you a small boost in Strength, Agility and Endurance. Higher the grade, higher the boost!]

    ''Upgrade ''ck'' to Mid Mortal grade''

    =====

    Upgrade ''ck'' to Mid Mortal grade. Confirm? YES/NO.

    =====

    ''Definitely yes!''

    Nothing happened other than an interface opening up.

    =====

    Name: ck

    Owner: Lee

    Grade: Mid Mortal (Upgradable)

    Strength +2, Agility +2

    =====

    Lee had 1,355 Essence left. He added 14 points to Sense, 12 points to Defense, 13 points to Intelligence, 16 points to Resolve and 10 points each for Health, Strength, Vitality, Agility and Endurance. He spended a total of 670 Essence to upgrade all of his attributes to 20. He still had 685 Essence left. He didn''t feel any necessity to spend all he had in one go. So, he reserved half of it for the future. His train of thoughts was shattered by a notification panel.

    =====

    Quest!

    ''Escape from the wilderness and reach a settlement''

    Reward: 200 Essence.

    =====

    "A quest finally appeared!"

    Lee brought up Map in his mind. But he couldn''t see any settlement in 1.5 miles around him. He was expecting some clues from the system. But nothing came.

    [You''ve to find them yourself. It''s not good to depend too much on the system. Use your Sense for once in a while.]

    Lee stood up, jumped down through the branches and reached the ground. He slowly walked towards North while keeping an eye on the Map.

 Chapter 9: The Good Wanderer

    Chapter 9: The Good Wanderer

    Lee set his eyes straight to the North. Whatever he came across, be it beast or nt, he chopped them down, absorbed essence and sold them to the Shop. His Essence points began to rise gradually. While walking, he asked about the way of Mana.

    [While Qi Cultivation is a long onene road, Mana Magic is like a short multine road. The usage of Mana is not limited to Wizards, Sorcerers and Warlocks, but to melee fighters and ranged attackers. A Tank can channel Mana into his shield to increase its efficiency. An Archer can supply Mana into the arrow to make it go faster and farther. The level of Mana mastery goes like:-

    1. Rookie

    2. Official

    3. Veteran

    4. Elite

    5. General

    6. Lord

    7. Saint

    There were 10 levels of mastery, but as time went by, none could step into 8th, 9th and 10th. So those names are long forgotten, because Mana is difficult to master. Qi cultivation can help you grow, but only Mana mastery can make you great!

    The Mana Pool inside a person will erge by 10% when stepping into the next level. This itself is the greatest reward. It means the storage of one''s Mana has increased and more could be absorbed from surroundings.]

    Lee hasprehended a summary on this world. The technological advancements are far behind Earth and cannons are the only instrument to shoot. It''s like a medieval world, but with cultivators in it.

    Lee nced at the Essence point and was frozen. He doesn''t know how long he has been walking, but a whooping 4,390 Essence points were umted overtime. Lee paused for a second and turned to look back. The way he came walking was cut clean enough for trains to run. He chuckled and shook his head at this scene. After resuming his journey, he soon stopped when his enhanced sense of smell picked up the scent of blood.

    Lee believed his senses and ran like a wind through the forest. He didn''t bother to absorb essences. After a few seconds, he saw two carriages at a distance surrounded by a pack of Cold Wild Wolves.

    Eight warriors were defending the carriages from the relentless attacks of the pack. Two warriors were killed and dragged away by wolves. Those left were in no good shape. Lee didn''t stay idle, and started to kill the wolves from the outside. When wolves saw Lee mercilessly chopping down their pack, they concentrated their attack on him. But how could those wolves even touch him?

    Lee was like a whirlwind standing in a 5 meter circle. He was bruised and wounded, but he didn''t mind those. A wolf bit him, but didn''t live to tell the tale. Soon the stress over those warriors was lessened.

    While they were defending against lesser wolves than before, they saw a stranger recklessly ughtering a wolf pack. They were initially afraid whether he might be eaten by wolves, butter saw that their concern was unnecessary. The stranger was cutting down wolves into two in one swing. They were baffled by this young man''s courage and strength. They ultimately hoped him to be an ally.

    Lee cut down wolves in a perfect rhythm. Soon, wolves began to frighten and tried to run away, but those warriors showed their gratitude by ying those runaway ones. After chopping down the wolves except for those that ran away, Lee stored his de and began absorbing essence,ter selling them to Shop. He didn''t care for the time or audience. Within a few minutes, only bloodmarks remained.

    After selling thest wolf, Lee who was squatting on the ground stood up and walked towards the warriors. He wanted to ask the way to the nearest settlement. But when he saw that those inside the carriages were nursing the warriors, he decided to take a break before a conversation. He faced the forest and looked around him. His keen senses can hear the howls, smell their scent and see the resentment in their eyes. He was so absorbed in his observation!

    About this moment, a little boy of about six years came near him and pulled his pants. The little boy disrupted his observation. Lee turned to look at the boy behind him, and smiled. The boy immediately ran towards the carriage. He looked at the running figure of the little boy.

    [Lee, thenguage of humans here isrgely different from English. I''ll transmit the necessary knowledge to your brain. You''ll feel a faint dizziness.]

    Before Lee could even voice his suggestion, a few foreign memories came flowing into his mind. He stood there motionless as he familiarised with thenguage. A few secondster, he became thorough in this newnguage. When he nced at the carriages, he saw 4 armoured knights with rtively less woundsing towards him. Lee quickly took the de out of the Inventory and held in his hand behind his back. He doesn''t want them to know of the existence of the system. They stood before him and took off their headwear.

    "We thank you for rescuing us from the jaws of wolves. We don''t know how we can show our gratitude. I am Darwin Lockheed, leader of this escort mission. May we please know our saviour''s name?"

    Lee was impressed in his behaviour. He can tell that this man here is well-disciplined and a true leader. He was stout and tall with brown beard, moustache and wellbed hair. There was an air ofmand around him.

    "My name is Lee. I am a wanderer without a settlement. I came across the incident coincidentally. I am happy to be of help."

    Lee decided to wear the mask of a wanderer, since he was actually without a settlement.

    "Sir Lee is being humble. Your intervention saved the lives of many. We are grateful for your help. Since you''re without a settlement, would you like to go with us?!"

    "I thank you for considering this simple wanderer."

    Lee showed his agreement and all were delighted. While walking towards the carriages, he saw men, women and children stepping out of the carriage and bowing with courtesy. They were all happy to see a young man defending and ughtering an entire pack of wolves. When Lee entered a carriage, Darwin gave his signal to continue the journey while sitting opposite to Lee.

    From their conversation, Lee was able to know more about this guy. Darwin was a veteran knight and led many knights on missions. He was weed to join the Royal Army but he declined stating that it restricted his freedom. Him politely declining the Royal Army''s opportunity caught Lee''s interest. After further asking, he was able to learn that the Royal Army was indeed powerful, but was under the control of political bureaucrats and was mainly used for their personal use.

    Lee was able to know that they were returning from the city of Lorin. The men, women and children were residents of Eturt vige, about 9 miles away from the city. This routine travelling is to purchase necessary food items for the vige. Eturt vige had agriculturalnds, but they were bing less fertile. So they had to travel to the city with protection. Darwin has been their escort for about 3 years, with a meager payment of 20 Bronze coins. His personality to help those in need without expecting anything won Lee''s reverence.

    When asked about him, Lee cooked up the story of being separated from his group, at an early age. His sword''s uniqueness was questionable, but Darwin suppressed his curiosity. Lee understood the meaning of Darwin''s gaze and answered that he once came across arge stone with this sword stuck on top of it. Darwin couldn''t truly believe the story, but so he decided to gulp it down.

    The carriages were slowly moving along the path with uneven swinging and sometimes, stumbling on a rock. This made Lee extremely ufortable. He made an excuse of keeping watch for wolves and got out of it. The relief he felt was immense. The carriage was moving slower than his walking speed. So he had enough time to absorb essence and sell the surrounding trees to the Shop.

    The pale blue sky was getting darker by minute, alerting his senses. A few minutester, a few burning torches in the distance caught his attention. He raised his doubts to Darwin, who was walking alongside him.

    "Sir Darwin, what are those big torches?" (Lee)

    "Torches?! Where?!"

    Darwin could only see some faint light spots as they were still about one and 2 miles from the vige.

    "Goodness.what were you eating all this time?! I''m struggling to see those faint light spots from this distance!

    Lee understood that his senses have been greatly increased. Darwin informed the people inside the carriages that they are nearing the vige. Those inside the carriages were sleeping peacefully while Lee couldn''t even sit properly.

    The carriages halted before the vige gate. A man went near the gate and spoke to the guard above the wall. That guard disappeared and the gate was raised. The carriages went inside the vige without wasting time. Lee saw arge wooden board hanging before the gate and it read ''Eturt Vige''.

    The gate was closed and vigers came gathering around the carriages. It was night and torches were burning here and there inside the vige. The wall was high enough to block any signs of burning torches inside the vige. Lee looked around to see huts made of wood, one or two had a second storey.

    Darwin was narrating the incident of wolf attack under the torches'' dim light. While he was narrating, many nced at Lee with an amazed expression. Lee felt immense awkwardness welling inside him. When he was feeling helpless, the Vige-head approached him and said-

    "Our treasures cannot equal the deed you have done. We are truly sorry for ourck of hospitality. Please do not be displeased."

    Lee was surprised. This man in his 70''s led this vige thriving between cold forest and wild beasts. Lee couldn''t help but reply-

    "I have been wandering without a settlement for years. Your hospitality itself makes me content."

    The Vige-head was happy to hear this. Darwin informed Lee that they will be staying in the vige for some days, for hispanions to recover. Lee was happy to hear it. The Vige-head guided Lee to his home to rest. The extra room in the second floor was offered to Lee.

 Chapter 10: Being Worth Fighting

    Chapter 10: Being Worth Fighting

    Lee was about to sit on the bed when an notification not seen before suddenly popped up with an rm sound.

    =====

    WARNING!

    HOSTILE BEINGS ENTERING THE VICINITY!!

    Estimated time of contact: 2 hours 10 minutes.

    Take necessary preventive measures!

    =====

    Quest!

    ''Protect the Eturt vige from the tide of Cold Wild Wolves''

    Reward: 200 Essence

    =====

    Lee jumped out of the bed and his mind was inplete turmoil. He saw burning revenge in those wolves'' eyes, but never expected to track them down with smell alone. He took out his de from the Inventory, opened the window and jumped to the ground.

    Paulo, the Vige-head was standing outside that door, feeling the light breeze in the dim light of burning torches. He was thinking about the young wanderer he met today. Not only did he save the carriages from a pack of wolves, he was willing to escort them to safety. ording to Paulo, wolves do notretreat with a taste of defeat. They will hunt down their prey one way or the other. But, his mind was at peace now. He closed his eyes and held his band behind his back. The blissful moment he was enjoying was ruined by something that fell right next to him.

    Paulo nearly screamed his lungs out. He stumbled backward, and fell on his buttocks. Under the damp yellow light of the torch, he saw the young wanderer standing in front of him. Lee extended a hand and helped Paulo up.

    "I''ve lived long enough in the forest to tell that the wolves are about to gang up on us. Alert everyone. Get everyone to safety!"

    Saying this, Lee ran to where Darwin and his team stayed. He ryed the message and they were all like ''Holy Shit!''. Darwin and those who were alright suited up to their armours. Lee ran towards the vige square and saw men guiding women and children to safety. When he saw a man with spear, he asked him-

    "Are there any other ways to get inside besides the gate?!" (Lee)

    "No sir. There is only one way in and one way out!" (man)

    "Where are these people taken to?!" (Lee)

    "Some houses have bunkers under them. These people will be safe there." (man)

    Lee started to walk towards the gate. Whenever he saw someone struggling or stumbling down, he would help them. After seeing that the vigers were safe, Lee rushed to the gate.

    On the wall, Darwin and Paulo were thinking of a way to defend the vige. When they saw Lee, they felt an unspeakable relief.

    "Your intuition was right. Some guards did see some wolves lurking around. They never imagined that they would be scouts!" (Darwin)

    "We don''t have many men to defend. The walls are high enough to resist smaller packs. But, arger pack can climb over." (Paulo)

    "They are tracking my scent. As far as I am in front of them, they will leave the vige alone!" (Lee)

    Lee said in a determined tone. Both Darwin and Paulo were stunned.

    "We cannot sacrifice you just to save a vige. We''ll defend the pack together." (Darwin)

    Paulo agreed with Darwin. This young fellow was courageous and had keen instincts. The vige can be built again - Paulo added to what Darwin said.

    "Who said it''s sacrifice?!" (Lee)

    Darwin frowned on hearing his statement. Paulo couldn''t see through his ns.

    "I am not dying and no one is going to die. Let me make myself clear, We don''t defend. We fight, especially I FIGHT!"

    Darwin couldn''t help but be amazed at this young man''s madness. Before he could raise his disagreement, Lee had already walked towards the lookout tower on the wall.

    ''D, how much Essence do we have?!''

    [We killed and absorbed exactly 39 wolves in thest fight. Each wolf gave 5 Essence. So what we got from thest fight is 195 Essence. 200 Essence was awarded on questpletion. The total Essence we have with us is 1,080 Essence.]

    ''Show my stats''

    =====

    Health: 20

    Strength: 20

    Vitality: 20

    Agility: 20

    Defense: 20

    Endurance: 20

    Sense: 20

    Intelligence: 20

    Resolve: 20

    =====

    ''Increase all physical attributes by 20 points. Increase mental attributes by 10 points''

    [Lee, are you sure?!]

    ''.....do it.''

    [A total of 900 Essence spend. Bnce 180 Essence.]

    ''Show the updated stats''

    =====

    Health: 40

    Strength: 40

    Vitality: 40

    Defense: 40

    Endurance: 40

    Sense: 40

    Intelligence: 30

    Resolve: 30

    =====

    Lee was standing on the watchtower with eyes closed until he heard a noise from afar. He opened his eyes and saw arge pack of ck fur slowly moving towards the vige. His keen auditory sense picked up the noise of crushing bones of a rabbit from the mouth of a hungry wolf. Lee summoned the warning panel.

    =====

    Estimated time of contact: 30 minutes.

    =====

    ''D, how did the timer go from 2 and half hours to half an hour?!''

    [The scouts probably picked up the change in atmosphere and that might have triggered an early attack attempt.]

    ''Scan and tell the count of wolves''

    [Scanning...there are 289 wolves in this pack]

    ''A little more than I thought!''

    [Were you expecting a 110 or 120?!]

    ''No, 40 to 50.''

    Lee didn''t spend time chatting with D. He immediately got down from the tower and walked towards Darwin who was near the gate.

    "We have a few archers to kill from range and spearmen to prevent climbing the wall. Me, you and 5 other knights can attack." (Darwin)

    "Change of ns. I attack alone. You and the other knights stay on the wall and defend." (Lee)

    "Are you crazy?! That''s a huge pack of wolves! They can shred you if you''re alone." (Darwin)

    "I''m not trying to argue. Time is of the essence. Let''s debateter!" (Lee)

    Paulo was hearing their loud conversation. Lee ordered the guards to lift the gate. The two guards looked at each other and then looked at Paulo for a response. Paulo shrugged and said-

    "Do what he orders!" (Paulo)

    The gate was lifted about a man''s height when Lee told them to stop. Lee stepped outside and ordered them to close it. The two men had no other choice but to listen to him.

    "Hey, what is he thinking?! Some kind of hero?" (Guard 1)

    "Shhhh....shut up! I heard that he''s some kind of a hero. He saved the carriages that arrived today from wolves!" (Guard 2)

    "Hope he''s not crazy!" (Guard 1)

    Lee was hearing their conversation, but didn''tment. He didn''t have time to bother himself with other trivial matters.

    Lee squatted with one knee down. He thrusted his sword into the ground and waited for the pack''s arrival. All those on the wall went on high alert.

    Ten minutester, guards above the wall began to hear howls. It sent a shiver through their spine. Darwin noticed that some guards had their hands trembling. He couldn''t do anything but sigh, and rest all of his hope in the youngster.

    Lee, on the other hand, was thrilled. He didn''t squat down for nothing. He was calcting his future ns after killing, absorbing and selling their corpses to the Shop. He had estimated to acquire about 395 Essence points. He was in deep-thought regarding how to spend them, when wolves'' steps broke his moment. He stood up while taking the sword, and softly said-

    "Y''all ruined my moment, you''re gonna pay for it!"

    Guards didn''t hear anything he said, but saw what he did. They were visibly shaking, and morale hit the rock-bottom. They were barely conscious to stand. The next moment, all of them saw Lee disappear. Then, they saw it. He was like terror chained for a 100 years, finally unleashed. Only Darwin saw his movements, that too, faintly. His eyes couldn''t keep up with Lee''s agility.

    Lee was taking his sweet time cutting down wolves. He channeled his strength to his legs to give a boost, but was more than he thought. Hended right amidst the pack, upon a wolf''s back. The Foresight activated itself and Lee felt that time has slowed down quite a lot. Coincidentally, D told him that upgrading the Sense can help in perceiving surroundings more thoroughly and quickly.

    Lee knows that there is a chance for wolves to disperse once they see that attacks are inefficient. So he guided his de more efficiently to cut down more wolves. Soon, he had to move from the spot as dead bodies were piling up. He began to walk here and there while chopping down the wolves.

    The morale of those on the wall sky-rocketed when they saw Lee drenched in the blood of wolves. They enthusiastically defended the wall against wolves. Everyone was on high-spirit and forgot the flow of time.

    The pack began to thin out as time went by. The guards up the wall killed a few dozen, while Lee massacred the whole pack. When they thought that it was nearly over, arge howl came from a distance and the wolves suddenly retreated. Lee was able to chase and kill two, but didn''t go further. The dark veil over the sky was about to thin, when an extrarge wolf came from the woods. It wasn''t themon wolf they fought till now.

    Smooth shiny deep grey fur decorated its muscr body with elegance. Itsrge paws left an impression on the ground. Its ears were erect. It stared pratingly at blood-drenched Lee with itsrge deep green eyes. Its anger was well visible from its big sharp domineering teeth. The faint lighting from the horizon gave a feel of notoricity to the beast.

    The guards literally fell on the ground when they saw this beast, some ran away with their life. Darwin tried not to tremble, but his body gave away. He nced at Paulo and saw him lying t on the floor, unconscious.

    Lee used View. Instead of an information panel, D softly spoke in his mind.

    [This right here is a Cold King Wolf. Aged 14 years. Health 30. Strength 28. Agility 26. Defense 35. Endurance 33. Sense 18. Intelligence 14. Remark: With your strength, It is possible to defeat it. But killing it is impossible!]

    ''Oh...then we only have to make it possible!''

    The king wolf felt Lee''s concentration swaying for a moment. Without a second thought, it charged at Lee. Lee, expecting this with the help of Foresight, jumped and did a forward somersault. As he passed over the wolf, his de struck the wolf''s right forearm''s shoulder. Blood started to drip and it made the king wolf further enraged. The wolf lost all his reason. In its entire life, anything that wounded it ended up in its belly. This humiliation was unbearable for him.

    Lee, seeing that even a king can bleed, began to run around it and continuously wounded it. Sometimes, it evaded his attack and once in a while, Lee was wounded. He felt that this beast is one worth fighting. Both monsters tested each other''s strength and agility. They teased each other for about an hour.

    Seeing that its attacks are not sufficient, it turned around to charge towards the wall. It was expecting Lee toe in front of it and block it, and utilising this moment to make him lose his footing and kill him. Lee saw through its trick. So, he decide to go hardcore. He immediately reached behind it and drove his de through its ass!

 Chapter 11: Grim Reaper

    Chapter 11: Grim Reaper

    Everything living and moving abruptly came to a halt upon seeing this. The lower wolves could not bear to watch their king get a de up its ass, but didn''t move from shadows of the trees. They were afraid of Lee''s killing spree. They could only hope their king would defeat this two-legged pest.

    Lee''s de made the king wolf numb. The immense pain that flooded its whole body was too much for it. Lee pulled his de out and chopped its fluffy tail in the process. To lose a tail was equal to losing its reason to live. King wolf''s eyes were bloodshot. It turned to jump on Lee the next instant. Lee was sessful in enraging the king wolf to its peak. His idea was to piss off king wolf so much that it loses all reason to live. He watched the beast as it was slowly floating towards him. Lee corrected his stance, half-squatted, and his de was ready to slice its neck. He took two steps backward as the king wolf was about to reach him. Lee leaned to his left and raised his torso, while the de in his right hand drew an arc in the air, through the king''s neck!

    The king wolf fell with a thud. It''s wobbling legs were too weak to support its body. It finally realised Lee''s strategy as it felt pain below its neck. A pool of blood was starting to flow around its head. It nced at Lee. Its eyes were no longer bloodshot and enraged, but full of shock and appreciation. This wild beast knew to ept defeat and appreciate the victor. The king wolf began to breathe rough and its humongous body finally quieted down. None moved from their spot. It was as if time was stopped.

    The wolves came to their senses and began to flee far and wide. Since their king was dead, they have to form a new pack with a new leader. Their shadows scattered into the depths of forest.

    Lee was barely holding up. Beneath the wolves'' blood smeared on him, he was thoroughly wounded. His Health only had 2 points left. Making sure that beast was finally dead, he lost his bnce and stumbled forward. Before he fell, he thrusted his de to the ground for support. Guards on the wall saw these unbelievable acts and were stupefied. Darwin came back to his senses and roared at the guards beside him.

    "Bring a stretcher. Get him inside the wall. Treat and heal his wounds. He must not die!"

    The guards recovered from the shock and rushed to get the youngster inside the wall. They supported the barely alive Lee on their shoulders andid him on a stretcher. Four men carried him inside while others guarded them. The gate was closed and Lee was taken to treat his wounds. Men, women and children came out of their shelters and saw the brave youngman who single-handedly defended against a pack of wolves and its king. The vige''s medicinemen were summoned to treat the wounds. Lee had already fallen asleep from immense fatigue of overnight work.

    D was looking at Lee''s soul with an amused expression. D channeled Lee''s Vitality to his bones and muscles. Vitality could also be used to speed up the healing process. When a warm current of energy started flowing through him, a faint smile bloomed on his face.

    --------------------

    The chirping of birds and a faint noise weed Lee when he came back to senses. He opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar wooden roof above him. He saw an elderly woman sitting near his bed. She was as old as Paulo and had a tinge of care and kindness in her eyes. Lee tried to move, but the woman spoke softly-

    "Stay still. You were wounded pretty bad from the attack. Lucky that you survived." (Woman)

    "Where am I?! How long was I unconscious?!" (Lee)

    "I''m the vige medicineman''s wife. You''re in our house. You were unconscious for almost a day. You will feel numb for sometime, but will be good soon"(Woman)

    "Almost a day?! What about the wolves'' body and my de?!" (Lee)

    "The dead bodies of wolves are all piled up inside the vige. Your de is on the table." (Woman)

    She pointed to a table across the room. Lee stretched his neck and saw his de kept on the table. The woman felt it would be good to give him some time alone. So she walked out and closed the door.

    ''D, report!''

    [As you know, youpleted the quest and have obtained 200 Essence. The total Essence you have is 380.]

    ''Alright, show me my attribute panel''

    ====================

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Newbie, Grim-reaper

    Fame: 498

    Essence: 180

    ----------

    Health: 40

    Strength: 40

    Vitality: 40

    Agility: 40

    Defense: 40

    Endurance: 40

    Sense: 40

    Intelligence: 30

    Resolve: 30

    Immunity:-

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ====================

    Lee sighed and silentlyy down. He had questions everytime he saw his status. His body felt heavy, but not something that could keep him in bed. A sudden realisation hit him that he was lying on bed naked, with only a cover of a nket. He scanned around and saw his jacket, pants and shoes clean and kept on the table beside his de.

    Lee slowly got up and sluggishly walked towards the table. He wore his pants and shoes, and was about to wear his jacket when Paulo and the vige medicine-man entered the room. There was a visible amazement of his face. Lee didn''t mind Paulo staring at him, and quickly wore the jacket and grabbed his de from the table. He turned and slowly walked past both towards the door.

    Lee was blinded by the bright sunlight. He raised his hand to block the light and his vision adjusted to the brightness. The vige was in full-swing and alive with people. Behind the protective walls of the vigey a dense and spooky forest. It was the first time he saw the beauty of the vige he was in. About 100 meters away, he saw Darwin speaking with a serious face to some unfamiliar persons mounted on horses. Among them was one white robed middle-age woman with long, ck hair. She was undeniably a cultivator because she had a sword with her. Beside her were some fellow female warriors armed to the teeth. Lee was curious on how cultivators and warriors are in the same flock. So, he walked slowly towards them. On his way, vigers who saw him bowed and smiled at him with reverence.

    Darwin noticed the change in atmosphere and looked around. He was happy to see Lee alive and walking. His visible facial change piqued the interest of those mounted people. They saw Lee and deduced that he was the guy Darwin was talking about. They climbed down from their mounts and stood near Darwin. Lee was puzzled from their behaviour.

    ''I hope nothing wrong happens. I''m still recovering, am I not, D?!''

    [Yup, you still have minor wounds on you. They''ll heal in no time. Just don''t initiate another fight!]

    ''Copy that!''

    As Lee neared them, Darwin asked in a happy voice.

    "You sure you''re human?! You fought a whole pack and its king, and is still walking?" (Darwin)

    Lee could only smile awkwardly. He scratched his head with no answer. Before anyone could speak a word, A tall and curvaceous figure with a beautiful white face and hazel hair stepped forward. She bowed with respect and spoke-

    "I am Freya Elozin, leader of 9th Emergency Action Squad stationed in the city of Lorin, by the great King Aizil Trach, ruler of the kingdom Venus. I hereby extend my gratitude in helping this vige to defend against the unexpected attack of wolves. I was send by Mayor to examine the unexpected migration of wolves. You shall be rewarded for your courageous acts upon returning to the city of Lorin."

    Lee nced at Darwin with no idea of what was happening. Darwin understood what Lee meant and nodded slightly. Lee mustered courage and uttered three words-

    "Yes, Thank you!"

    Freya frowned on Lee''s response. Darwin felt helpless and wanted to facepalm, but he resisted. He understood that Lee is not well versed in formal greetings and etiquettes.

    "Miss Freya, Lee is a wanderer and unaware of formal etiquettes. Please be understanding." (Darwin)

    While Darwin was narrating how they met him on the way, a small pile of dead bodies caught his attention. Lee slowly moved away towards the pile. Two spearmen were standing near the pile and inspecting the dead bodies. When they saw Leeing over, they moved out of his way in respect.

    Lee squatted with one knee near the dead bodies and acted like he''s inspecting it. In fact, he was continuously absorbing their essence. D told him that until a being ispletely disintegrated, it is possible to absorb some quantities of Essence from it. Lee''s action caught the attention of the whole vige. They slowly gathered around the pile to see what their saviour was doing.

    Leepleted absorbing all the essence from the wolves. When he stepped out of the pile, vigers were bbergasted. On his shoulder was the body of the King Wolf. Freya frowned at this sight and enquired at Darwin.

    "Are you sure this youngster is a human?! Did you make sure that he''s not an orc or ogre?!"

    "Yes, I have. My senses are urate and correct. He''s definitely a human." (Darwin)

    Lee ced the king wolf''s body outside the pile and ''inspected'' it. While absorbing, a notification came up.

    =====

    Beast core detected. Absorb?

    =====

    ''What?! D, what does that mean?!''

    [Beast core is something only beings above a certain level can form. It is the condensed form of essence. It looks spherical, and its content will be far purer than conventional essence.]

    ''Interesting! Absorb.''

    While Lee was clearing his doubts, Darwin, Freya and herpanions came forward to him. They were wondering what he was doing. Darwin was scratching his head with a confused expression.

    Lee''s right hand was examining the cut while his left was absorbing the concentrated essence from the body. Lee saw that the hide was thick and the cut was clean. He guessed that it was due to its unbelievable smoothness.

    After absorbing the essence, he stood up and stretched his back.

    ''D, sell all these corpses to the Shop.''

    [You sure?! There''s a lot of attention on us! I advise to do it some time alone.]

    Lee turned around and asked the confused Darwin.

    "Darwin, what can we do about these corpses?!" (Lee)

    "Oh, it''s yours since you killed them all yourself. You can sell them when you reach the city. Their hides are worth two silver coins. The king grade''s beast core can be sold at a higher price."

    [Not anymore, I''m afraid.]

    ''I have their consent. But how can I bring all these to the city?!''

    [I have an idea. Buy a Spatial Ring from the Shop. Then sell all these to the Shop. It will disappear and they''ll believe that it''s all stored in your ring. Foolproof!]

    ''Ok..bring the shop interface''

    The Shop section for ornaments appeared before him. When he was scrolling through the products, what others saw was Lee in deep-thinking with his arms folded.

    The crowd had started to disperse. Darwin and hispany were preparing their bags before departure. Freya and herpanions would join them.

    After a few moments, Lee came across what he was looking for. He bought a Spatial Ring that was worth 300 Essence. His mind hesitated to spend Essence, but it was necessary to cover up the existence of Inventory. He clicked purchase and the screen vanished. The next second, Lee opened his right hand, feeling something inside. In his palmy a ring with metallic grey colour. He held it in front of him and closely inspected it. It didn''t have any luxurious carving. It was a in ring.

    The white-robed cultivator woman in Freya''s squad saw the ring and was astonished. She nearly screamed in shock.

    "It''s a Spatial Ring!!"

    Her remark attracted the attention of warriors upon Lee. He wasn''t aware of thismotion, so he immediately wore it in his left arm''s ring finger. It fit his finger like a tailored suit.

    Only after unconsciously ncing at the warriors did he understand the gravity of the situation. They all have heard of such a treasure, but have not touched it once. And here is Lee wearing it just like that. How could they not be jealous?!

    Without further ado, Lee began to sell the bodies to the Shop. The presence of ring convinced all that he''s actually storing them. After cleaning the mess, he turned around and walked towards Darwin.

 Chapter 12: Spar and Cure

    Chapter 12: Spar and Cure

    "Are you all done to return to the city?!" (Lee)

    "Yup, our mission is finished. We should return to the city to rest and take on further missions. Aren''t youing?!" (Darwin)

    "I think I''ll stay in the vige for a while. My injuries have healed, but I must take some rest before another journey." (Lee)

    "Will you be fine travelling to the city alone?! You don''t know the way." (Darwin)

    Lee smiled as he replied to Darwin''s concern.

    "I''ll be fine. Thanks for your concern."

    When they took a moment of pause, the white-robed cultivator stepped forward. She was as tall as Lee and seemed unrivaled in beauty. Her alluring bosom and exceptional butt felt pleasing to the eye to him. She cupped her hands and enquired.

    "Sir, can you tell me from where did you get that ring?!" (Woman)

    She pointed at the Spatial Ring in his finger. He raised his hand and looked at the ring while replying.

    "I got it when I was in the forest. This ring was inside a bird''s nest. I don''t know how it got there, but it was a fortuitous encounter."

    "Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. If you don''t mind, can we spar a little?!" (Woman)

    Her request stunned everyone around her. Lee looked at her. Her face was like an elegant portrait of a serene woman. He saw faint dark circles under her eyes and pale ck colouration on her skin. Freya, who stood aside her, pulled her back and scolded her.

    "Hey, don''t go and issue challenge-" (Freya)

    Before Freya could finish her sentence, Lee intervened.

    "It''s ok. We can spar. I''m still recovering, so I''ll ask you to go easy on me."

    Lee smiled and answered. The woman was very happy because Lee was the first person to ept her spar request straight away. Freya looked at Lee with a dumbed expression. She released her hand and muttered-

    "This guy is asking for a beating. He doesn''t know who she is!"

    Lee and the female cultivator walked towards the entrance, and to outside the vige. The female cultivator faintly smirked and thought-

    ''He thinks he''s strong just because he killed a king grade beast. I''ll show him what true strength is.''

    Lee, on the other hand, had summoned the status screen and was looking at it.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Newbie, Grim-reaper

    Fame: 504

    Essence: 1,530

    ----------

    Health: 40

    Strength: 40

    Vitality: 40

    Agility: 40

    Defense: 40

    Endurance: 40

    Sense: 40

    Intelligence: 30

    Resolve: 30

    Immunity:-

    Affinity:-

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ==========

    ''D, exin the new title!''

    [Grim-reaper, a title awarded when you massacred wolves ruthlessly. There is a reward for obtaining such titles. This time, it is a ''Weapon Upgrade token'' for Mortal grade weapons. It is stored in the Inventory. Do you want to use it now?!]

    ''Yes.''

    [Done, your de is now a Higher Mortal grade weapon. Further upgrade is avable.]

    ''Can I remove the ''Newbie'' title?!''

    [No, it will vanish when your actions are not that of a newbie]

    ''..and how does this ''Fame'' works?!''

    [Fame is the amount of respect or infamy you have acquired. Every being that has heard of your actions add one point to your Fame. Right now, everyone in the vige and the wolves you spared earlier have seen your actions. If they spread news about you, each being will be added as a point. That''s how ''Fame'' works.]

    ''Does it have any special characteristic?!''

    [Yes. Increasing ''Fame'' will give you rewards, like the one you have in the Inventory. You''ll get your first reward when it reaches 1,000.]

    ''How did my Essence increase so much?!''

    [Youpleted the quest and got 200 Essence. You killed and absorbed 213 wolves and got 1,065 points. The beast core of King wolf contained 50 Essence and it was sold to the Shop for 35 Essence. Adding the previous bnce, you obtained 1,530 Essence.]

    ''What is ''Affinity''?''

    [When you sold the King Grade body to the Shop, this attribute was unlocked. Affinity shows yourpatibility with elements that can aid you in battle. There are beasts with elemental harmony in their Essence. When you absorb such Essences, you get theirpatibility. And don''t think of them misfiring or repelling, it''s all under control.]

    ''Can I spend Essence to increase elemental affinity?!''

    [No.]

    ''Thought so. Let''s increase all the attributes by 25 points. Calcte and let me know.''

    [1,250 Essence must be spent. Confirm?]

    ''Confirm! And view the updated status''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Newbie, Grim-reaper

    Fame: 504

    Essence: 280

    ----------

    Health: 65

    Strength: 65

    Vitality: 65

    Agility: 65

    Defense: 65

    Endurance: 65

    Sense: 65

    Intelligence: 55

    Resolve: 55

    Immunity:-

    Affinity:-

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ==========

    Lee immediately nced at the female cultivator and used ''View''

    =====

    Name: An Fenfang

    Age: 28

    Cultivation: 7th stage Core Formation Realm

    State: Mildly poisoned, Cultivation stagnant,

    Health: 49

    Strength: 56

    Agility: 53

    Defense: 47

    Endurance: 39

    Sense: 46

    Intelligence: 59

    =====

    ''So she''s poisoned! No wonder she had dark colors on her skin. She must be losing her sleep on it.''

    [Do you want to save thedy in distress?! We have poison-antidotes in Shop.]

    ''Later D,ter.''

    Lee increased his pace and reached the open ground in front of the vige gate. It was here he ughtered the wolves. Lee took a 360 degree glimpse of the surrounding forest. The female cultivator reached there a few secondster. Fellow warriors followed her. Standing about 100 meters apart, she unsheated her sword and held in a guard stance and stood there for a few seconds. Her countenance couldn''t disguise her frailty. Lee understood that she''s hesitating to attack due to her condition. He stood with arms folded, frowned and asked-

    "Why are you hesitating?! Want to admit defeat?!" (Lee)

    Lee teased her hesitation to break herposure. And it hit its mark. She felt her pride being questioned. The next second, she closed the distance between them. Her raised sword came down like a vicious predator. Darwin and others saw that Lee was not moving or guarding, but smiling faintly. When her sword was about to touch him, Lee disappeared. Then a voice came from her behind-

    "I think you arepletely mistaken. I''m standing here!"

    This remark further enraged her. She turned around and shed her sword horizontally aiming at his neck. Lee took a step forward and caught her wrist, halting her movement. She became alert by his action.

    When she looked at him, his face was no longer teasing her, but had a serious expression with deep frowned brows. She didn''t feel any hostility or killing intent, but tried to escape from his grip. He saw her attempt and said-

    "Calm down. There''s blooding from your mouth."

    He put an act of a concerned citizen. She touched her mouth on his remark and saw blood dripping from the corner. Freya ran to her upon hearing this. Darwin was confused and followed her lead.

    Lee supported the woman as her legs started wobbling. She leaned on Lee''s chest while falling unconscious. Freya saw that her condition had gone unstable and asked a stretcher to bring her inside. Lee volunteered-

    "I''ll carry her."

    Lee carried her in his arms and ran. He was faster than Darwin and Freya by a great margin. Lee dashed towards the vige doctor''s house.

    The vige doctor was in his 70''s. He was sitting in his courtyard and staring into distance, when Lee came with the woman in his arms. Seeing this, the doctor got up and hurriedly checked her pulse. He told Lee to take her inside andy her down immediately. The doctor ran to his storage, grabbed some herbs and came back at the same speed. By this time, warriors that followed Lee had reached the house. Freya saw the doctor running and was panicking.

    "This doctor is very skillful and brilliant. He can heal her disease." (Darwin)

    Darwin said to the panic-stricken Freya. Her response made them frown.

    "It''s not a disease. She was affected by poison!" (Freya)

    Doctor heard this and stopped in his tracks. He looked at Freya and then frowned at the woman on bed.

    "But her symptoms are simr to a parasite infection! How can it be poison?!" (Doctor)

    "I don''t know how. She only told me that she was poisoned when she ate a red coloured cubic fruit she saw in the forest." (Freya)

    The doctor gasped air as the beaker in his hand fell and shattered. Lee could only imagine the severity of the poison from his trembling hands. Doctor nearly lost his bnce.

    "It''s...it''s a Six-faced Red Barnacle Fruit. She''s a fool to eat it, but can''t be med. That fruit is pleasing to eyes. It has a poisonous parasitic nature. Once its juice enters the body, it slowly prates into the victim''s blood vessels and forms numerous tiny scales inside it. These scales slowly suck away the vitality. The process is long and painless, unless the time of death arrives. When it reaches a mature stage, it will try to go out of the victim''s body by making blood vessels erupt. It''s a gruesome death. Normal people might have died years ago. She lived this long by circting her Qi. A disruption in Qi made her lose her control."

    Hearing this, Freya stared at Lee pratively. Lee couldn''t help but awkwardly look at the ground. Then, a question arose in his mind-

    "Can it be cured?!" (Lee)

    *sigh*

    "It can be, but it''s difficult to acquire the fruit. The Red Barnacle has a smell that attracts human beings, while it''s twin named Blue Barnacle has a scent that attracts animals. It will look exactly the same, but in blue colour. There is a chance that the area surrounding this fruit might have be their of some ferocious beast. They will kill any intruder nearing the fruit." (Doctor)

 Chapter 13: To Save and Love

    Chapter 13: To Save and Love

    Everyone saw Lee walking out of the building. His face reflected immense guilt. Darwin wanted to console him, but didn''t move. Freya''s displeasure paled when he exited. She too felt immense regret in not stopping Fenfang when she lost herposure. Her face clouded with sadness.

    Lee''s acting was perfect. None could have thought that this was all his n. Lee intended to go to some forest, amass some Essence and then return to the vige after buying the Six-faced Blue Barnicle fruit from the Shop. He walked with a heavy foot and everyone who saw him felt a tinge of heaviness in their hearts. The vige nearly fell into a silent mourning.

    After a few seconds, Darwin came out looking for Lee. He saw Lee standing near the fountain, head low and staring at the water. Darwin thought that immense sorrow had hit him, so he let him stay alone for about an hour. In actuality, Lee was calcting the number of murder and deforestation he had to do before buying the fruit worth of 950 Essence.

    ''D, how useful is Affinity in battle?!''

    [Quite. Affinity helps you to be in harmony with an element or entity with 100% perfection. It still has levels like Lesser, Mid, Higher and Absolute. When you absorb a beast core that has an affinity with an element, you gain the affinity. If the affinity is apound in nature, the constituent affinities will rise. You can->

    ''What ispound affinity?!''

    [Shut up and listen first. Let me finish what I''m saying.]

    ''...''

    [You can also gain affinity by absorbing trees, nts, fungus and even corpses of some beings. If there is any affinity in the surrounding atmosphere, I will notify you. About your doubt,pound affinity is an affinity that is stable by itself. For example: Lava. Lava is thebination of Earth and Fire, and is stable.

    A crucial point, there is a chance that you might encounter beasts with ''Law Constitution''. Do not absorb them right away. Store them and only absorb when your affinity in the element reaches Absolute level. Or else you''ll die.]

    ''I have to ask what ''Law Constitution'' is.''

    [Some creatures are born with an innate Law Constitution in their body or acquire them as time passes. This Law Constitution body is actually a small fragment of the respectivew. In danger, a beast can activate the Law Constitution body that gives themplete invincibility for about an hour. If you absorb such a body after reaching Absolute level, You can slowlyprehend and control thepletew. It is a slow process, but having aw at hand isn''t bad, right?!]

    =====

    Quest!

    ''Save An Fenfang from death''

    Reward: 250 Essence

    Warning: The Colorless Swamp Serpent resides in Silentwood forest.

    =====

    ''Looks like I can gain some benefits by going there.''

    Lee''s face suddenly brightened. He turned around to see Darwin standing about 5 meters from him. Darwin was confused to see a bright expression on his face. Until a second before, it was sad. Before he think anymore, Lee said-

    "I''ve decided to go to the forest to get the Blue Barnacle fruit!" (Lee)

    Stunned Darwin saw seriousness and honesty in Lee. He slightly smiled and shook his head, and said-

    "I knew you''d be determined. So I''ve too decided to apany you. My men will stay behind to guard the vige in our absence." (Darwin)

    Lee was surprised, and moreover displeased. He wanted to go alone. But if Darwin tags along, his ns will not work.

    "You don''t have toe. I am the reason she''s in this state. You must stay here. I must go alone." (Lee)

    Darwin was not ready to give up. He opened his mouth to reason, but Lee cut him off.

    "If youe with me, it''ll be a burden. I am better alone." (Lee)

    Darwin''s expression faded. He didn''t utter a word, turned around and walked towards the carriage. He unbolted and disengaged a horse from it and came back with it. Lee was watching his action and prayed to not let him tag along. As Darwin was walking towards him, he pulled a folded paper from the inside of his jacket and gave it to Lee.

    "This is the map to the Silentwood forest, where the fruit can be found. You cannot walk to the forest. There''s at least two day travel to reach there. Take this horse. It used to be a warhorse. It will get you there much faster."

    His face was positive. He knew he cannot discourage Lee, so he encouraged him. As an experienced knight, Darwin knows the power and perseverance that guilt provides.

    Freya silently approached them and heard Darwin''s words. She was mildly curious as to Lee''s behaviour. From what she could guess, all these actions fell in ce to form a secret love sprout.

    Lee only had eyes on acquiring Essence, and the attempt to go on a deadly mission was a golden chance for him. But, he couldn''t ept the horse. Because he did not have any experience riding one.

    "Friend, I thank you for supporting me. But, I don''t know how to ride a horse." (Lee)

    Darwin was stunned for a moment, but came back to his senses. He remembered how Lee lived this entire time. No wonder he did not know how to ride a horse.

    "I want to-" (Darwin)

    "It''s okay. Even if I had a horse, I would still prefer to walk to the forest. I am the reason why she was hurt. I must not do this the easy way, or the guilt will suffocate me!" (Lee)

    Saying this, Lee turned away and disappeared through the vige entrance. Darwin stared at Lee''s disappearing image. A certain question arose in his mind.

    ''Could he be in-'' (Darwin)

    His thought was disrupted by Freya''s words.

    "He''s definitely in love."

    Darwin was startled to hear her voice from behind. He couldn''t hear her approaching. He turned around and asked.

    "You knew?!" (Darwin)

    "I had a suspicion. Now I confirm it. The incident waspletely idental, but it left a huge sense of guilt in him. If hees back alive, I believe he will protect her from any harm in the future. A wish to protect her from harm can be felt in his actions." (Freya)

    Darwin heard this and his eyes showed agreement to her words. He slightly chuckled and said as he walked towards the doctor''s house.

    "Then let''s pray for his safe return, with the cure." (Darwin)

    Freya followed Darwin after hearing this.

    -----------------------------------------------

    [You really are a cunning fellow. You pulled off such an act in front of an experienced knight. But I advise you to fall in love with Fenfang. She''s an average woman, but had an above-average cultivation. In my opinion, she could have been tricked to eat the fruit by a rival. She will die if there is none to protect her.]

    One could barely see a figure running through the woods, but a trail of disappearing trees about two mile long was very eye-catching. He regrly nced at the Essence count and saw a slight increase every time.

    =====

    Essence: 510

    =====

    Lee decreased his speed and came to a halt. He brought the quest panel again. It was now the new line of information caught his sight.

    [Don''t tell me you didn''t read this.]

    ''What is a Colorless Swamp Serpent?!''

    [A serpent is about 100 meters long and lives for 500 years. Its speciality is it''s scales. They perfectly camouge its presence from one''s sight. It is as if it does not have a colour. Thus the name Colourless Swamp Serpent. It''s natural habitat is marsnds that enable smooth and fast movements. To be precise, you are at a disadvantage.]

    ''So if it''s out of the swamp, I could see it?!''

    [You cannot see it clearly, but it''s outlined under good lighting.]

    ''Then all I have to do is expose it to light and kill it, isn''t it?!''

    [Even if you clear the area around the swamp, you need to pull it out of the swamp.]

    ''I''ll show you how I do it.''

    Lee had already resumed running and selling the trees to Shop. His Essence increased to 887 by the end of the day and didn''t go any further. Lee was already out of the snowy forest and had entered grassy ins. The transition was sudden. The dusk had already weed night forpany.

    Lee slowly walked forward as fatigue had hit him. He nced at the map Darwin gave him and found that he had already reached half the way. Lee stood on a small mound and saw green ins under bright moonlight. Leeid down and took a small nap. His face looked at the beautiful doughnut in the sky. His nap was soon disturbed by D''s soft voice.

    [Don''t move. Stay still. Some non-hostile beings simr to hen are approaching.]

    Lee half-opened his eyes and saw hen-like creatures bobbing as they walked towards him. He stopped about 3 meters from him and looked at him with a tilted head. Lee saw that they had 4 eyes and wings capable of providing flight. Since they aren''t hostile, he closed his eyes and took a nap. Seeing that Lee was asleep, those hens came and sat around him. They surrounded Lee like a fence. Lee unknowingly fell into a calm and serene slumber.

    ---------------

    Morning.

    Lee woke up to see a hen sitting on his chest. He raised his head and saw that he''s surrounded by the same creatures. They were all sleeping just like a hen does.

    Lee tried to move without waking up the hen. But as soon as he moved, the one sitting on his chest opened his eyes and tilted its head as it looked at him. It suddenly made a loud crow which woke up the whole group. Those who opened its eyes jumped up and ran scatteredly. Lee didn''t mind their actions and noise unless it was hostile. He stood up and dusted his jacket and pants. A sudden urge to pee hit him. He moved from his spot and released his stress. Hunger and thirst was slowly showing up, but wasn''t intense.

    ''D, why is my hunger and thirst surfacing now?!''

    [You were foreign to this dimension. I was slowly injecting small amounts of energy into your body, mind and soul to make it adapt with your surrounding energy. Your being has nowpletely absorbed and assimted the energy and can absorb Qi and Mana from the atmosphere. Your metabolism was partially halted to perform this process.]

    ''So I can absorb Qi and Mana? Just like that?''

    [You cane across Qi and Mana abundant atmospheres very rarely. But when youe across, you can absorb itpletely without any problem.]

    ''Notify me when energy rich areas are in vicinity.''

    Lee took a brief look at the map and continued his journey with further ado. He increased his pace and disappeared into the horizon without realising two pairs of eyes locked on him.

 Chapter 14: Im Faster!

    Chapter 14: I''m Faster!

    There was nothing in sight to absorb and sell, so Lee was particrly displeased. His difort was ovee by beautiful and vast greennds around him. Twice, somewhere far away, he saw settlementsrger than Eturt vige. But he didn''t mind them. His journey had two objectives. One, bring back Blue Barnacle fruit and heal An Fenfang. Two, kill and acquire Essence from the Colourless Swamp Serpent and hopefully obtain an affinity. This hope was given by D as he told him that affinities can also be formed to conditions, like camouge and stealth. And as a beast that even Quest gave warning about, he was curious as to its age.

    From far away, Lee saw a dense forest that had a creepy vibe. A clear track made by numerous carriages guided Lee through his way. He moved ording to Darwin''s map. The trees were tall and thick and gave him a lot of Essence points. As he moved forward, the path was widened and Essence points increased.

    It didn''t take him too long to reach the border of the swamp. The grassless muddy terrain was far and wide like a big circle. It''s borders were clearly outlined by the trees. At the right center of this circle was a short and thin tree with heart shaped leaves. Lee''s keen eyesight found the cubic shaped fruit hidden among the leaves. He can guess its name - Six-faced Blue Barnacle fruit.

    He climbed onto one of the trees that stood like a fence around the swamp. Upon reaching a height, he can see that the tree in the center is actually standing not on mud, but on a piece ofnd about 4 meters in diameter. After reaching a conclusion that he does not have a way to reach the tree, he decided to lure the beast out. The twin stars above the head will give him an advantage. He opened his Essence points panel.

    =====

    Essence: 1285

    =====

    ''D, have suggestions to provoke it?!''

    [I have two suggestions. One, buy a lot of bombs from the Shop and throw them into the swamp while running round it. Two, buy a good Bow and a few arrows to fire at random spots of swamp. Either way, the serpent will be annoyed.

    But if you just want to take the fruit without killing the serpent, buy a ''One-time use Freeze Talisman''. You need at least Qi or Mana to activate this. So it''s a no-go. You can only buy skills for now]

    An idea shone bright in his mind as his face brightened.

    ''Essence is the core of a substance or a being''s energy. If that''s the case, can I absorb the water in the swamp?! Then the swamp won''t be a swamp anymore!''

    [The water content can be absorbed. But the Essence will be less than pure water.]

    Hearing this, Lee jumped and reached the ground with a slight ''thud''. He slowly walked towards the edge of the swamp and slowly absorbed the essence of mud. A visible change urred in the terrain as the mud began to harden. This effect was slow but visible. The serpent lying peacefully about 15 meters below the surface was suddenly woken up as it''s tail was caught up in the hardening mud. It vigorously shook its tail and tail and freed itself, and swam upward. Before thest patch of mud solidified, it sessfully came out of the mud andnded on the hard brown terrain.

    A huge serpent longer than 350 meters looked around with angered eyes. Its features weren''t clear to the eyes, but it''s outline was, under sunlights. Lee froze for a second upon seeing it''s outline. It wasn''t camouging intentionally, but it''s scales simply reflect its surrounding color. It''s blending ability was off-the-charts.

    Lee finished absorbing essence from the swamp. It was now a drnd. Serpent locked onto Lee and observed him for a second. Sensing that this tiny thing is a threat and could not be left alive, it hissed and charged at Lee. Lee jumped backward and disappeared into the woods. It followed him like a homing missile. Lee had already used ''View''

    =====

    Name: Colourless Swamp Serpent

    Age: 430 years

    State: Healthy, enraged

    -----

    Health: 160

    Strength: 175

    Agility: 142

    Defense: 166

    Endurance: 159

    Sense: 173

    Intelligence: 120

    =====

    ''Damn it! Even the least attribute is two times to mine. I cannot fight it head-on. D, suggestion?!''

    [Keep running. It won''t follow you for long as it needs to guard the fruit from other invaders too.]

    Lee was literally flying for his life with a serpent at his tail. He boosted his agility with additional leg strength. But the serpent kept closing in. As it neared him to bite, it suddenly hesitated as its pupils went wide and stopped in its tracks. It hissed at Lee who was standing far away from the serpent, catching his breath. Serpent retreated back to itsir and coiled around the tree at the center.

    Lee''s gamble was a sess, but notpletely. His legs were trembling from the running session. Lost strength, he leaned onto a tree to support. He sat beside it and rested. Now that the serpent has coiled around the fruit, his only option was to increase his attributes above that of serpent. He can only rely on his sword mastery to y it. Upon resolving his mind, he summoned the status panel.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20 years

    Title: Newbie, Grim-reaper

    Fame: 632

    Essence: 1285

    ----------

    Health: 65

    Strength: 65

    Vitality: 65

    Agility: 65

    Defense: 65

    Endurance: 65

    Sense: 65

    Intelligence: 55

    Resolve: 55

    Immunity:-

    Affinity:-

    ==========

    Before Lee went calcting, D spoke-

    [That serpent will have poison attacks. If you can withstand them, obtaining Poison Immunity is easy.]

    Lee frowned and asked-

    ''How do I withstand?!''

    [Don''t receive the poison spit head on. Let it fall on the ground and then go and touch it. It will sting, but the Poison Immunity will be obtained. The more you make contact with poison, the more the immunity will improvise.]

    ''Noted. Let''s increase all physical attributes by 35 points each. How much left?!''

    =====

    Essence: 60

    =====

    [You''ll need a total of 2,625 Essence to upgrade all physical attributes to 175. The serpent''s highest is 175, for strength.]

    "Then I need to clear the forest a little!"

    Lee spoke his mind out in reply to D''s calction. He stood and disappeared to the outer area of the forest. From there, he began his operation.

    -----------

    Two hours have passed. The serpent slowly raised his head in confusion. It can tell that something is invading the forest, but could not pinpoint what it was. It became alert and stared at its surroundings. Upon sensing that nothing hostile is in the area, it closed its eyes to take a nap.

    What it felt was true. Lee was running wildly through the forest. Everywhere he goes, the tree disappears. Anything he sees, he cuts them down. He lost track of time and Essence points. He only had one objective - kill the serpent.

    After about 3 hours, D notified him that the Essence needed for upgradation has attained. Lee didn''t mind him and moved further inwards. Anyone in the sky can clearly see that the forest has reduced about a tenth of its size. Lee knew this fact as he regrly nced at the Map. D gave him warnings as to whether there are beasts hiding in the vicinity. After slowing down from exhaustion, Lee took a breather. Lee stared at the Essence panel with a grin.

    =====

    Essence: 3271

    =====

    ''D, increase all physical attributes by 90 points and mental attributes by 5 points. Then show me the status.''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20 years

    Title: Newbie, Grim-reaper

    Fame: 633

    Essence: 21

    ----------

    Health: 190

    Strength: 190

    Vitality: 190

    Agility: 190

    Defense: 190

    Endurance: 190

    Sense: 190

    Intelligence: 60

    Resolve: 60

    Immunity:-

    Affinity:-

    ==========

    Lee sighed and took out his de from the inventory.

    "Let''s see how much I have improved!"

    Lee said with a smile on his face. He slowly walked towards his prey while leisurely acquiring Essence. When he neared the brown grassless patch ofnd, he told D to locate a color-bomb from the Shop.

    [It costs 100 Essence. Do you want to buy it?!]

    ''Yes, buy it.''

    Then, a small fist-sized ball materialised in Lee''s hand. It was smooth and had many coloured strips on it. Lee climbed onto a tree and resolved his mind. Once the bomb hits it, The serpent will chase him till death. But he was confident.

    He channeled all his strength into his right hand and threw it at the serpent. Before the serpent could even react, the bomb exploded on it and filled it''s scales with vibrant colours. It''s scales lost their effect.

    Upon seeing the bomb hitting its mark, he jumped andnded in the open with a thud. The serpent saw him doing a ''superheronding'' and was angered. The colors exposed its true shape under bright light. It opened its mouth to spit it''s poison.

    [The poison attack ising. Evade partially and let a small amount touch your body.]

    It spat poison like a dart. Lee moved ording to D. He consciously swung his arm and made contact with the poison. It was unbearably painful to him, so he withdrew his hand. Before he could curse D, a notification appeared.

    =====

    Lesser Poison Immunity acquired

    Progress: 1/100

    =====

    Lee kept a distance from the serpent to take a look at the notification. He raised his doubt to D.

    ''How does the progress work?!''

    [It''s the numerical estimation of exposure in seconds. Each second of contact with poison increases your immunity. I know, it''s painful. But bear with it!]

    Lee gritted his teeth in pain. He was angry enough to rip D apart. But he tolerated it for the immunity. Even his body was reflecting his pain and anger.

    The serpent saw his actions and its after-effects. Itughed inwardly for his stupidity to touch a deadly poison. But, Lee''s next action stunned it. It stood there with its jaw dropped, watching Lee walk towards the puddle of poison and repeatedly touching it. It could put a smile on its face and coil back where he was. Serpent patiently waited for Lee to drop dead.

    Lee was crouching near and touching the poison puddle repeatedly. He pulled his hands whenever the pain got too much. Later, he began to use both hands. When his hands were sore enough, he stood, removed his shoes and poke it with his legs.

    About half an hour passed. The serpent slowly opened his eyes and was thunderstruck. Lee was alive and kicking the poison puddle with vigor and energy. It felt something fishy, so it charged at Lee. The serpent had poison on its fangs to numb its prey. When it nearly touched Lee, Lee disappeared from the spot and appeared on the serpent''s back with his raised de. His de came down as he said-

    "You''re fast. But I''m faster!"

    The chop split the serpent''s head into two. Blood flowed like a fountain. D spoke in his mind-

    [Tear out it''s fangs and poison sacs. It may help you to achieve Higher Poison Immunity. Then absorb the essence and beast core.]

    Lee promptly did as he''s told. He tore the fangs and poison sacs with it. He ced them in his Inventory for the time being. Then he started to absorb the essence.

    =====

    ''Poison rted beast core'' detected. Absorb?

    =====

    ''Absorb!''

    A slight numbness was felt on his hand for a moment, then it came back to normal. He acquired a humongous amount of 205 Essence from the serpent''s beast core. Selling the body gave him 97 Essence. He nodded his head in amazement and turned to walk towards the fruit.

    The cubic shaped blue fruit was hidden among the leaves. Lee slowly slipped his hand through them and plucked 6 ripe fruits. There were 3 still unripe and small. So without wasting time, he absorbed its essence and sold it. He ced the plucked fruits in the Spatial ring along with his de. After going back to the puddle of poison, he checked his status.

    =====

    Mid Poison Immunity acquired

    Progress: 9987/10000

    =====

    Lee began to stamp in the near-dry puddle of poison. After 2 or 3 stamps, the progress halted. Then D advised him.

    [It seems like you need some good quality poison to increase the immunity. Take out the fangs only. They are filled with poison, so holding it in your hand will be enough to continue the progress.]

    Lee took out the fangs promptly. The moment he took them out, his hands started to burn up in pain. After a few seconds, the pain dropped greatly and another notification appeared.

    =====

    Higher Poison Immunity acquired

    Progress: 0/1000000

    =====

    Lee was stunned for a second and immediately calcted the time. His eyes went wide as he roared at D.

    "I have to make contact with poison for nearly 12 days?! Isn''t it a little too much?!"

    D didn''t respond immediately. He spoken a serious voice a dozen secondster-

    [Do you have any idea what Higher Poison Resistance is?! Poison is the most deadly substance capable. It has the record of keeping even the most powerful beings at bay. Those that have even the slightest poison resistance can be enrolled in the army without trials. They can venture to areas where most people are afraid to go. Now tell me, isn''t it too easy to achieve Higher Poison Immunity in just 12 days?!]

    ''...''

    Lee was silent. He never expected that his abilities were too overpowered. He stared at the screen for a moment and softly said-

    ''I''m sorry D. I never knew this information. I hope you''re not angry at me.''

    [Kid, I''ve seen many hot-headed people in my life. So you aren''t the first. I am trying to help you grow. Understand the situation and act calm and wise. Never let your emotions control you!]

    Lee nodded in agreement. The fangs were in his hand. He stored one in the Inventory and held the other wrapped with his left arm. The progress went on constantly until the fang was dry. He then absorbed its essence and sold it. He took out the other and continued the same. While doing all these, his right arm was making a path wide enough for a carriage to travel as he walked.

    Night fell as Lee walked on the grasnd with a poison sac in his hand. He had already sold the useless fang. Lee was now dripping poison drop by drop on his left hand while holding the sac in the right. He once tried to drink a little, but instantly made him regret his decision. He walked under the moonlight continuing his activity. He yawned loud and made him realise that it''s toote to stay awake. He stored the poison sac in the Inventory and sat on the grass cross-legged. He enjoyed the beauty of night and chillness in the air.

    *buck*

    A faint voice entered his ear and he turned his head to look around. Lee saw a familiar four-eyed rooster head looking at him. It stared at him for a second and disappeared. He sighed inwardly as heid down on the grass to sleep. Before his eyes could close, arge sound of roosters came towards him.

    The same bunch of roosters came running at him. He was clueless as to their action. He stayed still as they approached him and sat next to him. Some inclined their heads onto Lee''s t lying body. An abnormal calmness arose in Lee''s mind as he drifted into sleep.

 Chapter 15: Lady and Love

    Chapter 15: Lady and Love

    Morning

    An unfamiliar face of ady greeted Lee in the morning. She was a little taller than Lee and thin in stature. She looked like a woman in herte 30''s and had a round hat on her head. Her brown cascade was braided thick. Her beautiful side set in front and round at her back decorated her figure. Her dress wasn''t luxurious. Lee was visibly confused in her presence as there were no settlements near where he slept. He raised his torso with his elbows and the roosters woke up and scattered away.

    "Did my children bother you?!" (Lady)

    His confusion intensified with a deep frown and dropped jaw. She saw his expressions and immediately bowed in apology.

    "My children are not friendly with anyone except me. If they upset you, I ask for your forgiveness." (Lady)

    Lee hurriedly got up and replied-

    "No, they didn''t. They silently came near me and sat without bothering. They were not disturbing nor hostile." (Lee)

    "Did they not?!" (Lady)

    Thedy was stunned by his reply. She never expected the roosters to be friendly with a stranger just like that.

    "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lee. I am a wanderer. I am currently staying at Eturt vige. I met your children yesterday night when I was travelling to the Silentwood forest. They were very friendly." (Lee)

    Lee smiled and scratched his head as he replied. But the change of expression on her face was noticed by him. Her face lost its luster.

    "Did you say.Silentwood forest?!" (Lady)

    Lee took a moment of pause and replied-

    "Yes. Is there any problem?!" (Lee)

    "ARE YOU MAD?! A HUGE SERPENT LIVES THERE! IT''LL KILL...Wait a minute, how are you alive?!" (Lady)

    Lady''s expression was like switching the light off from on. Her initial scream changed to curiosity in a second.

    "I killed it!" (Lee)

    He could only hope that she is not a worshipper of the serpent. Since he has seen many things unbelievable to his logic, he wished so.

    "Don''t joke on the Swamp Serpent. It is powerful enough to drive all beasts out of the forest because of one fruit." (Lady)

    Lee''s smile disappeared and his expression went poker. He shook his head in reluctance to exin. He took out the two poison sacs he salvaged from the serpent. He extended his arms at her. Upon seeing the sacs, she took a few steps backward and her face full of cold sweat.

    "You..really...killed...it?!" (Lady)

    Her voice was soft, curious and trembling. Her eyes were filled with expectations.

    "I had to get a Blue Barnacle fruit because one of my friends identally ate a Red Barnacle fruit. The serpent was guarding the fruit, so I had to lure it out and kill it from the shadows." (Lee)

    His lies were not believable, so he produced 2 Blue Barnacle fruits as evidence. The Lady was happy and tears rolled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them and stood straight-

    "I am Rue, the guardian druid of the Silentwood forest. The roosters before are actually tree spirits in disguise. The Blue Barnacle fruit reached our forest through a carcass of a wandering Earth Ox. When it sprouted and gave fruit, an unknown unity and peace enveloped us. We and many other beasts lost their lives and homes when the Swamp Serpent invaded the forest for the fruit. We don''t know how to thank you for your actions. You have restored our hopes!

    I am asking out of curiosity.what did you do to the tree?!"

    Lee scratched and lied-

    "Oh that, I....I burned it.Yes, burned to ashes..!" (Lee)

    Rue sighed and bowed respectfully.

    "If you ever need to ask for help from Silentwood forest, do not hesitate. You''re our saviour!" (Rue)

    Her face glowed with happiness. But Lee saw tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. He knew that she could burst into tears at any moment.

    "I''m sorry. I will not dy your travel anymore. Sorry to make you mix up in our mess!" (Rue)

    Lee took great liking to her good and caring behaviour. His thoughts identally slipped through his mouth-

    "I like her!"

    Rue was stunned by his remark. Her face was turning red. Lee took a moment to understand his mistake, and when he did, he had a strong urge to facepalm. He immediately asked for an apology, but Rue blushed and nodded with her eyes nted to the ground. He bid goodbye before the scene became any awkward. He walked to a distance and looked back, and saw Rue leading the roosters in the direction of Silentwood forest. Without wasting a moment, he raced to the vige. A sense of satisfaction filled his mind as he moved through the path he made a day before.

    -------------------------------------------

    He reached the vige faster than he expected. This time, he was nearly flying. When the vige came in his sight, He slowed down so that guards could see from afar and open the gates.

    What happened was as he expected. Some guards ran to alert Darwin and Paulo, while some opened the gate. Lee rushed to the doctor''s house. He scattered the door to pieces with a push. Seeing him enter, the doctor was very d. Lee immediately handed over 2 Blue Barnacle fruits.

    "d you came on time. She could not havested for another half a day." (Doctor)

    Doctor ran to his table as he stood frozen. Lee''s heart nearly skipped the beat. He wouldn''t apologise to himself if she died. After all, he was the reason she ended up like this.

    "Boy, you must do a full body check-up when returning to the city. I assume you aren''t human!"

    A familiar voice came as Darwin entered the room. His eyes scanned the numerous pieces of the door on the floor. He thought of sparring with Lee sometime before, but it''s a no-go now. Freya came following him. She was stunned upon seeing the blown up door and covered her mouth with amazement.

    "It''s all thanks to you, brother. Your map helped me greatly. I reached back sooner because of its help." (Lee)

    "You''re being unnecessarily polite. You really wanted to save her and y hero, right?!"

    Freya teased Lee, for his arrival was earlier than expected. They never expected Lee''s agility to increase on such a grand scale.

    "I wasn''t ying hero. She''s in this state because of me. If I don''t save her now, I should not live anymore." (Lee)

    His words were honest and true. Darwin wanted to speak, but doctor came back from the room and said-

    "The two fruits you bought were perfectly ripe. She is resting now. The fruit will take its time to reverse the harms in her body. You can see her if you want. But do not wake her up." (Doctor)

    Lee unconsciously stepped into the room as soon as he heard the doctor''s words. He didn''t notice a mischievous smile on doctor''s and Freya''s face. They had already deduced it as a sort of love or affection.

    -----------------------------

    An Fenfang was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Her face was not in pain and misery, but calm and peaceful. He understood that the fruit had started to take its effect. Slowly and steadily, he walked towards her and stood near her. He didn''t know why, but his eyes were welling up upon seeing her in this state. It is probably my mind''s desire to protect her from here on, Lee thought. Unbeknownst to him, others standing outside had already justified the ''love-at-first-sight'' theory with their own justifications.

    Tears rolled down his cheek continuously. When Freya, Darwin and the doctor peeked inside, they saw Lee wiping his tears again and again and again. They quietly retreated to the outside.

    "I guess you were correct, miss Freya. He''s actually in love with her." (Darwin)

    "But Lee had only seen her for barely a day. They might have spared a little. Apart from that, he does not know her. Then how can he just fall in love with a woman who isn''t even too beautiful?!" (Freya)

    The doctor heard their dialogue and replied-

    "It is not actually love or affection or infatuation. This feeling and his tears we saw all came up from his guilt. Guilt that he worsened her condition, guilt that he may not be able to cure her and his strong desire to protect her in future. I have lived long enough to understand these at the first nce." (Doctor)

    His words gave him an entirely new perspective to look from. ording to the doctor''s words, they are about to witness the tale of a 20 year old boy living to protect a 28 year olddy. The very thought of this brought a bright smile upon their face. All three of them stood there like a statue, imagining how they will be in future. They became one with their imaginations for a couple of minutes, and forgot about reality.

    Darwin was the first one to snap back to reality. He looked around to see Freya and the doctor in their own fantasies. His voice interrupted their thoughts-

    "I don''t think Lee came out of the house." (Darwin)

    Freya walked into the house and the doctor followed her lead. When they peeked inside the room again, they saw Lee sitting on the chair and sleeping with his head on the table. The visible brown patch of his tears made them respect his resolve. They quietly retreated again, and let both of them take some rest.

 Chapter 16: Perk and Problems

    Chapter 16: Perk and Problems

    Lee slept like a baby. His umted exhaustion from travel took effect. He didn''t wake up until D shook his consciousness violently. Lee hesitantly raised his head and rubbed his eyes. Upon realising where he was, he quickly turned to look at An Fenfang. She was sleeping peacefully and doesn''t seem to have woken up yet. Lee tip-toed out of the room and breathed out. He exited the doctor''s house and raised his head to see that the atmosphere was unusually dark. The twin stars hid among the dark clouds that span miles in length and breadth over the vige. Lee guessed that these could extend to the grasnds.

    Paulo was walking aimlessly inside the vige with his hand at the back. He saw Lee and came near him with visible confusion. He reached near him and repeatedly nced at the sky and him. He couldn''t guess as to why Lee is concerned with the dark clouds floating in the sky. Paulo patted him on his shoulder and he woke up from his trance. He saw Paulo staring at him with puzzlement. Lee had to do something about awkwardness in the air.

    "Hello Paulo. How are you! You look energetic as usual." (Lee)

    "I can see that you slept well. Miss Fenfang would be happy to know that you kept herpany." (Paulo)

    Lee felt something fishy with his sentence. But what he couldn''t sense was a tinge of naughtiness on his face. He quickly nced to the sky before asking Paulo.

    "What is with the sky today?! It''s unusual." (Lee)

    "It''s usual at this time of the year. Severe thunderstorms and lightning will rampage through the sky at night. No one is allowed to go out, because those can instantly kill an average human in a second. Many are reported to lose their lives in this phenomenon. Massive rain clouds will appear a day after that. This rain is the main source of irrigation for agriculture."

    Paulo had a faint smile as he said this. Lee didn''t ask any further and quickly went out of the vige, and into the forest. After making sure that he''s far enough, Lee climbed a tall tree and summoned D.

    ''D, a brief report please.''

    [250 Essence was obtained uponpleting the quest. 302 Essence was obtained by salvaging the Swamp serpent. Other misceneous activities umted 290 Essence. We have a total of 863 Essence to spend. 2 poison sacs and 4 Blue Barnacle fruits are in the Inventory.]

    ''The thunderstorm and lightning Paulo spoke about, is it possible to acquire immunity against lightning if I endure it?!''

    [If you can, that is the true question. Your chance of surviving a single hit is zero as you don''t have Mana or Qi. Any ornaments that can protect you will cost a lot.]

    ''Seems like a no-go for now...ok, status!''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper

    Fame: 635

    Essence: 863

    ----------

    Health: 190

    Strength: 190

    Vitality: 190

    Agility: 190

    Defense: 190

    Endurance: 190

    Sense: 190

    Intelligence: 60

    Resolve: 60

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ==========

    ''What''s the merit in having ''Affinity''?!''

    [Affinity adds the respective elemental trait to your attacks. Since you have poison affinity which is in a lesser stage, your attacks will have a faint poison trait. Its effectiveness is below 30%. So don''t dream too much. The Mid grade will increase the effectiveness to about 60% and will give a strong trait advantage. You can create and manipte the element actively when you reach the greater stage where attack will have 90% of effectiveness. As you guessed, absolute stage will give 100% effectiveness unless the opponent is at Immortal ss or Lord-level mastery.

    The progress of affinity is in the unit of hits. You hit something with the poison trait, progress goes up by 1.]

    ''How did the ''Newbie'' title disappear?!''

    [When you saved your ''crush'' from death, the title disappeared.]

    ''She is not my crush''

    [Don''t you want to protect her in future?!]

    ''....That''s because of my guilt. It does not have to do with her beauty.''

    [So you agree she''s a beauty?!]

    ''All women are..beautiful''

    [Ok, leave it. When that title was removed, a skill was gifted to you. The Will of Dimension told me that it''ll help you to grow strong and fierce without any mastery or cultivation. Even though your being is familiar with the energy here, you may encounter difficulties when you handle Mana or Qi.]

    ''What kind of difficulties?!''

    [Even if me, the one and only Dimension Sovereign and Will of Dimension, the intangible consciousness of this ne can help you, your disadvantage lies in not having been born here. That''s why I have added an external storage for each energies in the system; that is, me.

    So you''ll have to open the gift left for you in the Inventory.]

    Lee was at aplete loss. His dreams of mastering Mana and other professions while cultivating Qi simultaneously was shattered to smithereens. He voiced hismand to open the gift hesitantly.

    {

    Gift opened!

    Due to your increased difficulty in both cultivating and mastery, the two supreme consciousness had...

    }

    ''Skip the intro, get to the content''

    [.......]

    {

    ''Essence Generator'' acquired!

    Description: You have been absorbing the Essence manually and selling it to the Shopter. Your diligence is greatly apuded. This skill will help in extracting Essence much efficiently. This skill needs an input. Any organic matter or energy forms can be used as input. The input will be processed and converted to Essence instantly. The Essence output will have a 10% boost upon doing so.]

    "BLOODY HELL....YOU MESSING WITH ME?! D, DON''T JOKE AT TIMES LIKE THIS!!!!!"

    Lee screamed out and many beasts including Cold Wild Wolves fled the area. D responded in a serious voice.

    [The system, i.e, me, is not messing with you. The idea of this skill arose yesterday night when you were sleeping peacefully. Essence is something only you can use in this whole ne, and you can spend it to cultivate and master Mana. Thus you are indirectly cultivating Qi and mastering Mana.]

    Lee calmed down and regted his uneven breath. He took a few moments to silence the thunderstorm in him.

    ''So, it is actually a skill. Thank you, Will.''

    The ability of Lee to switch from rage to sage in seconds was his major advantage. D really liked his attitude. What really intrigued D was one of his memories about his idol and how perfectly he followed the teachings of Bruce Lee. As D was in his thoughts, Lee had understood the core of his situation. No matter how expensive and sophisticated the prosthetic is, it cannot rival the efficiency of a human limb.

    ''D, exin input and output of the skill.''

    [Essence Generator or ''EsGen'' is a skill where you can input organic matter or energy forms or anything that deem useful into it. This skill converts the input to Essence within a fraction of a second. You have been doing the Essence extraction by two steps till now. EsGen will thoroughly go through the molecr structure of the material or energy and efficiently convert to Essence points. Thus there will be a slight increase in output.

    The thunderstorm Paulo spoke about will give you an immense amount of Essence as its pure energy.]

    ''I can test EsGen with organic matters, right?!''

    [Try it.]

    Lee descended and activated the skill. He then touched the tree he just came down from. It disappeared as if it went inside the Spatial ring.

    =====

    23 Essence obtained

    =====

    If someone was to see Lee right now, they would wonder as to why this guy is gawking at the deep woods. Lee suddenly came back to reality and smiled as he found out that he''s standing on an Essence field now.

    About 2 hourster, Lee slowly walked to the vige gate. His stomach was growling like a starving bear. All the hunger and thirst umted these days came down breaking the wall. Slowly but steadily, he walked towards where Darwin was staying.

    *growl*

    A voice resonated in the air as Darwin became alert. He turned around to see Leeing in the room with hands pressed to his stomach.

    "Darwin, you got any food to spare?!" (Lee)

    Darwin was stunned on seeing Lee''s condition. But he smiled and chuckled before passing a long loaf of bread to him. Lee grabbed the bread immediately and started eating.

    *nomnomnomnom....*

    Lee waspletely immersed in his activity. Freya was about to ask Darwin something, but he shushed her and pointed at the starving Lee silently. They stood there watching him for a second before Freya pulled Darwin out of the house.

    "The vigers guess that the thunderstorm will probably tear apart the carriages outside the houses. Many have been moved to shelters. Only our''s remain. I think we should get to the city ande backter." (Freya)

    Darwin began to ponder on what she said. He was silent and his hand was rubbing his chin. Lee came out hearing the whispers of two. His mouth was stuffed with bread. He ''nomnom''ed as he came out.

    "Wit id d du.babd?!" (Lee)

    Lee raised his question with great concern, but came out like aedian''s act. His sound was muffled and they hardly heard it.

    A hand patted Darwin as his thoughts fell apart.

    "I''ll be at the doctor''s house!"

    Lee''s fleeting figure amused them both. They didn''t dwell on the problem too long and walked towards Paulo.

 Chapter 17: Foreigners Trouble

    Chapter 17: Foreigner''s Trouble

    Lee was sitting on the chair in a room inside the doctor''s house. An Fenfang slept on the bed across the room. Her pale ck colouration had gone and the doctor told him that she''ll wake up in about 2 days. An unexpected loud sigh gave the doctor a reason to chuckle, but Lee who sigh didn''t intend to do so. It waspletely involuntary.

    Lee ced his sped hands on the table and nced at the screen. His eyes were not focused on anything, but thoughts were revolving around what D said earlier. Before the situation worsens, D said calmly.

    [Don''t dwell in the past. Nobody wanted to transfer you here. No one wanted to give you trouble. Will had already assessed that you might not be able to go with the ways of this ne. So the skill it gave will fill the gap. And you have your sword mastery unlocked. It''s a win-win situation.]

    Lee silently listened to his consoling words. But as D expected, Lee wasn''t down. He was finding a new way to grow strong and great.

    ''D, I get it. You don''t have to repeat it again...but I have to ask, are there anymore hidden system features and gifts yet to unlock and open?!''

    [Yes. Like your memory, the system will improvise itself in the course of time. Wasn''t I a sentient and powerful being once?!]

    ''From your evaluation, what''s the level of my attributes?! How can my stats be represented in this dimension''s terms?!''

    D went silent for a moment. Lee anxiously waited for his reply. As time went by, he grew restless.

    [In rtion to this world''s powerhouses, you have the stats of a Soul Transformation peak stage cultivator orbat skills definitely above an elite grade mana user.]

    Lee was amazed by D''s evaluation. Every time he hears D, his expectations and logic are reset to another level. Lee felt calm andposed on hearing this.

    ''Incredible''

    His words were apanied with raised brows. He was suppressing his excitement deep inside.

    ''How to cultivate Qi and master Mana?!''

    Lee voiced the most important question. He had resolved his mind to challenge his difficulties and conquer great heights. D didn''t speak. Instead, a pale grey screen appeared. On the screen was a stick figure with no facial features. It held a microphone in one of its hands. A ckboard materialised from thin air and stood right next to him.

    [Testing..one..two..woof..woof..dubidy....dubidy.do.do....pe pe!]

    ''D, did you hit your head somewhere?! You''re abnormally crazy.''

    [I was doing a mic test. We''re good to go.

    Cultivation and Mastery are done in------>

    -----------------------------

    The introduction lecture was about 10 minutes. After that, D briefly exined as to why Lee will face difficulty in future.

    [For Qi affinity, a Qi Dantian is needed. For Mana affinity, Mana Pool is needed. These help the host to absorb respective energy from the atmosphere or food or any input. I have created an artificial Dantain and Pool that cannot help you in absorbing the energy, but can umte them limitlessly. Due to this feature, you don''t have to take rest or break between breakthroughs. Topensate this advantage, you''ll have to actively struggle to absorb Qi and Mana. Other factors regarding these are------------>

    The theory part was about an hour. During this time, the doctor once entered the room to check Fenfang''s condition. He couldn''t find anything more weirder than Lee staring at the wall with clenched fists and enthusiastic smile in the room.

    D finished his ss and the screen disappeared. Before he summoned D for further questioning, few screens appeared.

    =====

    Due to the host''s inability to actively cultivate Qi and master Mana, ''cultivation techniques'' and ''magic spells'' have been locked and hidden from sight. They will be unlocked ording to the host''s capability.

    =====

    Respective shop sections are merged to form a single section called ''Abilities''. It will take about a day to merge all together. Make maximum use of this section by buying ''Abilities'' using Essence.

    =====

    ''EsGen'' has been upgraded. Now, living beings can be used as input. They will not perish or wither, but will be in a suspended state when inside the Inventory. Essence will be extracted at regr intervals until the being dies from old age. Can act as a pet storage, with benefits. Storage limit: infinite.

    =====

    Affinity can be extended to professions and hobbies. Immunity has been extended to mental-attacks.

    =====

    Hidden skill unlocked!

    ''Essence converter'' obtained. Helps to convert Essence to any desired form of energy.

    =====

    Hidden quest ''Forging way in darkness''pleted!

    10 Attribute points obtained.

    300 Essence obtained.

    =====

    Lee could only put on a smile as he asked D-

    ''You really are trying to make me cultivate, eh?!''

    [I don''t know what you''re talking about!]

    ''.....leave it. We''ve got a lot of things to test and run. Let''s get somewhere safe and alone.''

    Doctor saw Lee walking out of the room with an expressionless face. He didn''t go out, but went to Paulo''s house.

    "Vige head, I''m feeling tired. Can I go and take a nap?!" (Lee)

    "Oh, sure. Younger generation must take enough rest to stay strong to protect dear ones in future." (Paulo)

    Lee didn''t mind his remark and went upstairs to take a look at the new features he obtained.

    ''Full status!''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper

    Fame: 635

    Essence: 1163 (10)

    ----------

    Health: 190

    Strength: 190

    Vitality: 190

    Agility: 190

    Defense: 190

    Endurance: 190

    Sense: 190

    Intelligence: 60

    Resolve: 60

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 18: Hands in the Sky

    Chapter 18: Hands in the Sky

    Lee sat there in a trance. His thoughts were running wild about getting Essence quick and efficient. Suddenly, Lee jolted up, upon realising something. He asked D as he bolted outside.

    ''D, the EsGen generates Essence from the stored being in the Inventory. How about these thunderclouds?!?!''

    Even D didn''t think of something like that. D raised his deep disagreement, but Lee gave no heed to it.

    The sky outside was already dark and the streets were empty. Two roaming guards approached Lee when they saw him walking aimlessly, staring at the sky.

    "Young warrior, please remain inside. The thunderstorms are about to begin!" (Guard 1)

    Lee stopped in his tracks and nced at the guards before ncing back to the dark sky.

    "Tell me friend, is the thunderstorm essential to rain?!" (Lee)

    "What?" (Guard 2)

    *rumble*

    The guard didn''t get time to be shocked. The sky started to rumble with faint lightning stripes striking across the sky. In an instant, guards fled the scene crying-

    "THUNDERSTORMS ARE HERE! EVERYONE BE ALERT!"l

    One of the guards slowed down to look at Lee over his shoulder. He nearly fell stumbling, as he saw Lee staring at the sky with a wide smile. He noticed Lee''s fists were clenched. He didn''t know what to speak or do. At the moment, all he wanted was to save his life. Lee stood like a proud assassin watching his prey happily roaming.

    Lightning struck with great speed. Sometimes, Lee could not follow its speed. Seeing this, he walked with great alertness. There were a few times when lightning struck right next to Lee. He couldn''t even flinch on seeing this. He reminded himself that time is of ''Essence''.

    The empty streets gave him enough space to run around freely. Lee was cing himself at a spot where the thunders areparatively less uring.

    After running around for an hour, he found that the lightning urs less near Paulo''s house. After confirming his conclusion, he jumped on top of that two-storey house. Though rtively less, those lightings still packed a hell of a punch.

    Without wasting a moment, Lee firmly nted his leg on the terrace. This was for a good footing for his jump. Yes, he wanted to jump at those dark clouds.

    Like a snake coiling before a leap, Lee slightly crouched and BAM, he elerated at the thunderclouds. His immense strength that defeated the Swamp Serpent showed it''s might along with his increased agility. Paulo felt the tremor of the jump, and thought that it was another powerful thunder.

    Lightning struck where Lee stood a second before. Lee never thought of the aftermath or sess in his action. He gave himselfpletely in the hands of luck. D gave multiple warnings on doing such a gamble!

    Altitude increased as he closed in at the clouds. Clouds were not something that he could touch, but if he could get in a sufficient range, he can absorb all the thunderclouds into his Inventory and use EsGen to exploit it''s never-stopping lightning and the thunder.

    Dozen secondster, he felt something strange. The lightnings that showered downward were now homing onto his position, as if it had consciousness. Lee saw this and smirked-

    ''As expected. Even clouds are alive. What do you think D?!''

    [Since you haven''t looked at the map in a while, I''ll exin. This vast cloud is actually a fragment of Law of Lightning and Thunder, and you are about 300 meters away from its actual epicenter. So even if you absorb the clouds, Essence cannot be generated unless to store that fragment of Law. But more the clouds you absorb, more Essence can be generated simultaneously.]

    Lee felt his vision getting blurred. He can tell that he has reached the border of the clouds. He extended his both hands and said-

    "EsGen!"

    *whoosh*

    Arge suction pulled the clouds towards Lee. For no reason, Foresight was activated. This alerted Lee to the peak. He''s now in the sky with no footing andpletely exposed to lightning strikes. Luckily, nothing happened.

    The thickness of clouds around Lee increased dramatically, so did the suction power. The clouds that threatened the whole vige were disappearing. This created a chain reaction and the surrounding clouds started to get attracted to Lee''s suction. Within ten seconds, almost all clouds are inside his Inventory.

    The Law fragment saw that his extensive ''body'' was sucked away by a puny being. It could tell that its body was not destroyed or depleted from a certain sense it shared with the clouds.

    The eleration slowly came to a halt and Lee started to decelerate. He was able to get a glimpse of the fragment covered in dense clouds that looked nearly ck. It looked small, but D warned him not to underestimate the Law fragment by its size, and to think of descending to ground in one piece.

    The clouds floating at an altitude of 350 meters was the major advantage he had. But he has already reached nearly 420 meters by his sudden burst of strength. A fall from this height with no preventive methods or skills is inevitably a suicide.

    The journey back to earth gave him a familiar feel. It was as if a beast was closing on him, showcasing it''s fierce crushers.

    Lee screamed in his mind-

    ''D, how much defense do I need to withstand the impact?!.''

    [Defense alone is useless. You need very high Health, Strength, Vitality and Endurance along with Defense to survive in one piece. With the current stats, you''ll be only paralyzed from the impact. But you''ll live.]

    Lee''s heart raced upon hearing this. D spoke before he could further probe-

    [You need to raise all physical stats to 210 to withstand the fall. And don''t forget to raise your Intelligence once you survive. You''ll need it.]

    ''Raise to 230!''

    A total of 1000 Essence was subtracted as his distance to ground decreased. Most vigers were confused as the thunderclouds disappeared abruptly. Some poked out their heads with caution and saw something falling from the sky. Some were able to recognise Lee from the distance.

    *BOOOMMMMMM*

    Never did a thundercloud produce such fierce noise. The impact made a small crater in front of Paulo''s house. The violent shockwave it caused made several cracks on the nearby houses. Some smaller ones shook under this effect.

    Lee was happy. A smile bloomed on his face as he softly said-

    "I survived. D, we survived. HAHAHAHA....!"

    Darkness enveloped his eyes as he finished his words. He cked out while lying in the crater. Vigers cautiously came out to see the crater in front of the vige head''s house and the one inside. Many gasped air as they covered their mouths with hands. How could they not be astonished after feeling the shockwave produced by a man falling from the sky?

    The Law fragment was observing all these incidents from a height. It was confident that no human could withstand such an impact, not to mention one without armour or protection. But when it saw he was alive, a sense of bliss and satisfaction covered it.

    ''Maybe he can end my misery!'' (Law fragment)

    The cloud moved further from the vige after sensing Mana users among the crowd. Darwin and Freya stayed at a different location from the crater, so they couldn''t see him immediately. But as soon as they saw him getting carried out of the crater, he rushed to check his pulse. He eximed as he felt Lee alive and breathing. There were innumerous bruises and blood marks on his body. His clothes were mostly torn from the impact, and what''s left fell to shreds once his body was moved out of the crater. Freya saw his ''big boy'' and turned around in embarrassment. As she turned away, her eyes fell on many females who stared at his ''hose'' with amazement and appreciation. A tinge of curiosity nearly made her look over her shoulders.

    Doctor received another patient, and he was d as it was Lee. He quietly asked Darwin whether he could help him by bringing another bed into the room where An Fenfang slept. Darwin didn''t reply but did what he was asked for. He felt satisfaction as he brought the wounded lovebirds together into one room. The doctor made all others stand outside as he dressed Lee''s wounds.

    He only left Lee''s side after making sure that he doesn''t have internal injuries. All others had promptly returned to their houses to sleep. An Fenfang, who was currently in the state of healing, and Lee who fell from the sky, were resting in one room. Their beds were not kept afar intentionally, only a meter distance between.

 Chapter 19: Summary of Who are you?

    Chapter 19: Summary of ''Who are you?''

    An off-white being was lying on the floor. It had the shape of a human, butcked significant physical features. Itid there like a lifeless puppet. After a long time, it slowly began to move.

    Raising its upper torso with the support of the elbow, the being rubbed its face with the palm. Astonishment filled its face as it saw the room waspletely white and seemed boundless in shape.

    As it watched the surroundings with utmost care, a silhouette appeared in the distance. The shadow came towards the being with no sense of hostility. The being was confused by this environment and what was happening.

    As the silhouette came closer, it''s facial features and stature began to be visible. It looked like a man in histe 40''s. A long tattered jacket and a pair of fairly torn jeans decorated the man''s excellent physique. His eyes expressed a sense of familiarity as his long grey hair danced in the air. A well trimmed beard gave him an air of masculinity around him. The pping sound of boots resonated in the air as he walked forward.

    The man stopped 10 meters before the utterly confused being. It was constantly observing his features while ncing at his face. The man put up a smile and asked. His voice was strangely familiar.

    "Lee, how long are you going to stare at me like a pervert?!"

    The being jolted and took two steps backward before saying-

    "D, you bastard, is this your original form?! And what''s with this ce?!"

    It was Lee''s first time witnessing such an environment, where the sense of time isplicated. He took steps forward and reached to touch D''s night bandit outfit. But for his amazement, his hands passed right through D.

    "Don''t you know, I am no longer a soul, but a system, and a sentient one at that!"

    D answered Lee''s visible confusion. But it was unsatisfactory.

    "Where are we?! What have I be?!" (Lee)

    "We are inside your consciousness. You didn''t be anything. The current you, is your sentience!" (D)

    Lee has seen and felt many things that defy his earthly logic. But this right here is something he hadn''t even read inics. He frowned as he looked around.

    "So are you telling me that my consciousness is empty and all white?!" (Lee)

    "Are you sure that it''s really empty?"

    D waved his hands and the ce began to change. Blue sky appeared with clouds in it. The sun shone with warmth. The ground beneath changed to an endless grasnd. Lee was thunderstruck upon seeing this transformation.

    "Sit down. We have a lot to talk".

    D nced at the chair that suddenly materialised right next to Lee. He hesitated to sit, but sat down after confirming that the chair is strong and solid. As he looked, a ckboard on a tripod rose from the ground.

    "As I said, this is your consciousness. About 99% of people in this world have a consciousness devoid of colour and shape. That is because they didn''t attain ''Enlightenment'' in their life. It is a chance to interact with one''s own consciousness and experience it." (D)

    "Did you pull me here?!" (Lee)

    "Yes and no. I partially yed a role in this achievement. But your sentience took initiative to pull you into here so that your physical body could be safe." (D)

    "What exactly happened when we fell on the ground?!" (D)

    "The fall left many bruises on your body. Your soul was not affected. But to be cautious, you yourself pulled yourself into yourself, to decrease the strain on the body." (D)

    ''wut?!'' (Lee)

    "Don''t ask anymore. That is not the reason I woke you up. I am here to tell you something about your memory." (D)

    A deep frown appeared on his face as he leaned forward.

    "I''ll give you a summary for now. You were the only son of the famous and handsome Chinese businessman Lee Zian and brilliant and beautiful Indian businesswoman Gayathri Devaraj. Your father''s father was a Kung-fu expert while your mother''s father was a renowned Yoga master. They taught you everything they know and you eventually found the bnce between Yoga and Kung-fu. Theirbined nature topliment each other raised you to the pinnacle of physical strength at the age of 19. At the World Martial Art Championship, you were poisoned by your opponent and was dangerously near to death. Fortunately, a Buddhist monk hade to watch the matches. After understanding that you are fighting against a deadly poison that could kill a man in an instant, he volunteered to take you with him to Kathmandu. While you were recuperating in the monastery, amortal beings of Origin dimension began to fight among themselves for ultimate power. The fight identally created a spatial tear where you were and you were sucked in. Later you came across me, who was the only dimension sovereign left alive from their insatiable hunger. I sheltered myself in you and used thest bit of energy I had to escape from there before entering slumber.

    This was your life. It was vivid and exciting as I went through your memories. I shall unlock everything you learned in your previous life. Now...re-learn everything!" (D)

    Saying this, D pressed his index finger between his brows. Lee experienced an intense shock as his pupils became green. D slowly retreated backward and disappeared. The surroundings reverted to what it was before. Chair disappeared and Lee fell on the ground, lifeless.

 Chapter 20: Confession & Affection

    Chapter 20: Confession & Affection

    The twin stars illuminated Utopia with warmth. The vigers were busy as ever. The crater in front of Paulo''s house was nowhere to be seen. Darwin and hispanions left for the city. A day had passed since Lee fell from the sky.

    An Fenfang was sitting on the chair as she sipped tea from the cup. She was in deep thought and did not hear any noises around her. Her health was restored to its peak, but still had to take a few days of rest.

    Doctor was sitting in his courtyard and pondering on Lee''s state. From the present condition, the doctor could only say that Lee is probably in aatose state.

    An Fenfang nced at Lee as she walked to her bed. She was given an ount of what Lee did for her from Freya. Fenfang''s facecked expression. She sat on her bed and extended her hand to touch Lee''s bandaged hand.

    The very moment, Lee opened his eyes. They were brimming with energy. He quickly sat up and his body responded with a painful sensation. His long hair was a mess and he was naked under the nket.

    Fenfang quickly retreated her hand in astonishment. Never had she saw someone jump up from sleeping a whole day. She stared at him with confusion written in her face.

    Lee hurriedly looked around and saw Fenfang sitting on the bed and staring at him. His guilt spoke up before he could organise his thoughts.

    "Are you okay?! Are you feeling fine?! Does it hurt?!" (Lee)

    She put up an awkward smile and replied-

    "Yeah, I''m alright. I''m fine. It doesn''t hurt anymore." (Fenfang)

    Her reply made Lee sigh loudly as he fell back to his bed. Fenfang thought that he''s losing bnce, but Lee signalled that he''s okay and would like toy down for a moment.

    After his reply, she walked out of the room and came back with the doctor in tow. He was the most surprised one as he clearly saw him drenched in wounds. Lee''s increased healing factor was directly linked to his high amount of Vitality.

    "Boy, how are you still alive?! Are you really sure that you''re a human?! I''m amazed by your healing capability." (Doctor)

    Lee slowly sat up as he raised his head and said happily-

    "I''m happy I''m not dead!"

    For the first time, Lee saw shock and confusion in Fenfang''s face. The doctor next to her frowned deeply.

    "Son, your eyes..they are green! You didn''t have them before. How did it change?!" (Doctor)

    "What? Is something wrong with my-" (Lee)

    Before he finished his sentence, D cut him off.

    [When you relearned your experiences, your pupil changed from brown to green. It was pretty unexpected.]

    ''Is it good or bad?!''

    Silence shadowed the room as Lee probed on D.

    [Colored pupils are acquired through blessings. When a person is blessed with an element, respective colours shade the pupil. The color green is the rarest and is from the blessing of nature, that is, Essence. Even forest-dwelling elves don''t have them.]

    Fenfang took a step forward and broke the ice.

    "I clearly remember that your eye had brown pupils. Until a moment ago, it was the same. How did they change all of a sudden?!" (Fenfang)

    Lee attempted to get out of his bed, but the realisation of nakedness hit him and froze. Seeing his intentions, the doctor spoke up.

    "Your dress was all shredded. Paulo had brought a new set of clothes for you. Miss, let us step outside." (Doctor)

    The doctor handed him over a new set of clothes and walked out. Fenfang followed him and closed the door behind her. After making sure that the door is closed tight, Lee stepped out of he bed and immediately put on the dress.

    The dress was made of leather and wool. It felt morefortable than his previous ones. He took a moment to appreciate the cozyness it provided. He checked his Spatial ring, and then walked out of the house.

    Outside, the doctor and Fenfang were talking in an inaudible voice as Lee entered the scene. Seeing him appear, the doctor smiled and asked about his eyes. Soon, both of them came to understand that even Lee didn''t know anything about it.

    "By the way, how did you appear in the crater?!" (Doctor)

    "I fell from the sky and made the crater." (Lee)

    The answer was sudden and simple. His voice was honest and polite. The doctor couldn''t just believe it.

    "How did you fall from the sky?!" (Doctor)

    "Because I cannot fly." (Lee)

    "Not that. How did you reach till the clouds?!" (Doctor)

    "I jumped." (Lee)

    "Why would anyone jump at the clouds?!" (Doctor)

    "Because I sensed a Law fragment in it." (Lee)

    The exchange between the doctor and Lee was progressing in a weird manner, so Fenfang could only silently listen to it. But hisst answer made both of them frown as they turned to him.

    "You can sense Law fragments?!" (Fenfang)

    "Not precisely, but I get a feeling when it''s in the vicinity." (Lee)

    The doctor was calm and in deep thought. His eyes closed and a frown deep etched on his face. Upon deciding something, he opened his eyes and told Lee.

    "What you said to us, must not be known to another being. It''ll only bring chaos and destruction to you and those near you." (Doctor)

    Every answer Lee gave was ording to D''s advice. It was for two reasons. One, to let them know of his ''uniqueness'' and to not question him any further in his actions. Two, to make Fenfang intrigued in Lee. Obviously, Lee didn''t know of these reasons. If he had known, he would have protested.

    "You two, stay inside the room. Act as if you''re recuperating from injuries." (Doctor)

    The doctor gave a short advice to both and walked towards Paulo''s house. Lee and Fenfang promptly went inside and sat on their beds. A strange silence enveloped them.

    "I''m sorry for my actions. If I had not teased you, you would not have ended up in this state. I''m sorry"

    Lee spoke his guilt out. Fenfang bit her lips upon hearing this.

    "It''s not your doing. It was my carelessness that caused it. You have not done anything wrong."

    She tried to take his guilt away, but didn''t seed.

    "Miss, I want to ask you something."

    Saying this, Lee stood in front of her and knelt on one knee. His head was heavy with guilt.

    "May I protect you in the future?!"

    His question stunned Fenfang. She had already convinced herself that it was her fault. So she didn''t know what to say.

    "Young man, I did tell you that it was my mistake. You don''t have to be so hard on yourself." (Fenfang)

    Lee took a moment to respond.

    "What''s done is done, and it is clear that my actions have caused your state to worsen. It is not me, but my guilt speaking. I want to atone my wrongdoing. I want to apany you in future. And.....

    You''re beautiful to me. I like you."

    (A.N. this is not romance, but guilt. Please don''t misunderstand.)

    His confession skipped her heart. Her eyes went wide as she tried to speak out something. Soon, she came to realise that he''ll never live well if she denied his ''proposal''.

    "I can understand your guilt and desire to protect me. But what you saidter..is it true?!"

    When Lee lived his life on Earth, he was an offbeat boy with good physique who did not find a necessity of love. He saw girls like his own sisters, and they felt secure with him. He had already spoken his heart out, so none confessed their love to him. They knew that he''d outright reject it. He felt that love is something that should be used to shelter, care and protect one another, and not to wantonly fall in rtion and make love.

    "All I know about myself is my name and that I have a de with me. I do not know where I''m from. I do not know where I belong. And I do not know what and who to protect. Living in the forest made me realise two things. One, treasure love and care. Two, protect those you love and care. Until the day we fought, I have never had such a feeling in me. Now my own conscience is asking me to protect you. I do not know what to do if you deny my request."

    Lee spoke with honesty. His voice was trembling with an unknown difort. Fenfang noticed the teardrops falling on the wooden floor. She was moved from his sadness.

    She wanted to speak, but the voice didn''te out. For the first time in her life, her voice shut itself in her throat. With no idea of what to do, she stood up and held Lee''s shoulders, and raised him. A few words came out of her mouth without her consent.

    "If you are crying like a baby, then how can you protect me in the future?!"

    Thinking upon her spontaneous response, she became red like a tomato. A smile lightened up Lee as tears rolled down his cheeks.

    ----------------------------------------------

    They stood there for about three minutes, without uttering anything and looking each other in their eye. A seed of love sprouted in their minds. Lee took a step and came closer. Despite of their age difference, they were equally tall. Lee took her hands from his shoulders and held it. She unconsciously gripped her against his. Seconds passed by as they slowly came closer. Now they can hear each other''s rough breathing clearly. Fenfang gulped down saliva as sweat drops rolled down her neck. She felt her body heating up and a strange and pleasant sensation rising in her. Lee saw her changes and he kept his face about 3 inches from her. Secondster, he can see visible unrest on her face.

    Finally, she lost her patience and shook his hands off. Lee expected her to back off. But what happened was opposite to it.

    Fenfang wentmando and held his head as she nted her lips on his. Lee was stunned for a second as his first kiss was thus stolen. But he yed along a secondter. The kiss was filled with affection and care. Fenfang eventually loosened her grip and wrapped him with her hands. His right hand went down to the waist while his left went up to the neck. The intensity only increased by each passing moment.

    Fenfang had to put a halt to her affectionate deed because she nearly ran out of breath. Lee understood her situation as she was still recovering. They stood there, looking into each other''s eyes passionately, and regting their breath. There was a feel of satisfaction in the air.

    (A.N. maybe it was romance. donno, I''ve never wrote b4.)

 Chapter 21: Soul Liberator

    Chapter 21: ''Soul Liberator''

    The lovers wrapped themselves in each other''s hands woke up from their love trance. Fenfang let go of Lee and jumped onto her bed with embarrassment. Lee watched as she covered her beet red face with the nket. Lee sighed as he never expected such a turn of events. He went and sat on his bed with a naughty smile. Fenfang was peeping at Lee at regr intervals.

    *tock tock tock*

    A series of knocking on the door attracted their attention. Lee put on a serious expression to cover up his internal ''happy'' screaming while Fenfang acted as if she was sleeping.

    Paulo and the doctor entered the room. Both of them had a wide smile on their face that dictated satisfaction, naughtiness and appreciation. Paulo nced at ''sleeping'' Fenfang before looking at Lee.

    "I hope you were both doing fine." (Paulo)

    Those words apanied by a wide smile and the doctor struggling to cover up his snickering gave Lee a brief summary of what they might have witnessed. Lee wore a wide grin and nodded his head. Paulo took a moment to congratte both of them in his mind.

    *ahem*

    The doctor signalled to Paulo about what they hade to talk about. Paulo nced at the doctor and his brows rose up upon remembering something. He came near Lee and asked-

    "Is it true that you sensed a Law fragment in the clouds?! (Paulo)

    Lee stood up before answering-

    "Yes, and it was the Law of Lightning and Thunder. Unfortunately, it sensed my presence and flew away." (Lee)

    Paulo took a step closer and put his hand on Lee''s right should before speaking-

    "Son, do not let anyone know that you can sense Law fragments. It will bring restless days for you. I can see the change in your eyes. Doctor will concoct a medicine that will change the colour of pupils temporarily." (Doctor)

    Lee nced at the doctor and the doctor nodded in agreement. Then Paulo let them rest for the day and left the room with the doctor. After hearing the door closing, Fenfang slowly came out of her nket and asked softly-

    "Can you really sense the Law fragment?!"

    Lee sat on the bed facing her. He extended his right hand and caressed her beautiful cheek while saying-

    "Yes, my love. I can."

    Fenfang didn''t move and sat there receiving his passion and care. She nced at the door before crawling near to him.

    "Umm...my name is An Fenfang. I am a 28 years olddy.... will you abandon me?!" (Fenfang)

    Lee saw the changes on her face and sat onto her bed. He hugged her tightly and kissed her on her forehead and said-

    "I have resolved my mind. I don''t want anyone else but you. When I''m near you, I don''t wanna lie, I feel happy deep in my heart. It is a sensation I have never experienced before. I, Lee Shen, gives you my word that I will never make you sad and will never abandon you."

    Hearing this, Fenfang turned from him with a slight hesitation on her face. She said in low voice-

    "I told Freya that I was poisoned while eating a Red Barnacle fruit. But it is not. I was actually-"

    Leepleted her sentence as he held her hand and kissed it.

    "Poisoned by a rival and cultivation stagnated. As someone who cares for you, shouldn''t I have figured it out that much?"

    Tears began to well in her eyes as she turned to him. Her mouth was trembling as she tried to hold herself back. Upon understanding her situation, he brought her face to his bosom and said-

    "Cry, let your sadness flow out. Do not hesitate. It will only hurt you if you hold it back."

    Muffled crying sound resonated in the room as Lee felt his bosom getting wet. The room reflected her sadness with silence. Leepleted her sentence with a wild guess, and that turned out to be true. Now he had another objective to aplish: revenge for his love!

    A notification popped out as he stopped thinking.

    =====

    Quest generated!

    An Fenfang was a gifted cultivator prodigy. She won every match she participated in. Her victories brought jealousy of the young mistress of the Mo family. Financially and politically superior, Fenfang was invited to a match and was underhandedly poisoned by her opponent. She was ruthlessly beaten in a match before the referee signalling to stop. This has left physical and mental scars in her being. She left her town and travelled and eventually joined Freya''s squad due to her talent. Seek revenge for An Fenfang.

    Reward: 400 Essence

    Advice:- Mo family have a powerhouse at Immortal Grandmaster realm and many masters below it. Each one will generate a lot of Essence if they can be caught alive and stored within EsGen.

    =====

    Lee read the notification and said inwardly-

    ''I don''t need a reward to seek revenge on them. I would do it anyway.''

    Lee skimmed his hand through her beautiful ck hair. It was silk smooth. When she became silent, Lee patted her head and she raised her head with reddened eyes. She looked at him as if expecting something to say.

    "Let''s rest for a few days. Then we''ll set sail seeking revenge. I''ll make sure that they are destroyed with no stone above another."

    She wiped her tears and said-

    "You don''t need to destroy them. I only want them to learn a lesson."

    Lee shook his head and hugged her as he spoke-

    "What kind of beings fight for superior strength without reasoning?!" (Lee)

    She stared at him for a second and said-

    "Wild beasts and creatures?"

    Lee acted as if he''s amazed and raised his brows.

    "Correct. Now tell me, what happens when you injure and let go of a wild beast because of sympathy?!" (Lee)

    "They will run away. Won''t they?!" (Fenfang)

    "No, they don''t. What you''re saying is true, but only for small creatures. They get afraid and run away as fast as they can. But when we''re dealing with beings with intelligence, they will feel embarrassed and humiliated. So they''ll seek revenge. They will follow us from the shadows and will strike us when we let our guard down. Thus our sympathy will strike us back like a serpent. The enemy of yours were clever enough to use underhand methods to poison you. That means, they are like intelligent wild beasts. If we teach them a lesson now, they''llter charge at us like a bison. Tell me, love, will it do any good to us?!"

    Fenfang went silent for a minute. She repeated Lee''s words in her mind. She was against the idea of killing her opponents who poisoned, but what Lee said made sense. What he said was the truth. Every being with pride and intelligence will seek revenge. Lee saw her internal conflict reflecting on her face. He added-

    "Do you not want revenge?! To teach them not to mess with you?! That itself shows your response to humiliation. Then how far would they go for revenge?!"

    That was thest nail on their coffin. Though he doesn''t have any enmity with them, his rtion with Fenfang makes them his enemy too.

    It took about 5 minutes for her toe to a conclusion. Lee was dissatisfied as she still was being hesitant. He slowly made her sit up straight and stood up, and said-

    "This is not only for you, but for many others who lost their lives and opportunities because of other''s jealousy. Those with power and money, and trampling on the prodigies must learn that their actions will have an equal and lethal reaction.

    You don''t need to think too much for now. Rest, we''ll talk when I wake you up for lunch."

    Lee kissed her forehead and let her sleepfortably. He didn''t leave the room until she fell asleep. And when she fell asleep, he tiptoed outside and closed the door behind him silently.

    In the sitting room was Paulo and the doctor discussing something. Lee passed them and went outside. As he headed to the forest, he spoke to D.

    ''D, anything to report?!''

    [That was hot and passionate!! Never expected a teenager to fall in love with ady!]

    ''*ahem* apart from that!''

    [Oh right. The Law fragment you saw that day is still in the vicinity. It is not hostile and seems like it is expecting to see you. Let''s pay it a visit.]

    The Map appeared in his head and he walked to the strange symbol shown in it. About 900 meters far in the forest, the cloud stood suspended above the ground. When it sensed Lee approaching, it transformed into an approximate human figure.

    "It is clear that you are not a cultivator or a master. Then how did you survive the fall?!" (Law fragment)

    "Luck. Nothing special about it. What that matters is, you, a Law fragment in the shape of clouds! Why are you wandering around the?! Someone should have caught you way before." (Lee)

    "As expected, you can tell what I''m. And as to why am I roaming in the form of clouds, I was cursed to roam endlessly in this form. When I was alive, I was an orc who was born with the Lightning and Thunder Law constitution. I cultivated and reached the doorstep of the Immortal Master realm when someone who had rivalry with me put a curse on me. Only someone with the same Law constitution can free me from this endless torture. I have been restless for about two centuries. I believe you can help me."

    Lee was screaming inwardly with happiness. What he came for and what the Law fragment intended was coincidentally one. He acted as if he''s in deep thought. A minuteter, he faked a hesitant expression and said-

    "If I help you, will I be hurt or troubled in any manner?!" (Lee)

    Lee wasn''t actually curious because D had exined everything in detail. But it was necessary for the act.

    "I assure you, nothing will happen to you. All you need to do is to ept the Law fragment essence from me. Since you arepatible, it can help you to grow more powerful. When the fragment ispletely removed from my soul, the curse will be lifted and I''ll be free." (Law fragment)

    "Ok, I take your word for it." (Lee)

    The Law fragment was very happy. It was about to be released from its eternal suffering. So it came near Lee floating and extended its both hands and touched his shoulders.

    Lee was prepared for this moment. He wasn''tpatible with any Law, but had EsGen and Inventory to exploit the endless supply of energy from the fragments to the maximum. D took control of the operations behind the curtain. He promptly activated EsGen as the Law energy flowed into his being. A slight numbness clouded Lee, but D assured him that it was only temporary.

    No thunderstorms appeared. Hurricanes were nowhere to be seen. The sky was tranquil as ever. Lee had closed his eyes when numbness kicked in. He was woken up by a notification, to which he opened his eyes to look at-

    =====

    ''Lightning and Thunder Law fragments'' have been moved from the Inventory to the EsGen storage.

    =====

    Compound Law fragment and the previously stored thunderclouds are merged and energy is being generated.

    =====

    EsGen can produce 450 Essence from the Law fragment in an hour. Extraction started.

    Expiration date: N/A

    =====

    Due to liberating a soul from eternal torture, Title ''Soul Liberator'' has been awarded. Associated ability: ''Curse remover''.

    =====

    The liberated soul passed it''s ''Lightning Law Constitution'' to you. ''Lesser Lightning Affinity'' and ''Lesser Lightning Immunity'' obtained.

    =====

    Apart from a series of notifications, no one was in front of him. D promptly reminded that the soul has entered the cycle of reincarnation the moment it was released from the curse.

    A satisfactory smile appeared on his face as he looked up. He wished in his mind to see that poor soul in flesh again. He noted down his doubts to ask some other time. With nothing to do as he secured an endless supply of Essence, he returned to the vige without dilly-dallying.

 Chapter 22: A Happy Meal

    Chapter 22: A Happy Meal

    12 Noon.

    The twin stars emitted heat like a red-hot iron rod. Lee can feel the difference in temperature with respect to dawn and dusk. He walked quickly to the vige. He had promised Fenfang to wake her up for lunch.

    The vige was in its usual swing. Lee saw Freya limping as she walked. She greeted Lee as she saw him. When asked about her unusual walking style, she replied to him that she sprained her ankles yesterday and had been like this since.

    Seeing her happy attitude, he slowly told her about the development between him and Fenfang. She jumped up in happiness, which worsened her sprained leg. She could only bear with the pain as they walked slowly to the doctor''s house.

    Fenfang was sleeping peacefully when Freya entered the room. She was told to rest in the room for a day by the doctor. An ointment was given to her to apply where the pain urs.

    As Freya applied it, Lee went and sat at the edge of Fenfang''s bed. For him, she slept like an angel. Freya told him that she used to sleep like a lumber!

    Hunger surfaced as Lee''s stomach growled loudly. Freya froze for a moment upon hearing this. She chuckled as she spoke-

    "Looks like you haven''t eaten anything till now, have you?"

    Freya asked with the intention of teasing him. But for him, the existence of Shop was an unnatural advantage. He shrugged as he replied-

    "I have food stores in my ring. I am only waiting for her to wake up."

    "Then wake her up, like this."

    Her words were immediately followed by a soft pillow. Lee saw it slowly floating towards Fenfang and falling on her face. Using this moment, he summoned D and asked him about the food quality of what Shop provides.

    [The Shop is not some ordinary shop. All the products sold there are of top quality and wless. You can bet your life on it!]

    ''I don''t have time to bet. So do one thing, tell me the cheapest food item Shop sells and its price. And how much Essence do I have?!''

    D went silent for a moment. Then he replied-

    [A loaf of Honey Bread for 1 Essence. A bottle of Horned Mow Milk for 3 Essence. Blueberry candy for 3 Essence. Ink-wink fruit for 4 Essence. Ice Hog''s roasted meat for->

    ''STOP!!! Just buy 2 bottles of milk and 4 loaves of bread and store them in my Inventory. That''ll do. How much Essence do I have left?!''

    [After buying the food items, you have 153 Essence points and 10 Attribute points left. The harvested 450 Essence will only be deposited at an hourly basis. Next deposit at 1 PM.]

    ''I do have a lot of questions to ask, so remind me after lunch. And add the 10 Attribute points to Intelligence.''

    [Roger.]

    The pillow woke Fenfang from sleep and she jolted up. Upon seeing Lee, she immediately hugged him tightly. She behaved like a spoiled child.

    "....uhh.Freya is watching us."

    Her eyes went wide as she noticed Freya staring at her. With embarrassment, she went under the nket before pinching Lee''s thigh.

    "It''s okay. He had told me everything. Nothing to be embarrassed of."

    Freya spoke in aforting tone. Fenfang slowly poked her beet red face out and nced at her and Lee.

    It was all new to Lee. He had only made ''contact'' with Fenfang a few hours ago and he is now witnessing her shy and spoiled side.

    Lee stood up and walked towards the table. He waved his left hand above the table, and the Honey Bread loaves and two bottles of Horned Mow Milk appeared. He looked at Fenfang over his shoulder and said-

    "I don''t know whether this is of your taste or not. But I hope not to disappoint you. Ladies, The lunch is served."

    Coincidentally, Fenfang''s tummy gnarled. She could not tolerate hunger anymore, so she stood up and walked towards the table. Her expression changed as she eximed-

    "This is Honey Bread. Where did you get it?!"

    Her voice made Freyae forward. She was surprised by the milk in the bottles.

    "Is that Horned Mow''s milk?! No wonder you''re abnormally strong. This was the reason!"

    Lee couldn''t find anything special about these normal looking food items. He scratched and stared at the table and stated-

    "Why are you both acting so strange?! Yes, this was my food when I lived in the forest. I don''t get anything else to eat. So stop being a cry-baby and eat the food. If you don''t want it, I''ll eat them alone."

    His words sounded like a threat. Freya and Fenfang didn''t waste a moment and sat down to eat them. As they expected, their taste was otherworldly. Lee was interested in these ''cheapest'' food items.

    One bite. All it took was one bite, and Lee was swimming in pools of honey. The unrivalled softness coupled with the honey vor burst opened the saliva tank in his mouth. Hopefully nobody saw him drooling as he ate, because the three of them were busy with their own ''works''.

    Thedies had grabbed each bottle of milk for themselves. It was only after consuming half the bottle they realised that Lee didn''t have anything for him. They extended their bottles to him. But he smiled and waved his hand and another bottle of milk appeared. Thedies immediately retracted the bottles and gulped down another mouthful of milk before munching on bread loaves.

    Lee had to buy another 5 loaves of bread and three bottles of milk to satisfy their hunger. The superior taste acted as a catalyst in increasing their hunger. Lee spended a total of 27 Essence before letting out a loud belch.

    Thedies fell asleep as soon as theynded on the beds. Lee sat on the chair with his eyes running through lines of information.

    [Questions?!]

    ''Why is the Expiration date of the Law fragment shown as ''Not Avable''?!''

    [Because it is a Law fragment. The Laws are eternal and endlessly powerful. Their fragments are also equal in terms of longevity. So they are a permanent source of Essence.]

    ''Exin the new title and it''s associated ability.''

    [Soul Liberator is awarded when you free a soul from restrictions or troubles or curses. This skill has a passive perk of sensing and locating troubled souls, those that have been blocked from the cycle of reincarnation by any means. The ''Curse Remover'' is an all-rounder skill useful almost everywhere. It is not only about releasing from curses, but releasing anything. Debuffs can be removed, adverse effects can be nullified and the best part is that this skill can even be used to cure diseases and improve physical and mental conditions. This skill can only be obtained through this specific title.]

    ''Tell me about the Lightning Law Constitution.''

    [The benefit of this Law lies in its associated affinity and immunity. You cannot upy any kind of Law constitutions as you are not a child of this dimension. But the affinity and immunity can be well utilized. Channel the lightning from the storage to your body in a very low amount. The sting and pain will make you numb, but will increase the progress. Affinity can be increased by channelling the lightning into your attacks. There is a 25% chance for sessfully making the enemy numb. The gradings are applicable.]

    Lee took a few minutes topletely digest the information. Afterwards, he uttered in mind-

    ''Status!''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 635

    Essence: 126

    ----------

    Health: 190

    Strength: 190

    Vitality: 190

    Agility: 190

    Defense: 190

    Endurance: 190

    Sense: 190

    Intelligence: 70

    Resolve: 60

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Lesser Lightning Immunity (0/100)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Lightning Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

    *sigh*

    Lee nced at the peacefully sleepingdies and bought a bread loaf from the Shop. While chewing down the bread, he upgraded the ''Resolve'' by 10 points using 100 Essence. After eating the whole loaf, he stood and walked towards Fenfang''s bed and slipped into her nket. He hugged her from behind and fell asleep.

 Chapter 23: We Are Not Two, But One.

    Chapter 23: We Are Not Two, But One.

    5.45 Evening.

    Freya woke up from her peaceful slumber to see that the sky had already gone dark. She checked her leg and found that it is not painful anymore. She nced at Fenfang to see Lee cuddling with her. Her imagination started to run wild as she saw them sharing a single nket. She didn''t wake them and walked out of the room without making much noise.

    Lee had already woken up. He half-opened his eyes and saw Freya going out. Seeing that the door was closed behind her, Lee woke up Fenfang from her sleep. She yawned and stretched her limbs as she woke up. Upon seeing Lee next to her, she left out a sigh of happiness and satisfaction.

    "It''s almost dusk. Want to sleep more?!"

    Lee tightened his hug as he said. Fenfang turned around to face him.

    "The food and your warmth are enough for me."

    Saying this, she crawled into his bosom. Lee asked D about her condition.

    [Stable. Healthy. If you use Curse Remover on her, she''ll be back to her peak in an hour.]

    ''Ah shit, how can I forget that?!?!''

    Lee almost facepalmed. He had totally forgotten about that ability. He silently activated it. A golden aura enveloped her. It was only visible for him.

    Secondster, the aura disappeared. Lee frowned as it suddenly vanished.

    ''Did it fail?!''

    [No. She''spletely healed. It automatically disappears when the target is back to peak state.]

    Lee didn''t speak anything. He got out of the bed and she followed him. She froze for a second, before saying-

    "Lee, I need to take a bath. I stink."

    Lee looked at her. Her dress was also old. She''s in dire need of aplete makeover - he decided.

    "Let''s go meet Paulo. He''ll tell us where to go."

    Lee walked out of the room while holding her hand. She felt embarrassed to walk like this outside, but this is her future now on.

    The couple attracted the attention of the vigers as they walked to Paulo''s house. Fenfang was freaking out inside, but Lee was all cool. He encouraged her to hold hands whenever they are together. He tried his best to get rid of her shyness.

    Paulo was happy to see them together. He chuckled as he saw them holding hands. Lee politely let him know that Fenfang needs to take a bath. He immediately guided them to the bath.

    The bath was actually an average sized pool. Freya was happy to see Fenfang entering the bath. Upon seeing a familiar face, she went near Freya. They talked a lot and cleaned themselves. They spent about 10 minutes in the pool and came out after drying themselves.

    Lee was waiting for her outside the wall. He held a beautiful blue and white coloured robe in his hand. It was bought from the Shop with 700 Essence. It was durable and was suggested by D.

    Seeing her wearing the old robe, he quickly handed the new one to her. She was excited to see the new one, but tears rolled down her cheeks somehow. Lee wiped her tears and told her to change to new ones. She quickly disappeared and came back after a minute.

    It was beautiful. The blue and whiteplemented each other. The robe fit her perfectly, as if it was tailored for her. She could only show her affection by kissing and hugging.

    "Let''s go and sleep for the night. We''ll go to the city tomorrow morning."

    Lee said this and nced at Freya-

    "When are you leaving?!"

    Freya was surprised by the unexpected question, but she replied it without stuttering-

    "We will also return tomorrow. We can go together."

    A wide smile bloomed on Fenfang''s face as she spoke in reply-

    "YAY! We''re going together!!!"

    Her childish behaviour made some elder women standing nearbyugh. Lee pulled her away from the crowd and walked to seek shelter at Paulo''s house.

    Paulo was pleased to see both of them returning happily. Fenfang''s robe caught his eyes. She saw him briefly inspecting it and said-

    "It''s beautiful, isn''t it?! Lee gave this to me!"

    Her child-like behaviour invoked a softugh in him. He struggled to keep it under control, and led them to the room upstairs. Before closing the door, Paulo reminded Lee-

    "The wood might be old. Please be gentle."

    Lee froze as Paulo closed the door. His face was red as he walked to the bed. Fenfang had already sat on the bed. She saw his face bing red like a tomato and asked-

    "What happened?!"

    Her concerned voice was replied by a kiss. She was surprised, as it was more than an affectionate kiss. It had a tinge of aggression in it. Lee had to stop eventually as he saw her gasping for breath. He softly spoke as heid her down-

    "From today onwards, you are my wife, and I''m your husband. We''re not two but one. My happiness is yours. Your sadness is mine. We''ll share our concerns. I''ll make sure that you are happy with me."

    Honest words were what he spoke. Fenfang didn''t reply, but nodded in agreement. Theyid on the bed as Lee wrapped her in her arms. He gave her a sense of security andfort. They fell asleep without further ado.

 Chapter 24: Beginning of Cultivation

    Chapter 24: Beginning of Cultivation

    Dusk appeared outside the window. Two arcs are seen in the horizon. Darkness lifted it''s veil when Lee woke up. He yawned and stretched his limbs as Fenfang clinged to his bosom. He slowly crept out of the bed, without waking her up. Sleeping straight for 11 hours was indeed tiring.

    Lee tiptoed to the table and sat on the chair. D greeted him with a loud morning shout.

    [GOOD MORNING BOY! I was expecting some action, but it seems like you''re a pacifist. I do have hopes though.]

    ''Why do you even care?! What can you do even if I had done some erotic things?''

    [...I''ll masturbate and ejacte in your consciousness!]

    ''DON''T YOU DARE, MOTHERFUCKER!!!''

    Lee nearly exploded in anger, but calmed down as D spoke again-

    [I was messing with you. You know I can''t do that.]

    ''Don''t ever mention those words or do such actions.''

    [....]

    ''By the way, tell me how to cultivate?! How does EsConv work?! I''ve got a lot of doubts.''

    [The conversion rate of Essence to Qi/Mana is 1:2. That is, 1 Essence gets converted to 2 Qi or Mana. That''s how EsConv works.

    Since you can convert Essence to Qi freely, you don''t have to cultivate. Instead, you can continuously break-through through realms. Every minor and major realm breakthrough will increase all your attributes by 1 point.

    Ask your doubts.]

    ''So, if Ipletely break-through to the Body Strengthening realm, I get a total of 10 point raise in all attributes?!''

    [Yup!]

    ''Sweet!! What about Mana mastery?!''

    [Wizard is the most Mana using profession there is. Any progress in it will take a lot of focus and dedication. So let''s put them in the back of your mind for now.]

    ''Ok. D, convert 500 Essence to Qi.''

    A notification popped up as he said.

    =====

    Qi: 1000

    =====

    ''D, disy the minor and major realms in cultivation along with the needed Qi to breakthrough.''

    =====

    Mortal ss realms:- minor increment by 10

    Qi Sensing - 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90.

    Body Strengthening - 210, 220, 230,....., 280, 290.

    Foundation Building - 410, 420, 430,....., 480, 490.

    Qi umtion - 610, 620,...., 680, 690.

    Core Formation - 810, 820,....., 880, 890.

    Soul ss realms:- minor increment by 100

    Elemental Binding - 1100, 1200,..., 1800, 1900.

    Nascent Soul - 3100, 3200,..., 3800, 3900.

    Soul Condensation - 5100, 5200,..., 5800, 5900.

    Soul Transformation - 7100, 7200,..., 7800, 7900.

    Soul Manifestation - 9100, 9200,..., 9800, 9900.

    Immortal ss realms:- minor increment by 10,000

    Immortal Master - 110000, 120000,..., 190000.

    Immortal Grandmaster - 310000,...., 390000.

    Monarch Immortal - 510000,...., 590000.

    Emperor Immortal - 710000,...., 790000.

    Prime Immortal - 910000,...., 990000.

    God ss realms:- increment by 200,000,000

    Human Saint - 200,000,000.

    Heaven Saint - 400,000,000.

    Essence Saint - 600,000,000.

    Dimension Sovereign - 1,000,000,000.

    =====

    Lee frowned as he read thest line.

    [I can feel your confusion. Let me rify. The Dimension Sovereign is the highest cultivation realm in the dimension. Which means you cannot grow any further here. But if you cultivate further, you can be free yourselves from this dimension''s bondage and visit other dimensions. You will have a chance to befriend other Dimension Sovereigns.]

    ''Lemme guess, that''s how you ended up in the Origin dimension, wasn''t it?!''

    [You are brighter than I thought!]

    ''Spare the bullshit. Now how do I break-through?!''

    [Just say what you need to do. I''ll work it out.]

    ''Then let''s see how far 1000 Qi will take us!''

    =====

    Reached ''2nd Body Strengthening realm''.

    Progress: 120/230.

    =====

    Attributes + 12 points each.

    =====

    Lee nced at the Essence points left. His eyes nearly fell off their sockets. Aplete 6475 Essence glistened in his ount. His eyes sparkled with ecstasy.

    ''D, convert 5000 Essence to Qi!!''

    His excitement was visible on his face. His sluggishness faded within a second.

    =====

    Qi: 10000

    =====

    ''D, as far as you can!''

    There were no notifications for 4 seconds. Lee was eagerly waiting for the notification to pop up. Just as he expected, a notification appeared.

    =====

    Reached ''6th Qi umtion realm''.

    Progress: 440/670.

    =====

    Attributes + 24 points each.

    =====

    *sigh*

    A satisfactory expression was on Lee''s face as he sighed. He had additionally instructed D to mask his cultivation.

    It was about time Fenfang woke up. She greeted Lee with a sweet smile. They ate some bread loaves and shared a bottle of milk. Then they left for meeting Freya and herpanions.

    Freya was talking with Paulo downstairs. When Fenfang and Lee came to sight, she greeted them and Fenfang and Freya walked outside. Lee thanked Paulo for his hospitality.

    "It''s my pleasure, son. I was able to see that the world is always strange no matter how much time passes. You are always wee here. When youe to the vige next time, I''ll be waiting to see your junior." (Paulo)

    Lee could only smile awkwardly as he escaped from his sight. He quickly walked to where thedies and their mounts were.

    Upon seeing that Lee had no mount to ride, Fenfang offered to share her horse. But Lee politely declined as he used ''View'' on the horse.

    =====

    Name: Dune Horse

    Age: 13 years

    Health: 41

    Strength: 33

    Agility: 49

    Defense: 36

    Endurance: 69

    Sense: 49

    Intelligence: 29

    =====

    "I can run faster than this horse. So I don''t need to. I can easily keep up with your speed." (Lee)

    "You''re faster. But how long can you endure?!"

    What Freya said felt like a challenge to him. He watched as Freya led the squad out of the vige and towards the city. Lee turned around and saw Paulo and vigers standing behind him. They bid all of them goodbye and waved his hand as he walked out of the gate. Then he positioned himself firmly on the ground and took a running stance. After a second, a shockwave spread out as he bolted towards Freya''s squad.

    *whoosh*

    All they saw was a sliver of lightning. Many gasped air in amazement. Paulo was stunned as his speed was incredible. A moment of awe consumed them.

    Lee initially gave a very high speed start, but then slowed slightly. He brought out very little amount of lightning and channeled it through him. The pain was bearable. He watched his immunity increase to Medium grade. The pain became considerably less as the time went by.

    He soon caught up with Freya and her squad. They were amazed by his steady breath even at this speed and duration. But what gave them goosebumps was faint lightning strikes running along his body. It was such an unbelievable sight!

    Freya signalled that they were nearing the city limits and he retracted the lightning back to EsGen. They travelled for about 9 miles in nearly 45 minutes.

 Chapter 25: Guild Evaluation Ground

    Chapter 25: Guild Evaluation Ground

    ''D, what''s time now?!''

    [Umm..it''s 7.30 A.M. Do not worry, this world also follows the 24 hour system.]

    ''Essence points I have?!''

    [1925 Essence.]

    ''Ok...I want to be notified on the amount of Essence harvested at every hour along with the time.''

    [Ok. Timed notification set for every hour.]

    ''Stats. And from now on, stats is to show everything except name, age, title, fame, skills and system features.

    [Got it!]

    ==========

    Essence: 1925

    ----------

    Health: 226

    Strength: 226

    Vitality: 226

    Agility: 226

    Defense: 226

    Endurance: 226

    Sense: 226

    Intelligence: 106

    Resolve: 106

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (2580/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Lightning Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Cultivation: 6th stage Qi umtion realm

    Qi: 440/670

    Mana: 0

    ==========

    [A small reminder. If you marry An Fenfang, you can help her break-through by using your Essence.]

    ''Tell me more about itter''

    The gate to the city was heavily guarded. There was a long queue in front of the gate. Merchant caravans andmon folks were inspected in detail before allowing entry to the city. Freya and her squad skipped the queue and headed straight to the gate. Lee could only follow her lead. Their action caused many to murmur-

    "Who do they think they are?! They are skipping the queue!"

    "People with power act very arrogantly. These people are no different from us. Then why should they get such privileges?!"

    ...

    Lee heard the uprising murmur very clearly. He deduced that there existed a very strict hierarchial system inside the city.

    As the squad leader of the Emergency Response team, she and herpanions along with Lee were easily let go inside. The guards searched Lee for the namesake of their duty.

    Enormous streets and crowded civilians weed Lee. It was his first time in a city, after getting transmigrated here. On both sides of the path, vendors have set stalls and sold their products. Inns, restaurants and multi-storeyed shops caught Lee''s attention. Carriage tracks were running through streets. Officials and guards periodically roamed through the city. The city nning was perfect. Not a single brick was out of ce.

    Lee followed the squad to an old-fashioned building. The squad dismounted from their horses and went inside. Fenfang held his hand as he was pulled along.

    The first room was a hall with a wide reception desk. A few people with different outfits stood here and there. Some stood before a notice board called ''Missions''.

    Two busty elves stood behind the desk with a sense of maturity. Freya signalled them to stay back as she walked to the reception and asked something. Except Lee, none could hear the conversation.

    "Is ''he'' here?!" (Freya)

    "No,''he'' will be back by 4 teas. The mission?!" (Receptionist 1)

    "Was already taken care of when we got there. We have bought the person. He''s good and strong." (Freya)

    Telling this, Freya stared at Lee over her shoulders. The receptionists scanned him top to bottom and asked Freya-

    "Should we do?!"

    "Analyse. It is needed." (Freya)

    Saying this, she waved at Lee toe forward. She introduced the receptionists as Changchang and Changying respectively.

    Lee was confused, and Freya gave an exnation.

    "You may have noticed that this building is rtively old-fashioned than surrounding ones. That''s because it is the oldest in the city. This building is the Adventurer''s Guild, where people join as ''Adventurer'' to earn money bypleting missions. You met Darwin on such a mission. The ce will soon fill up with people. One more thing, have patience. There are all kinds of people here. Some will be arrogant. Some will be perverts and some will beat you up for no reason. But you''re safe here. Violence is forbidden inside the building."

    As soon as she finished speaking, Changying ced a crystal sphere on the desk. Lee nced at it and back to Freya.

    "You''ve defeated the wolves by yourself. You have the necessary qualifications to be an adventurer. This crystal will evaluate your elemental affinity. After this test, we''ll take you to the evaluation grounds where we can evaluate your physical aspects. Now ce your hand on the crystal."

    Freya made the situation clear. Lee raised his brow in appreciation of the crystal''s power. He gently ced his right hand on the crystal.

    *CRACK*

    With a loud crack, the solid crystal sphere got deted into a thin circle. It was like a 1000 tonne hydraulic piston ttening a football. The sound resonated through the room. The few people scattered here and there came towards the desk. They were all amazed by this unexinable phenomenon. The receptionists gasped and covered their mouth as their eyes went wide. Lee, standing like a toddler with no idea of what was happening, probed D.

    [As expected. This crystal had the ability to evaluate the affinity of those born in this dimension. But since you''re not from here and there''s arge difference between 284 and 3, the crystal was ttened by the foreignity of your being. It was fun to watch, thou!]

    D''s exnation darkened his face. He looked at Freya and asked-

    "Am I expelled?!"

    Freya shook her head and replied-

    "There was once a man who had affinity with gravity. He cracked the crystal as soon as he touched it. A woman had the ability of molecr disintegration and her touch deformed the crystal permanently. They were all enrolled that moment itself. But the test went on. Your case will be no different."

    Lee can tell a significant change in Freya''s attitude. He wondered as to what could have triggered such a change. While he was busy thinking, Fenfang had wrapped herself to his right hand and pulled him along. This action did arouse rumours, but the squad members rified the truth to all.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''So punctual, eh?!''

    [.....]

    Changying led Freya, lee, Fenfang and the squad members. She opened a door and signalled Lee to enter. Lee entered the room and the door mmed shut.

    At a nce, it looked like a colouseum, with a ss dome on it. Except, there were only a few members in the balcony. He smiled at those familiar faces. Changying turned around and pulled a lever as she shouted-

    "THE EVALUATION OF ADVENTURER LEE BEGINS!!!!"

    Some deafening mechanical sounds came from the walls. Soon, fiverge doors opened horizontally on the ground. Darkness shrouded inside those doors as a series of steps went down with no end. Lee walked and stood before one of the doors and scratched his head. He looked the balcony and asked in a loud voice-

    "Am I supposed to go inside?!"

    Freya answered with a smile-

    "No, it''lle for you."

    Before she finished, an arrow came from darkness. Lee sensed the arrow closing in and stepped to his right and caught it. It all happened in a second and all were stunned. Never before had anyone caught that deadly arrow.

    He closely inspected the arrow as 4 creatures jumped out of the other four doors. They were a Winged Demon, High Orc, ck Goblin and Four-handed hideous human respectively. The fifth one slowly came out of the door near which Lee stood. It was a Ghost Elf. The highlighted and mostmon feature of these beings is that they all had red eyes and ck cors. Lee can finally see how the evaluation works. D asked his whether he want to use ''View'', to which Lee replied-

    ''Waste of time!''

    Lee broke the arrow in half and took out his de. The de made them all take a step backwards as they had not seen such a weapon in their lives. But the Ghost Elf lost its mind. For the first time, somebody broke it''s arrow, that too, with one hand.

    A sharp scream came out of Ghost Elf as it showered Lee with a rain of arrows. The other four beasts and those at the balcony shuddered in fear. They can tell that Lee will die.

    Lee stood there like a statue with his de in his hand. An ear-to-ear grin appeared as the Foresight got activated. Now he can see everything picture perfect and snail-slow.

    Like Sonic the hedgehog, he started cutting down all the arrows. Each step he took forward, a hundred arrows he chopped down. For him, it was like watching a movie at 8 frames per second. His inhuman agility showed it''s nimbleness.

    Winged Demon understood that he must intervene or the Ghost Elf would be cut down. He rose into the sky and dived at Lee, with his sharp ws extended at him. The Demon thought that Lee was absorbed in the volley of arrows, so it took the opportunity to cut him down.

    It came near Lee from his behind. So there was naturally no way for him to defend. It''s confidence skyrocketed. But as soon as it came about 3 meters near him, Lee looked over his shoulder and swung his de horizontally as he took a 180 degree turnaround.

    *shizz*

    =====

    Lesser Lightning Affinity

    Progress: 1/100

    =====

    The proud Winged Demon''s deep fried body shot like a cannonball and got nted to the opposite wall. Except for Freya and Changying, no one saw what happened clearly.

    Covered in cold sweat, Changying looked at Lee. She was pale from what she saw. To one-shot a Winged Demon, that too a general, was an astronomical achievement. She can confirm that his de did not touch it. What she saw was his de getting covered by lightning and it channeling through the demon''s body while frying it''s internal organs. She wondered as to why the crystal sphere didn''t detect his affinity and how it got crushed.

    The demise of Winged Demon made the ck Goblin further cautious. But instead enraged the High Orc. It raised its huge blood-drenched axe and charged at Lee. By this time, the mortal grade de had already chopped off the Ghost Elf''s head from its body.

    Lee turned around to see the human and Goblin at full alert. Seeing the charging orc, he had the idea to get his strength. He stored his de in the Inventory and ran at the orc.

    Seeing him charging, the orc brought down its axe to cut him into two. No one in the balcony voiced their doubts and suggestions as they saw him killing two nightmares like bugs!

    From Lee''s perspective, the axe slowly came down as he readied himself to grab the axe''s huge de. He was in a mental conflict as to how he should catch it without breaking it apart.

    Time was insufficient and the de slowly descended on him. The three beasts again judged him as ''dead!''. Lee raised his left hand and caught the de barehand. But due to the de''s higher initial velocity and Lee''s high attributes, it crumbled like a ypot.

    *ba-dumm*

    The High Orc''s heart skipped a beat upon seeing his favourite weapon crumbling in its opponent''s hand. The sadness empowered it''s strength. It went berserk and threw the handle away and shot it''s clenched fist at him.

    Lee was praying for it to do so. His initial attempt was a failure due to the object''s ''fragility''. He too clenched his fist and shot at the beast.

    *BOOM*

    A violent shockwave swept the arena as the ''High'' orc became ''few'' orc pieces. This wasn''t the effect of Lee''s strength alone, but due to the collision of two monstrously powerful fists. Sad that one died.

    *gulp*

    The group at the balcony ''gulped'' on seeing this. Sound shut itself in their throats. Their lips went dry. A helplessness crept their bodies as they saw Lee tearing the creatures apart.

    The ck Goblin was a creature skilled in theft. It''s shadow attribute gave it an ability to walk through shadows undetected. It ran at the wall''s shadow and disappeared into it. D opened the Map in his head as he said-

    [That Goblin is particrly dangerous. It can sneak attack anything that has a shadow. When it is inside one''s shadow, it cannot attack and cannot be attacked. The moment ites out, an invisible ripple will form. The Map will help you pinpoint the ripple. You''re on your own!]

    As he keenly watched his surroundings, the Map disyed ripples right beneath his foot. He quickly jumped up to evade the Goblin''s dagger only inches from him. The Goblin was astonished as a human evaded his attack. But it squinted it''s eyes as it expected from someone incredibly agile.

    Seeing that the human can evade the Goblin''s attack, the hideous human dashed at Lee. Lee inwardly uttered ''Poison affinity'' as he ran at that beast. He temporarily let go of the Goblin as it needed to get into a shadow to sneak attack.

    The four arms swung it''s thick forelimbs randomly. It was trying to stall and distract Lee as the Goblin prepared it''s attack. But it''s life was short. Lee guessed it''s intention and jumped over its head as his de decapitated it''s human head. The lifeless four-arms fell like a tree.

    =====

    Lesser Poison Affinity

    Progress: 1/100

    =====

    Now, all he had to do is kill that jumping-bug Goblin. It had already disappeared into the shadows, so he can only expect it''s attack anytime!

 Chapter 26: Bug Spray

    Chapter 26: Bug Spray

    Lee slowly moved throughout the arena. He made sure that he is constantly moving, so that the Goblin will not get a solid chance to attack from his shadow. It was also to make it restless. Then when he briefly stops, it''ll attack without wasting a moment.

    Lee formted a good n in his mind. Those in the balcony mostly figured out what he was thinking. They could only sigh as Lee had underestimated the ck Goblin.

    Lee stood at a ce full of light and waited for it to arrive from beneath or behind. Minutes passed and it was Lee who became restless. He angrily asked to D-

    ''What kind of torture had it gone through to have this much tolerance?! Don''t tell me it can be invisible too!''

    [It''s Intelligence is higher than we expected. So we can only y by its rules. As long as it has shadows, it''s invincible.]

    ''Wait wait wait...you said ''As long as it has shadows''! Does that mean it''s helpless without shadows?!''

    [As far as I''m concerned, yes, it can be killed if there are no shadows. But you don''t have a skill that can lighte....oh wait, why didn''t I think of it?! Ah, I''m so stupid!!]

    ''You realised! Good to know.''

    [Command please]

    ''Spray it!!!''

    Everyone frowned as Lee stood frozen like a statue. Even Goblin felt something amiss. The next second, it happened.

    Lightning sparkled over Lee like a Te-coil. He stood there, mentally preparing for the immense pain that he''s about to suffer. A secondter, thick and troublesome lightning strikes appeared all over his body and started to spread out. He stood erect, not because he tolerated the pain, but because he was too numb to even fall.

    The lightning spread all over the arena like a huge. It went in all directions and burned all the dead bodies to ashes. The flickering lightnings crept towards the shadows too. The Goblin was safe in the shadows, but was losing its escape route by each passing moment.

    The Lightning Affinity progress was quite different. Lee had decided to go all out, so each passing second gave him 2 progress points. The Lightning Immunity was also climbing up at the same speed.

    =====

    ''Medium Lightning Affinity'' obtained

    Progress: 3/10000

    =====

    Anyone can see a wide grin on Lee''s face. This chance was a blessing in disguise for him. If he had known of this opportunity, he would have used the lightning from the start. Now, he was praying that the Goblin must note out too soon, as he can utilise this situation well.

    To put up an act, he decreased the range of lightning strikes. The magnitude and thickness was not lowered. The Goblin was happy to witness that he is getting tired. It decided to wait in the shadows for a while, until the ''prey'' is tired.

    For the first time, Lee tricked someone back. He was feeling happy and his emotion reflected in the lightning strikes. He deliberately fluctuated the lightning strike''s range to build up the Goblin''s confidence.

    Time passed by.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Next notification on Essence harvest appeared and Lee came back to his track of time. The Goblin was growing restless and nearly figured out his n. At that moment, all the lightning disappeared.

    *huff huff huff*

    Lee was actually gasping for air. His body lost its strength and wobbled. He managed to stand upright, but fell on one of his knees. He took out his de as his sweat dripped on it.

    The Goblin was extremely happy. It can now sessfully kill this dangerous being in one hit. It observed Lee as he lowered his head in numbness.

    Fenfang nearly jumped out of the balcony, but Freya stopped her. She reminded him that he will not die from it''s attack as the cor will restrict it''s blow and will give it a shock. Fenfang could only calm her troubled heart, that did not calmed a bit.

    The Map alerted that ripples are forming right beneath him. Lee slowly opened his eyes as Foresight was activated.

    A ck dagger emerged from beneath. He clearly saw that the dagger''s trajectory was to his heart. He suddenly leaned to his right and fell down as he grabbed the rising arm. With all his strength, he pulled out the pest from his shadow. The Goblin was wonderstruck as it found itself floating in air without any support.

    *shizzzz..*

    A huge lightning column emerged from Lee''s hand and enveloped the ck bitch. The column was high enough to touch the dome, and powerful enough that no leftover of the Goblin was found, not even ashes. This strike marked his victory, but at the cost of a badly burnt arm.

    *krack-dhum krack-dhum*

    Deafening mechanical sounds again noised out as the doors closed. Lee slowly mustered strength and got up on his feet. Onest challenge awaited him. A door opened at the opposite side of where he entered. He had to walk out of that door to pass the trials. There were no traps or anything else to counter.

    Lee sluggishly moved his legs as they were numb from a heavy dose of lightning strikes. As he moved about halfway, his muscles responded to hismands and the numbness started to fade. Without further waiting, he entered the door and it closed behind him automatically. Fenfang and everyone at the balcony came running at him. She wrapped him in her hands as he nearly died in the arena. Freya immediately called out for a medical team and two people arrived. Lee was taken on a stretcher to the infirmary. Changying led the squad members to the main hall, while Fenfang and Freya followed Lee to the infirmary.

    -----------------------------------------------------

    A tall and stout man with orange-yellowish beard and hair was reading a book through his tiny spectacles. His dress was simple, as he wore a in white top and a pair of brown pants. The book, table and chair was small whenpared to his stature.

    A bell ring distracted his reading as he nced at the door. The next moment, two people entered the room with a youngman on the stretcher. Twodies followed them to the room. Upon seeing the tiny-spectacled big man, Freya shouted-

    "Wenk, you ugly big bastard, when will you die?!"

    Wenk was once a healer in Freya''s party. He was someone who stole her heart too. He left because he could not tolerate bloodshed anymore.

    "Freya, you impolite witch, no wonder they say that dark magic practitioners live long!"

    The two who carried Lee on the stretcher were stunned by their casual conversation. They immediately left the scene after cing Lee on the table. Wenk came near Lee and held his hand, and was surprised to be electrocuted. He withdrew his hand in surprise.

    "Hmmm....this boy has awakened his lightning affinity very recently. That made him go numb from its prolonged use. I''ll concoct something to lighten the situation." (Wenk)

    He went to his storage and Fenfang came near him. She wanted to hold his hand, but Freya restricted her as she might also be electrocuted.

    A minuteter, Wenk came back with a pale blue liquid in a beaker. He told Lee to open his mouth and he did as he was told. The liquid went into his mouth and a minuteter, Lee fell asleep.

    Wenk looked at thedies and stated-

    "He''s alright now. Let him stay here for a whole day. He''ll be back to normal by tomorrow morning."

    Freya snorted at Wenk as she dragged reluctant Fenfang with her. The day was still young and her dear hubby was in the infirmary!

 Chapter 27: Plans For Future

    Chapter 27: ns For Future

    ording to Wenk, Lee would sleep for a whole day. With this conclusion, he went back and continued his reading. But after 2 hours, Lee started to move.

    Wenk frowned as he noticed the patient move. He ced the book down and went near him. The electric effect had long gone. Lee could not move, but he stared at confused Wenk.

    "Wer m ai?!"

    Lee raised a question in confusion. Wenk came to a conclusion from his question-

    "Boy, you''re super lucky. Your muscr numbness will fade in a day. To endure such a dangerous affinity for a long time, you have guts, I''ll give you that....By the way, which beast killed you?!"

    Wenk''s question made Lee frown. He replied sluggishly-

    "Nunn, ai kilt oul."

    Wenk was confused as his frown deepened. He lowered his head to Lee''s mouth and asked-

    "I can''t hear you. What did you say?!"

    "I sait, ai kilt ol!"

    Wenk was dumbstruck. He can only guess from what Lee said, but if what he meant was true, then he''s a genius, a prodigy.

    Wenk suddenly ran outside and headed to the Guild office. He asked the same question to Changchang, but Changying answered him by narrating everything she saw.

    Wenk felt an unexinable happiness inside him. He dashed back to infirmary and looked at Lee with sparkling eyes.

    "What are you, boy?! You were only told to endure those things, but you went and kill it! You''ve got my respects, boy. Tell me, what''s your name?!"

    Lee hesitated for a second and answered-

    "Lee."

    "Lee, you''re the first person in about 3 centuries to kill a being in Evaluation Ground, and probably the first in the entire history. Sleep well. Don''t worry. I''ll guard you. I was once a healer in Freya''s party."

    Lee felt a lot of mixed information flowing into his ears. He closed his eyes and tried to digest it. From what this man had said, he deduced one or two important things.

    As he was in his thought-train, the Essence harvest notification appeared.

    =====

    12 Noon

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Oh D, happy to see that the notifications are working. Tell me how much Essence I have obtained.''

    [You have 3,725 Essence with you.]

    ''Convert 3000 Essence to Qi''

    =====

    Qi: 6440

    =====

    ''D, break-through!''

    Upon Lee''smand, D began to spend Qi and breakthrough. Another notification appeared.

    =====

    Reached ''5th Core Formation realm''

    Progress: 170/860.

    =====

    Attributes + 8 points each.

    =====

    ''It''s easy-peasy, right?!''

    [Correct! Now, you may take rest.]

    ''Wake me up at 4 evening''

    [Got it!]

    Wenk thought that Lee was asleep, so he slowly went and continued to read the book. He nced at Lee every now and then to make sure that he was sleeping well.

    --------------------------------------

    [Lee, it''s 4 P.M.]

    =====

    4 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Total Essence?''

    [2525]

    ''Break-through till the peak of Core Formation realm.''

    [1665 Essence consumed.]

    =====

    Reached ''Peak stage Core Formation realm''

    Progress: 0/1100.

    =====

    Attributes + 5 points each.

    =====

    [Looks like you''re really worth guiding. You''ve calcted everything beforehand, haven''t you?!]

    ''I''m thinking about staying stagnated for a while. I need to acquire Immunity and Affinity on all elements and substances. I won''t be content with one or two elements.''

    [I''ll formte a chart as to where elemental beings can be found. I hope they are still alive.]

    ''Carry on. I''m still numb, and I don''t feel hunger.''

    [Your metabolism is currently halted. The gastrol muscles are very delicate. So it needs more time to recover.]

    ''Wake me up at 9 P.M.''

    [Ok!]

    ---------------------------------------

    (A.N. Due to my utterly pitiful performance in mathematics, I miscalcted the status screen. So this will be the correct status screen.)

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 684

    Essence: 2525

    ----------

    Health: 280

    Strength: 280

    Vitality: 280

    Agility: 280

    Defense: 280

    Endurance: 280

    Sense: 280

    Intelligence: 120

    Resolve: 120

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (2580/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (1/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (3/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Progress: 0/1100

    ----------

    Qi: 0

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 28: Lees Defense & Ladys Offense

    Chapter 28: Lee''s Defense & Lady''s Offense

    Before the notification appeared, Lee was awake and was trying to move his muscles. He raised his head and saw Wenk sitting on the chair and snoring as he slept. He was leaning backward and hisrge frame vibrated at each breath. Lee sighed as he thought whether his ''guard'' was still valid!

    Lee can sit up and walk without any trouble. The strength was not at his peak, but can easily fight someone of Freya''s calibre. He looked around and saw the peculiarities of the room. A hand-drawn chart of human body parts as well as body parts of 7 other races was hanging on the wall. A big bottle of disinfectant and a big ball of cotton was in a tray. Some unknown herbs and potions were kept in an orderly fashion. Apart from where heid down, there were two more wooden desks for patients to rest. The cobwebs here and there made him deduce that the building is either old or this guy doesn''t really clean.

    If he disappeared without a word, this healer would be a damage-dealer on him. So, he patted Wenk''s shoulders. It didn''t do anything. Lee felt amused and pped on the table. Now that woke him up. Wenk jolted up with sleepy eyes and his tiny spectacles hanging on his face in a funny manner. Upon seeing Lee in front of him, he was surprised. Looking out to see the sunlight gone, he was more surprised.

    "Boy, how did you get up?! You will have to rest till tomorrow."

    Lee could only smile on his words.

    "I''ll be fine. Thank you for guarding me when I was asleep."

    Lee didn''t give him a chance to reply as he walked out of the infirmary. Wenk saw him exiting through the door and sighed. He adjusted his seating posture and Lee came in, scratching his head.

    "Can you tell me where An Fenfang and Freya went?!?!"

    The question made Wenk burst intoughter. He sat thereughing like a toddler, while Lee stood before him like an idiot.

    Wenk sensed Lee''s ufort expression and suppressed hisugh. He quickly stood and walked to close the windows. After putting out the candle that lightened the storage room, he came and said-

    "Youngman, let''s go for a walk!"

    Lee nodded in reply and they came out of the building. Wenk closed the door and locked it. Then they started to slowly walk as Wenk started to describe the surroundings-

    "Lorin City is a wonderful ce. It''s big and wide and houses about..I don''t know, too many people. Various sects and families are in this city. That building is the Merchant''s Guild. Anyone interested inmerce can join there. The Valor Inn is famous for their delicious hot drinks made from the milk of Horned-Mow. It''s over there....."

    Wenk spoke and pointed his finger here and there. He kept talking like an official city guide. Lee can only look where he pointed and see the details. As he was looking around, a pungent smell attacked him. He immediately closed his nose. Wenk saw this and was surprised. He sniffed and caught a faint unfriendly scent in the air.

    "You''ve got keen sense, boy! That smell will direct us towards the Alchemy Guild. Those old farts are probably experimenting on something."

    He pointed at a building with a signboard with shapes of bubbling beakers and potion bottles. Lee can confirm the Alchemy Guild from the signboard.

    "Right next to it is the cksmith Guild. If these fogies tear apart your nose, those guys are ready to tear apart your ears."

    Lee can hear a regr *ting* noise from the next building. It''s signboard had the figure of an anvil and hammer. Lee understood what the sign spoke.

    "Now as to where thosedies went, I don''t know. But ording to Freya''s routine, she''ll be strolling through the marketne. Maybe your friend will be with her."

    Wenk patted Lee''s shoulder. Lee felt arge hammering down on his shoulder twice. It wasn''t painful, but wasn''t a good sensation either.

    Lee followed Wenk''s lead. The streets were lit with mostly candles and torches. Those capable of buying a Mana Lantern or Qi Lantern had one with them. Those things can be recharged with its respective energies at regr intervals and can give an output that outshone ordinary torches.

    Men and women in vast varieties of outfits and hairstyles were walking up and down the streets. Lee can detect faces with eastern and western features. No discrimination on gender, colour or race existed as he witnessed a darkplexion Barbarian getting drunk with a green Goblin and a beautiful Elf.

    =====

    10 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was so absorbed in his surroundings that the notification jolted him up. He noticed that the time was 10 at night.

    ''D, Essence points?''

    [5225]

    ''Elemental beast map?!''

    [Still working on it. There is a probability that most of them are dead.]

    ''Then abandon the project!''

    [What else are you trying to do?!]

    ''Does ''Shop'' have anything to acquire elemental affinity or immunity?!''

    [There are pills in ''Consumables'' that can grant elemental traits for an hour.]

    ''Remind meter. Now locate Fenfang in the Map.''

    [...done. She is with freya, about 150 meters ahead of you. 4 people are tailing them.]

    D could hear Lee''s blood boil. Wenk was stunned to see Lee dashing forward, with anger in his eyes. He could only follow Lee and find out what it was about.

    5 secondster, he appeared in front of Fenfang. The crowd hindered his speed, but couldn''t stop him. Thedies had an annoyed expression on their face. Upon seeing Lee appear with Wenk, Freya and Fenfang came near them.

    Fenfang held his hands and checked him. His anger vanished into thin air. Wenk was surprised to see how Lee pinpointed them from a distance. Lee saw her eyes faintly welling up, and he can deduce the reason.

    "No matter how perfect a world is, women will always be haunted. Only the strong can resist and protect themselves. As a human of manners, one must protect other regardless of their gender, colour and race"

    Wenk spoke as Freya came near him. She was putting up a strong front, but her trembling hands caught his attention. His words incited the killing machine in him.

    Lee looked to see 4 hooligans standing at a distance, looking at them. Their eyes were scanning thedies, and Lee had the utmost desire to gorge them out. He asked whether she''s alright, to which she nodded.

    "Hey kid, leave that woman and run away. We''ll excuse you this time!"

    A spiky haired weirdo spoke as he took a step forward. Lee briefly watched the gang and sneered as they were like bugs.

    A Dwarf that reeked the smell of alcohol came forward saying-

    "Get out, will ya? Or you wanna get beaten?!."

    "Can you?!"

    The figure of Lee shed and appeared before the dwarf. Before he could do anything, he was raised in the air. His gang members were astonished as that alcoholic weighed over 100 kilograms.

    The dwarf gasped for breath as Lee gripped his strength further. The scene made all the passersby aghast.

    The being that looked simr to an undergrown orc ran at him. Lee kicked with his full force and it got nted to the nearby building, unconscious. This was enough for the other two to flee for their lives.

    Lee bought that stinky dwarf near his face.

    "Listen well you overgrown ape, next time I see you tailing a female, you''ll lose your lower half!"

    Lee loosened his grip and his burning eyes made his victim shudder in fear. He quickly got up and ran, stumbling along the way.

    Lee turned and walked to Fenfang.

    "I''m happy that you''re ok."

    Seeing her looking at him with a faint smile, he was happy.

    "You should have killed them. I would have done it!"

    Wenk came near him with Freya. After knowing that those bastards beat some warriors to pulp, he regretted his decision on letting them go.

    They didn''t spend any time outside and returned to where Freya and Fenfang had rented a room. It was in a rtively less crowded area of the city. Theck of hooligans and troubles were evident in the air. A poor man sang his worries and troubles out loud as they passed by them. Another man sat across the street and danced to his song.

    The ce was called July''s Inn. It''s inside was a diner. The ce was deserted. Tables were orderly ced throughout the room. The old woman at the desk saw Freya and asked aloud-

    "Freya, since when did you start to have a boyfriend?! Did the one who stole your heart return it?!"

    Wenk was momentarily stunned on hearing this. He knows the level of secrecy she puts on her matters. If she''s to share this information, then this woman must be a close friend of hers. Lee nced at Wenk and Freya through the corners of his eyes and saw a simr expression on their faces.

    "Ahh.I forgot to introduce myself. I''m July, an ex-wizard. Retired due to old age. Freya helped me to settle down with this inn."

    As soon as they sat, the woman introduced herself. Her wrinkly face, but energetic attitude made one hard to decide her age. The air was silent as the group ate. Lee did not know what to talk, Fenfang don''t know where to start, Freya was blushing as she ate and Wenk had trouble eatingfortably.

    After the food, thedies went to their room and Lee went to the room he rented to rest. Wenk bid them goodbye as he must sleep in the infirmary, if any emergencies arose.

    Lee closed the door and sat on his bed and a screen popped up.

    =====

    11 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''About time! D, about what I asked!''

    [There are pills and potions that can grant temporary elemental ability for users. The cost varies ordingly. Once eaten, the effect willst for an hour. It cannot be switched on and off. Some have side-effects.]

    ''Utilising the ''stackable'' feature of the system, can I intake multiple pills and acquire the respective immunities?!''

    [It is possible. But make sure that the elemental pills you take are not opposing. For example: Fire and water pills will counteract and nullify, in the worst case, explode.]

    ''Total Essence?''

    [5670]

    ''Wake me up at 4 in the morning. We need to n the day.''

    [Affirmative. Good night!]

 Chapter 29: "Im a Cultivator"

    Chapter 29: "I''m a Cultivator"

    Like a released spring, Lee jumped up on his bed. With only seconds away from the notification.

    =====

    4 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''GOOD MORNING DEE....''

    [Morning Lee. I''m a little surprised as I''ve never seen you wake up like that!]

    ''We''ve something to do. First, full status!''

    =====

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 712

    Essence: 7920

    ----------

    Health: 280

    Strength: 280

    Vitality: 280

    Agility: 280

    Defense: 280

    Endurance: 280

    Sense: 280

    Intelligence: 120

    Resolve: 120

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (2580/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (1/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (3/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

    ''My Intelligence and Resolve is rtively low. So increase both by 150 points.''

    [Ok, this might make you dizzy for a moment.]

    ''Wha-''

    Before he spoke to D, Lee could feel his head vaguely spinning. After a second, it all came back to normal.

    ''D, why did I feel dizzy?!''

    [No matter how strong you be, the Brain will always be a delicate part. Sudden upgrading caused a momentary dizziness. But it has its own merits. The Foresight will be much detailed and slower. Your problem solving capabilities have gone up by a great amount.]

    ''Back to where we left yesterday, exin things that can give elemental affinities and immunities.''

    [As I said yesterday, pills and potions are avable to obtain them temporarily. They can be stacked over with the system.

    Taking a pill or potion will not readily start the progress. You''ll have to actively channel it to your body and use it in your attacks.]

    ''Now, my biggest doubt. Can I remodel my body to have fire and ice nds or put gills behind my ear to breathe underwater?!''

    [Yes, you can. But the change will cause uneasiness and pain ordingly.]

    ''Perfect. If I can make those, then why would I need the Immunity and Affinity?!''

    [Creating elemental nds can help you in many ways. But Immunity and Affinity are entirely different things. You see, elemental nds will help you actively create and manipte respective elements at any moment, but you can still be hurt by those if you don''t have immunity to them. Even if you are immune, they may not go the way you want. Affinity increases your proficiency in an element.]

    ''hmm...got it. How good is my Defense?! what can it bepared to?!''

    [Nothing below the Higher Silver grade can hurt you.]

    ''Strength?''

    [A punch can make web-like cracks on a crystal sphere.]

    ''Speed?''

    [About 70% match of a Necrunner]

    ''What''s a Necrunner?''

    [If a quadrupedal carnivorous skeleton that is dead for at least 60 years is exposed to Death Energy for 11 years, that''s a Necrunner. It has nothing apart it''s supernatural speed. Best for reconnaissance and spying!]

    ''Ever came across one when you were alive?!''

    [Many.]

    ''And?''

    [I freaking ran for my life. That thing is a carnivorous skeleton with teeth and w!]

    ''Ok, open the ''Re-model'' interface.''

    A pale grey screen opened up. A ck and white figure that resembled Lee was slowly rotating in it. It had no buttons or bars on its sides. Just a in screen, with half an inch border.

    ''Why''s all ck and white?!''

    [To show that this is your ''stock'' body. Any changes made will be in color.]

    ''Where are the buttons and sliders?!''

    [You''ve been using the system for above a week and still asking for buttons?]

    ''...sorry, I''ll use my mind then.''

    [....]

    ''D, zoom on my face.''

    The figure stopped rotating and the face was zoomed in. The facial features were urate, but a ck and white.

    ''Add night vision.''

    [Increasing the count of rod cells to that of cone cells........and done.]

    ''My hair''s a mess. Make them long, straight, elegant and silky smooth.''

    [How long?!]

    ''14 inches.''

    [Done.]

    Lee checked his hair and found that it was not changed at all. He frowned at D.

    ''Why didn''t my hair change?!''

    [Look at the bottom-right corner of the screen, stupid.]

    Lee looked where he was told to and saw the number 34 in ck colour.

    ''I assume that''s the cost in Essence.''

    [Yup.]

    ''Then how much will it cost to have a set of wings, capable of flight and retractable to the inside of the body?!''

    [Basic cost is 2300 Essence, and a lot of pain.]

    ''No thanks. Proceed to pay.]

    Lee paid the Essence and the change on his hair was visible. It became super smooth and beautiful. Ladies would die to have hair like those.

    ''Essence left?''

    [4886]

    ''Time?''

    [4.29 A.M]

    ''Let''s go out.''

    Lee jumped out of his bed and went out of the room. The aisle had 6 rooms, 3 on right and 3 on left. The door next to Lee was upied by Freya and Fenfang. Lee went and raised his hand to knock, but hesitated and backed off. He went down to the diner, and as he went down he nced through the window and saw that the stars were not up. But he could see everything clearly. He suddenly remembered something and went back to his room, twice the speed he came down with. He closed the door behind him and nced at himself. His rural attire was a downer.

    ''D, outfits!''

    A screen opened up and Lee scrolled down through the outfits. There were cultivator robes, medieval ''Earth'' dresses, outfits for other races, etc.But what caught his sight was a denim-colored jean, a white tee and a ck long jacket. Those three cost a total of 570 Essence, not to mention that they are outstanding in that world. He quickly stored what he wore in the Inventory and changed to what he bought. After feeling the fresh smell of the clothes, he slowly opened his door. For his surprise, Fenfang was about to knock on his door.

    She was surprised to see him. But she was awestruck to see what he wore. Her eyes went wide as she had never seen such a unique dress.

    Lee saw her amazement and cooked up a lie about an old man gifting him when he lived in the forest, but was afraid to wear it as someone woulde to snatch it. She did not believe itpletely and was about to leave when she saw his hair. A need to touch it overtook her. She pounced on him and they fell down stumbling on the floor.

    Fenfang didn''t care what he or anyone would think, because she was in dire need to touch it. After feeling his hair''s smoothness and beauty, she came to realise that she''s lying over him.

    "Can you two keep it low? Or are you both in a hurry to mate?!"

    Freya''s voice rose from the aisle. Lee nced at the door and saw Freya struggling to cover up herughter. Seeing her, Fenfang quickly got up.

    "It''s nothing like that. She was-"

    Lee couldn''tplete his sentence as Freya had stepped forward and took his hair in her hand. She too was charmed by his hair. Fenfang saw it and walked downstairs with a puffed face.

    Lee could only follow her to the downstairs. As Lee walked, Freya was checking his ''different'' outfit.

    July was cleaning the table downstairs. She was happy to see three of theming together. But sadness soon enveloped her as she realised that she hadn''t cooked.

    "Aww, guys, I haven''t cooked anything. I''m sorry. Could you three wait for ten minutes?!"

    July apologised and asked for a few minutes. Lee intervened-

    "It''s okay, ma''am. We can manage."

    =====

    5 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''About time!''

    Freya''s eyes sparkled upon hearing this. She knew what he meant. Fenfang, on the other side, took a few seconds to realise what he meant. Lee went near a cleaned table and waved his hand over it. 10 loaves of Honey Bread and 5 bottles of Horned-Mow milk appeared on the table. 25 Essence was deducted from what he had.

    July nearly fell down as she stumbled backward. This surprise was more than she could endure. Seeing the Honey Bread loaves, she stuttered-

    "Honey Bread?! So much!"

    She took a bottle and sniffed. Her eyes went wide as she looked at Freya-

    "Yes, Horned-Mow milk."

    July supported herself and sat on a chair with amazement. These were things that even noble families ate once in a week.

    Lee ced them and Fenfang and Freya pounced on the table. July watched as they stuffed their mouth with half a loaf in one go. She looked Lee and he replied-

    "Enjoy."

    The breakfast thus became a happy moment. They spoke and ate. Fenfang spoke less and Freya spoke lesser. Lee had to buy 5 more loaves from the Shop.

    July and Lee talked about themselves. Lee shared his life experiences of being ''separated from the group'' and surviving in the forest. July told her experiences as a wizard. From what she told, Lee deduced that she is at least a Veteran Wizard. He decided to ask her guidance on Mana mastery in future.

    =====

    6 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification brought Lee back to track. He nced outside and saw the streets faintly brightening up. July noticed his nce and thought that he may be in a hurry. She scolded herself inside for making someone who helped herte.

    "It''s okay. I didn''t have any urgency at dawn."

    His words that didn''t suit the atmosphere distracted Freya and Fenfang from their actions. Freya nced at July and saw her gloomy face.

    "Don''t worry. She''s like that. It''s her habit to get worried over small things. You''ll get used to it."

    Lee nodded on what Freya said. July realised that it was already dawn. She excused herself and went to the kitchen. Her two helpers came inside through the backdoor and greeted their boss with respect.

    Lee ate one loaf and drank one bottle of milk. Freya and Fenfang had eaten the majority of what he bought out. After finishing everything, they left for the Guild.

    --------------------------------------------------

    As the trio came near the Guild building, a familiar face greeted them. Lee was surprised to see Darwin at this early time. Darwin replied-

    "We were out of town on a mission, and arrived just now. We were about to go inside when we saw you."

    Lee was happy to see him and narrated what happened yesterday. Darwin''s expression changed as he was screaming inside.

    ''DA FAAK, HE KILLED OL OF EM?!?!'' (Darwin)

    They walked inside as Lee spoke. As Lee finished, Darwin stated as his brows rose sky high.

    "Boy, I''m telling you. You''re not human. I''ll tell Changchang to conduct a full-body inspection on you! And your dress is strange today."

    Lee chuckled on Darwin''s reply. They reached the desk. Changchang greeted them.

    "Adventurer Lee, here''s your Guild ID. This will show your name, age, rank and cultivation/mastery if you have any. Please drip a drop of blood on it."

    Lee nodded his head. Freya, Fenfang and Darwin came close to him to see what his ID will show.

    The blood was dropped and the following words showed up-

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Rank: 4

    Cultivation: 9th stage Core Formation realm.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    A moment of silence clouded them. Including Changchang, all four looked at the ID and him. Darwin came back to his sense and raised his doubt-

    "You''re a cultivator?! Howe I never sensed Qi from you?!"

    Freya and Fenfang nodded in agreement with Darwin''s question. Changchang was also interested in his secret.

    "Oh about that, I don''t know. It stays hidden from senses. But I can release it somewhat like this!"

    Lee closed his eyes and held his breath. All three took a step back. He made a huge sigh as he internally said-

    ''Release.''

    *ffooomm*

    A wave swept across the hall with hardly any noise. The silent wind made them take a few steps backward. It alerted the other adventurers as they stood here and there. Darwin''s heart skipped a beat-

    ''A cultivator''s aura!''

    Lee noticed their expressions and said softly with a smile-

    "I''m a cultivator!"

 Chapter 30: Bruce Lee, Bless Me!

    Chapter 30: Bruce Lee, Bless Me!

    "Peak Core Formation realm?!?! That kid?"

    "C''mon, it can''t be."

    "That''s a kid, right?! How can he even cultivate?!"

    -------------------------------------------

    Lorin City was a big. But that doesn''t mean everything rted to city are great. One of the demerit this city had is theck of resources. The atmosphere only had a sliver of Qi and Mana. The highest cultivation in this city was 3rd stage Core Formation realm. Because of that, the streets were peaceful. No one ran around the city unting their cultivation. If anyone had, the official knights and warriors won''t sit still.

    -----------------------------------

    Lee can feel a lot of eyes staring at him. Without further ado, he finished the formalities. Darwin introduced him to the ''Mission board''. Lee was happy to see a number of missions as he was itching for some actions.

    Freya and Fenfang had to meet their squad members and attend a meeting, so they left without wasting any time. Darwin bid goodbye as he wanted to take some rest. Lee was left alone, but was happy at the moment.

    The missions on the Mission board are divided on the basis of ranks based on color. Lee stared at the board of rank 4 missions with a frown.

    "Need to be exined?!"

    A voice came from his behind and he was distracted. Changying stood there and said-

    "The missions are divided on the basis of ranks. You need to have"

    Lee smiled and cut her off-

    "It''s okay. I get it!"

    He took a mission that was pinned at the top of the board. The piece of paper had yellow stripes over it. Lee can see that the danger level of the mission is equal to the color. Red meant extremely dangerous!

    He took the mission info to the desk. Changchang exined the mission details as this was his first time. He needs to catch 12 spikehogs. It was a mission issued by the Alchemy Guild.

    =====

    7 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee walked out of the city through the guarded gate. The guards asked for his ID and he showed his. Upon seeing his rank, they let him go as soon as they saw it. Lee walked for half an hour before stopping.

    ''D, ording to the info, those spikehogs must be here. But I don''t see them. Anything in the Map?!''

    [None, nothing in the vicinity.]

    ''Then let''s take a break. No need to rush, eh?!''

    [ording to the mission information, Spikehogs have thick skin that is resistant to cutting. It''s spikes on the back will block your de. In this scenario, would you like to unlock a major memory of your training?!]

    ''Define the word ''Major''!''

    [The de came into your hand as a secondary weapon. I''m talking about the training you did with another weapon, and some information about your idol!]

    ''Please do''

    A sudden and sharp sting made Lee nearly scream out. He fell on his knees as he clenched the fist and hit the ground. Each hit made the ground shake. A minuteter, the pain subsided. Lee raised his head and opened his eyes and uttered-

    "Bruce Lee, bless me!"

    He immediately opened the Shop interface and bought a nunchuck. It was made of strong and durable wood. An unknown spirit gave him boundless energy. He checked the Map and saw a single Spikehog about a mile away from where he was. He sprinted towards it.

    ----------------------------------------------

    Arge Spikehog was eating grass. It had poor sense of vision, but keen olfactory and auditory senses. Lee observed it from the bushes at a distance. To provoke it, Lee took a stone from the ground and throwed at it.

    *takk*

    The stone hit the Spikehog and it screeched in pain. About time, Lee came out of the bushes. His nunchuck and de was in his Inventory. So he stood barehanded. He showered a few more stones at it.

    Seeing an unarmed pest messing unnecessarily, it was enraged and charged at Lee. The distance between them became less as the beast charged forward. As it came near him for about a meter, he quickly stepped to his left and took out the nunchunk and whipped horizontally.

    *pichik*

    The hide strong enough to resist a cut was severely damaged by the nunchuck. Lee didn''t unlock the memory of nunchuck, but everything rted to Bruce Lee. He worshipped him as his idol for two reasons. One, the mastery of closebat with an unusual weapon. Two, the same surname ''Lee''.

    The impact corrected the Hog''s path and it rolled over. It survived the hit, at a great cost. That adult Spikehog felt fear and pain for the first time in its life. It wanted to run away, but it''s legs gave up.

    Lee slowly walked to the fallen creature. He saw the damage done by the nunchuck was greater than a sword could have done. As a deless weapon that can deal more damage and suffering, Lee inwardly worshipped his idol. Without wasting a moment, he stabbed his de deep through the tear mark nunchuck made.

    The beast cried out loud and a big herd came running. Seeing theirrade lying dead near a man''s feet, they all charged at the same time. Lee had no chance of surviving that head-on, so he dashed forward and jumped over them and reached their behind.

    *puch puch puch puch..*

    The pain emerged from the hit of nunchuck made some scatter, but many remained. Their butts were spanked by a flexible stick just now. How can they run away?!

    The intelligent Spikehogs grouped together as they came at him. They didn''t charge and we''re very careful as to not expose their back to this sadist. But the scene wasn''t different.

    Those that came near him were either disoriented or knocked out by his shing nunchuck. Some had their jaws tore open, but the pain only made them more angry.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee had missed the notification of 8 A.M as he was seriously into the mission. When the 9 A.M. notification appeared, he was wiping the blood off from his jacket. His tee and jeans were red in colour.

    A total of 35 Spikehogs were killed. Their individual size was one that rivalled a cow. Adding the strong hide and safety spikes, it was an armoured damage absorber. But it couldn''t keep its facade in front of the nunchuck.

    Lee stored them in his Spatial ring and slowly walked back. Two stepster, a stopped him-

    "What a fantastic weapon it is. Leave it there and run away. You''ll not be crippled if you leave your dress also."

    Lee nced at the Map and saw 18 red dots scattered around him, on the trees and in the bushes. They were bandits. Lee can assume what kind of people they were.

    "I''m tired. Why don''t you peoplee and take it from me?!"

    Lee sneered as he said. All the 18 bandits jumped out of their position.

    "Boy, you''ve got guts. Leave those and you''ll not die."

    A rtivelyrge man walked at Lee as he spoke. Lee held one end of nunchuck as the other end hung loose.

    "Want it? Take it! Spineless dick-sucking poop-eaters!"

    That hit the spot. Lee''s intention to provoke the bandits hit the bullseye. The leader roared and took a step as he raised his sword to cut Lee down. Lee closed on him and swung his nunchuck horizontally.

    *pakk*

    The sound was followed by silence. Therge body of the leader slowly kissed the ground. The bandits were hopeful in killing him as Lee stood alone. So they didn''t withdraw and charges at him.

    Lee''s proficiency in nunchuck wasn''t great as he still needed a lot of training. Theck of training was visible when he one-shotted the bandit leader. Lee aimed for his ear, but the nunchuck ended up crushing his neck from the side.

    Two minutes. It only took two minutes to wipe out the bandits. Inparison, Spikehogs were clearly a better opponent than these scums. Most of them had their jaws dislocated and limbs broken in half, but all were dead. Before killing thest one, he extracted the information he wanted.

    Storing the bandits in the Spatial ring, Lee walked to the city gate. The Spikehogs'' blood was already dry and king, so it was easy for him to remove it from his skin. But the blood stench actually came from his dress, and he didn''t know how to clean or wash them in this world.

    The guard didn''t inspect him as the scent of blood was enough to confirm his identity. Some of the guards recognised him and let him pass quickly.

    As he moved towards the Guild building, he thought of asking the possible reward for bandit extermination at the reception. He didn''t feel regret or fear as he believed that what he did was correct.

    -----------------------------

    =====

    10 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Guild reception.

    Changying smiled as she saw Lee return in one piece. She expected him to ce the mission back, but the blood scent in the air told her otherwise. He came near the desk and asked-

    "Where do I put the mission request object?!"

    Lee asked with a face devoid of expression, to which she replied-

    "And where is the request object?!"

    She was visibly confused as Lee walked in barehanded but smelling blood.

    Lee noticed her doubt and waved his left hand. 12 Spikehog corpses materialised from the thin air. Each one of them resembled a small mound.

    Changying pressed a button at the desk and three people came in with a cart. They came in and froze on their tracks, as the cart was only big enough to transport 2 Spikehogs at once. Lee absorbed them back to the ring and said-

    "Show me the ce. I''ll deposit it there."

    The cartmen were happy and led Lee to another room. This room was bigger than the reception room. One of the cartmen requested him to deposit them on the big weighing scale ced on the floor. He waved his hand and dropped 12 Spikehogs. The cartmen thanked him in one voice. As they began to check the product''s condition, Lee went back to the main room.

    Changying was surprised to see a Spatial ring. It was a raremodity among themoners. Before she asked about the ring, Lee probed-

    "Is there any chance that the mission requestor will buy more than what''s mentioned in the mission?!"

    Changying frowned as she replied-

    "More than means?"

    "13 more!"

    Lee''s reply was more than she expected. She told him to wait for a moment before running inside the building, through a door. A minuteter, she came back.

    "The Alchemy Guild is happy to buy 13 more. The reward will be doubled."

    Lee smiled as a reply. He went back to the storage room where he deposited the corpses before. The cartmen from before frowned as he entered again. Lee went to the weighing tform and waved his hand and 13 more Spikehogs fell down. The cartmen were aghast and stared at Lee as he walked out of the room.

    Returning to the desk, he signalled that he had a doubt. Changchang attended him and asked his query.

    "What will happen if you kill a bandit?!" (Lee)

    "You''ll be rewarded." (Changchang)

    "What will be the reward?!" (Lee)

    "Depends ording to the crimes they have done." (Changchang)

    Lee raised his brows as he nodded. He dropped the bandit leaders body on the floor and said-

    "This is the bandit leader and I have 17 more in storage. Where do I get the reward for them?!"

    The bandit''s corpse attracted a lot of attention. Changchang exined in detail that the body must be handed over at the Army headquarters to obtain the reward. She also told the location of the army headquarters.

    Lee took the body inside the storage ring and turned to walk away. As soon as he stepped outside the building, an arrow came from the right. He didn''t dodge, but caught it barehanded. He looked at the direction it came and saw a man sitting on the horse with a group of adventurers around him. He was about 25 and wore luxuriously expensive robe. His arrogance was written all over his face. He apuded as he got down from his horse and walked towards Lee.

    "As expected of someone who killed the bandit gang! You are truly a genius."

    Lee avoided him and tried to walk away, but he blocked his path with his sword. Lee was annoyed by this action, but his high Resolve didn''t waver.

    Lee looked dead in that man''s eyes. He let go of his taunting tone and spoke up-

    "I''m Mick Saderlin, a Veteran Archer. I''m a rank 5 adventurer. Join my-"

    "Nope!"

    The arrogant man was cut short by Lee as he pushed the sword aside. The man gritted in anger and shouted as his sword pressed against Lee''s neck.

    "Who do you think you are?! Some big shot?"

    Lee looked for onest time and slowly grabbed the sword. It''s de broke in half under his strength. The broken de fell on the ground with a nearly no noise.

    Mick''s hand was trembling uncontrobly. His followers saw this and silently scattered. Looking around, the arrogant man understood that he''s on his own.

    Lee had the arrow from before in his hand. He thrusted the arrow into Mick''s trembling body. The arrow went into his stomach without a hindrance.

    "This is your final warning. Never show your face again. Do not attempt for revenge in any form. I''ll skin you alive, if any of these happens."

    Lee''s words sounded like thunder in his ears. Lee turned around and disappeared in a sh. Mick fell backward with blood flowing from his wound. He can tell that Lee consciously avoided a fatal injury.

    Everyone around him saw this and was aghast. They just witnessed serene attitude, inhuman strength and sh speed. Many recognised him as the one who ttened the crystal sphere. Some confirmed that he was the one who killed all beings in the Evaluation Ground. Mick heard all these and thanked God for his extension of life.

    Lee followed the directions Changchang gave him and reached in front the Army headquarters. It was a rtively big building with at least 5 storeys. Lee had no idea what all things were waiting for him inside!

    (A.N. The cultivation stuff might be confusing, so let me exin. Ordinary people absorb Qi from the atmosphere and use the umted Qi for the breakthrough. Since the atmosphere in Lorin city only has a sliver of Qi, the cultivation bes very difficult, but not impossible. Even Fenfang is someone who came from another ce. Same goes with Mana users. The only way through which anyone can umte Qi at a faster rate is to buy Qi umting objects and cultivating with its help. Mana can be umted by intaking Mana potions. Due to these circumstances, Lee identally became the highest achieved cultivator.

    The first five realms help the cultivator build a solid awareness of perks and dangers in the cultivation while experiencing fights and growing more resolved, so that they don''t be a coward.

    The low stat upgrade at each breakthrough is to adjust the body to the optimum. Some will focus on strength and some on speed. The low upgrade lets them know that they are slowly evolving, so that they will choose a field to evolve into. If the upgrade is a lot, then none would specialise. Everyone will be "Jack of all trades, master of none", like overpowered our mc.

    I sincerely thank cer_de for his valuable feedback.)

 Chapter 31: Nunchuck vs IronSpear

    Chapter 31: Nunchuck vs IronSpear

    (A.N.  Army ranking ssifications in Lorin city

    Recruit - ck star

    Soldier - Bronze star

    Lieutenant - Silver star

    Captain - Gold star

    Major - Bronze stripe

    Colonel - Silver stripe

    Brigadier - Gold stripe

    General - (Kingdom Insignia)

    This is to make reading easier)

    Lee stood in front of the building and scanned it awestruck. It was exactly like Captain Jack Sparrow watching the ck Pearl going away on the crab-backs.

    "Hey! Who are you?! How dare youe here?!"

    His moment was ruined by a man in uniform. Lee lowered his sight and saw a young man standing in front of him.

    The man wore a full-sleeve scarlet colored shirt with a pocket on its left. His wellbed yellow hair and a face with no facial features gave away his young age. His lower torso had a ck pant made in a way that looked slim-fit, but hindered agility in no way. ck boots decorated his foot. A sheathed sword hung at his side. He had a single silver star attached on each of his shoulders. Lee deduced that the stars might be the symbol of army ranking.

    "What are you staring at?! You look like a criminal!"

    The youngman was enraged to see that a stranger had avoided his question. It hurt his pride. So he decided to threaten him. He took his sword from the sheath and pointed at Lee. The young man was expecting him to tremble from fear.

    Lee felt amused by this officer''s behaviour. He shook his head and tried to suppress his smile, but was in vain. The young man swung his sword with the intention of hurting Lee.

    The young officer shouting outside had already attracted the attention of other red-shirted officers. Lee saw them standing around, watching thismotion. He saw that half of them were wearing a deep blue shirt.

    Lee continuously evaded the young man''s sword. Each evasion had a tinge of provocation in it. Thispletely pissed off the man and he swung his sword at Lee''s neck.

    The crowd around them went bonkers as they saw a man in strange attire evading killing strikes with a smile on his face. Their mixed voice became a torture to ears.

    The young man started to pant as he slowed down. The sword in his hand could be barely gripped. He understood that this strange man is not an easy opponent, so he continued questioning.

    "Who are you?! Why are you here?! Are you a spy?!"

    =====

    11 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The first two questions were ok, but thest one made almost everyone suck in air. Some suddenly went on alert and slowly touched their sword''s hilt. They were ready to pounce on him at any second.

    "WHAT''S THE COMMOTION?!?!?!"

    A thunderous voice proimed and the crowd vanished into thin air. The red and blue shirt wearing crowd fled like they saw a ghost. The young man and Lee remained. Before the young man could turn and run, a hand came down on his shoulder.

    "Lieutenant Ji Yang, do you want me to take that Silver star back?!"

    Sweat drops were dripping from that young man''s forehead. He was so scared that words were noting out of his mouth.

    That man was taller than Lee by 4 to 5 inches. But his stout body gave him an air of terror. His brown hair wasbed backward and beard a centimetre long. He wore slim-fit ck pants and a white inner vest. Sweat rolled down his muscr body and drenched the vest. Lee wondered how his vest was holding up around his body.

    "N...no s..sir."

    The young man stuttered in fear as the palm gripped his shoulder. Then the man let go of his shoulder and said-

    "20ps around the training ground, now!!!"

    The young man ran away without voicing a noise. He went from the lion to rat in a matter of seconds. Lee confirmed that this man here has some seriously terrible background.

    "And you, who are you?! State your purpose."

    The big man beamed at Lee. He replied-

    "My name is Lee,an adventurer. I havee to enquire about the bounty on bandits."

    Lee replied without a tinge of fear. The big man scanned Lee top to bottom and asked-

    "Show the evidence."

    Lee can see that this man had the basic attitude of a soldier. So he flipped his left hand and produced a dead body. It fell on the floor. The big man looked at the Spatial ring and then crouched and checked the injuries on the body.

    "Weird injuries! Did you kill this man?!"

    Lee nodded and replies-

    "18 including him."

    "Were you alone?" (Man)

    "Yes!" (Lee)

    A faint smile spread on the big man''s face as Lee said those words. He told Lee to absorb the body back to ring and follow him.

    Lee followed the big man. They went through a corridor and reached an open space. The man who fought Lee before was running around the ground panting heavily. Lee guessed that this is the training grounds.

    "ce the dead bodies there ande back!"

    The big man''s words were filled with power. Lee looked at where he pointed and went there. He brought the bodies out of the ring and kept them on the elevated tform.

    Walking back to where the big man stood, Lee saw that the man now had an iron spear in his hand. The iron spear was taller than him as it stood upright on the ground. Lee came near him as he ordered-

    "Greetings. My name is Ian Zhi. An Army Major and the trainer of this headquarters. Take out your weapon and fight."

    Ian spoke as if he was ordering. Lee was hesitant to take out his de. Ian softened his voice and said-

    "It''s a little spar. I only want to check your strength!"

    Lee took out his nunchuck. The appearance of this weapon made an uproar among soldiers. Ian was anxious to see how this weapon worked.

    Lee decided to depend less on the system and didn''t use ''View''. D had advised him to be self-reliant. Even without ''View'', he can tell that the spear was incredibly heavy. It left an impression on the ground when it was lifted.

    Ian brandished his spear and observed Lee. Lee was crying inside. A spear was the worst matchup for his nunchuck. But he had hope.

    Seeing Lee''s hesitance, Ian swung his spear horizontally. Lee bended backward and he could hear it humming as it moved just above him.

    What followed was a ruthless set of moves. Ian''s iron spear was long and heavy, and perfectly handicapped Lee at the moment. His swings were evaded at a slight margin. One of his swings tore a long line in his jacket horizontally, and it pissed him off. Lee dropped his jacket and gripped the nunchuck and went to a guard state. The next second, Lee was already near Ian. But for his surprise, the spear turned at an unusual degree and nearly cut Lee''s neck from behind!

    Lee retreated as Ian smiled wildly. Those surrounding them shuddered at this sight. For the first time in their lives, they saw aplete rookie match up with Major Ian''s ability. Many were aghast.

    Lee began experimenting with ''attempt-and-run'' protocol. He would close near Ian, who''ll somehow make him retreat. This went on for many minutes.

    =====

    12 Mid-day.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Many became bores as they only saw Lee rushing in and Ian making him retreat. The two were panting. Lee clearly had an advantage with high attributes, but Ian with his spear nullified his attempts.

    A few more minutester, Ian rxed and let his spear fall to the ground. He began tough loudly as the spear rose a cloud of dust upon contact with the ground.

    Lee was slightly confused and looked around. Most soldiers had dispersed and a very few remained. He observed theughing Ian and rxed himself cautiously.

    Ian saw Lee''s cautious nature and said-

    "Be at ease. I''m happy as you''re the first person to stand toe to toe with me in over a decade. Tell me son, who are you?! How old are you?!"

 Chapter 32: For A Good Cause

    Chapter 32: For A Good Cause

    A long sigh came out of Lee as he rxed his alert muscles. He stored the nunchuck in his Spatial ring and spoke-

    "My name is Lee. I''m an adventurer. I''m 20 years old."

    All that heard Lee speaking was confused as f**k. Even Ian was taken aback. A 20 years old? Ian couldn''t digest this information and asked for his Guild ID.

    Everyone saw Major Ian''s eyes going wide as it traversed through the ID. The next moment, it became normal. Ian closed his eyes and a sense of satisfaction arose in his face.

    "It is true that ''Time waits for none''. The world has progressed greatly."

    The Major uttered as he returned the ID to Lee. Lee took it back and ced it in his Inventory. Ian looked around and shouted at bystanders-

    "This man here is a 20 year old, rank 4 adventurer. He is at the Peak stage of Core Formation realm. Mess with him and even I won''t be able to save him!"

    The crowd was stunned. Everyone in red and blue standing around them were at least 24 years old. Adding the rank 4 category with the cultivation, this boy is a monster - everyone decided.

    The crowd dispersed in a short moment after Ian''s promation. Ian guided Lee to a desk where a man was standing and staring at a paper in his hand, next to it. Upon noticing Ianing close, the man raised his head and said-

    "Sir, the bodies have been inspected. They belong to a nameless tier-5 bandit group. No information could be obtained from them. But ording to the reports, they were frequently plundering the passing by carriages. The total bounty is 18 copper coins."

    Ian nodded and turned at Lee-

    "Thank you for eliminating them. Even if they were a tier-5 group, it is always good to pluck the weed out before they grow further!"

    The confusion on Lee''s face was noticeable. Ian can tell that he''s rtively new into bandit extermination.

    "The bandit groups are divided into 5 tiers, considering their span of operation, number of members, strength of each individual and theirmonly targeted merchandise. Tier-5 is the lowest. They are less in number and individual strength, and target individual travellers. They usually think high of themselves and end up in the hands of someone skilled, like you. Tier-4 is a little better opponent. Their individual strength is usually 2 times that of tier-5 individuals. They mostly don''t contain cultivators or masters. From tier-3 and upwards, the group will berger in number and stronger in strength. Talented people could be seen in these tiers. A systematic framework exists for these tiers. The more higher the tier, the more better their coordination and strength."

    The confusion of Lee faded away. With an overall summary of the tiers, Lee took the coins and took his leave. Ian watched him disappearing into the street.

    "If that weapon of his had touched me, I''d have been dead!!"

    Ian muttered as he turned and walked away.

    -------------------------------------------

    =====

    1 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    *nomnomnom*

    Lee walked through the streets as he chewed a Honey Bread loaf. The scent of blood was already gone. With a keen eyesight, Lee can clearly see the details of people and things around him. His thoughts have merged with the surroundings. The burning twins above head were more than simple warmth!

    *NEIGHH*

    A loud whinny sound startled those in the streets. A luxurious carriage charged through the crowd with no concern on other''s lives. The muscr horses shoved people to either side of the street. The carriage driver seems to be not concerned by this.

    Lee was angered beyond control. He took out his de and channeled the lightningw onto his de from the EsGen. The carriage charged forward and closed near on him. Lee jumped up into the air, did a backflip as the carriage passed beneath him. The driver didn''t spare a nce at him. Anger burst out and caused the lightning to umte at the tip of the de.

    *sh*

    The de shed over the carriage and lightning flowed out of the de. Some muffled screams came from the inside of the carriage. The intense lightning numbed the horses and they stumbled and fell. The driver was thrown out of the carriage and his body spasmed. The carriage abruptly came to a halt as Lee descended.

    Leended like a hero. He reached ground in style, on a knee. The numbness made him ufortable, but he was satisfied doing so. Looking around, Lee noticed many faces looking at him with respect. The reality of the incident struck him and he quickly moved from the spotlight. He merged with the crowd and slipped towards the Guild office.

    Unfortunately, he did not know whom he messed with!

    ----------------------------------------------

    Guild building.

    Changying was yawning wide when Lee entered the hall. The ce was surprisingly deserted. Not a single insect was inside. Seeing this, Lee was confused.

    Changying quickly put up a smile as she smiled sleepily. She saw his face and frowned.

    "You didn''t go to the city gate?!"

    "No. Why should I? Is there anything special?!"

    Changying remembered that Lee wasn''t present at the time of announcement. She spoke-

    "The guards on the northern wall found a mon-waveing towards the city. All adventurers are invited to the extermination. If they are not wiped out, the city will suffer a huge loss."

    From what she said, Lee found that the mon-wave or the monster-wave are due to unknown causes. These monsters will have ck eyes and will be in an agitated state. They always target cities and trample viges. Once went into this state, they cannot be saved or reverted back to normal state. Any being can go into this state, including humans. The reason is not known to date. Many have gone to research and none have returned. This happens on every continent. The most noticeable feature of this state is increased strength, agility, defense and endurance.

    Lee heard and ran towards the northern wall immediately. As he ran towards the wall, he noticed an increase in knights, warriors and wizards. A very few archers and archeresses stood here and there. A small group of cultivators can be seen at the ground. Fenfang was among them. Lee went straight to Fenfang. Seeing himing close, she became delighted and walked towards him.

    "Fenfang, what is happening?!"

    "A mon-wave has appeared. They are about 3 miles away and are closing in. We have been ordered to eliminate them. Are youing?!"

    A smile appeared on his face as he replied-

    "Isn''t it my duty to be with you in chaos and order?!"

    She grinned on his reply and pulled him towards the cultivator''s group. Lee introduced as he came near them.

    The 4 men and 5 women weed him. Before they interacted further, a guard shouted from on top the wall-

    "THE HORDE HAS SLOWED DOWN. THERE ARE GOLEMS IN FRONT AND ORCS AND WEREBEASTS BEHIND THEM. A LOT OF WINGED DEMONS ARE ALSO APPROACHING. ARMY OF SKELETON SOLDIERS CONFIRM THE PRESENCE OF LICHES!!!!"

    Everyone was thunderstruck. Even a well-organized army was no match for their coordination. Thebination of Winged Demons and WEREBEASTS with Golems were aplete catastrophe!

    The gate was opened at once and the soldiers ran out hesitantly. Their minds were shaken, but they know that they cannot back down. Their resolve even in front of certain death made Lee worry. Lee climbed the stairs and saw arge horde of beasts approaching.

    ''D, open the Shop and search for Bows!''

    [Search found. Which one do you want to buy?!]

    ''How much does the most durable one cost?!''

    [780 Essence.]

    ''Buy.''

    =====

    2 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee took out the bow from his Inventory and held it horizontally. He inspected it as his mind was doing some preparations. What he said next was even beyond D''s expectations.

    ''Open Re-Model. Object: Bow.''

    A pale grey screen appeared and a ck and white representation of the recurve bow came up. Lee inspected the structure and thought of some modifications.

    D was awestruck as he saw innumerable calctions and numbers and figures shing through his brain. As a part of Lee, he can tell what he was thinking, but this time the speed was too high toprehend.

    ''Remove the original frame and make it with Vanadium-Titanium alloy. Make the bowstring as strong as the frame.''

    When Lee unlocked the memories of nunchuck training and about Bruce Lee, he coincidentally remembered everything about the periodic table and the characteristics of elements. Lee wasn''t a nerd, but a knowledge hoarder.

    Lee nced at a set of information that appeared at the bottom-left corner of the screen. For anything other than him, information would appear - he deduced. His eyes searched through the lines and found what he looked for. As he expected, the types and range of bows that can be used on the bow was written down. He emptied the ammunition info and wrote a new one after ncing at his Essence count with a grin-

    ''Essence arrows!''

    A rotating hourss appeared next to the two words and spinned for a second and disappeared. A set of new information appeared right beneath it.

    ===

    Normal arrow - 8 Essence.

    Homing arrow - 19 Essence.

    Explosive arrow - 21 Essence.

    Poison arrow - 13 Essence.

    Lightning arrow - 17 Essence.

    ===

    ''New arrows appear with affinities. Good!!''

    [Boy, that was insane! Never in my wildest dreams have I thought that would be possible.]

    ''D, how does the homing arrows work?!''

    [Lock your sight on a target and release the homing arrow. The arrow will chase the target for mostly 15 minutes.]

    ''That is more than enough. Proceed to buy!''

    Lee froze for a second as he saw the number ''5750'' in ck. But for a greater good, he decided to sacrifice his essence.

    The panel disappeared and a bow appeared in the Inventory.

    He took it out in his left hand and inspected it. The handle was thick enough for him to grab with maximum grip. The limbs were square in the cross section. The tips narrowed down and from there, the bowstring originated. The whole bow was as if made in one single mould.

    It''s silvery-gray metallic color attracted the attention of those guards standing on top of the wall. They looked at it with an amazed expression. The archers and archeresses had already climbed the wall and were looking at him with hope and excitement. But their excitement died down as they saw that Lee only had a bow and not arrows or a quiver.

    Lee noticed their gazes and slowly walked to the waist-high protective wall of the walking area. He held the bow vertically and pulled the bowstring with his right hand. He spoke inwardly as he pulled it-

    ''Lightning.''

    A blob-like matter slowly materialised as he pulled the string. All that witnessed him were aghast. He pulled further and the blob materialised into a long, strong and thick arrow. Faint lightnings can be seen running on it.

    With his keen eyesight, he locked on a Golem and fired it. It left the bow the very instant with a sizzling sound.

    Those who saw the bow moved their eyes with the arrow. None could match its speed even when following it. The arrow headed towards the horde. They had already moved a mile forward and were only 2 miles away from the wall.

    The arrow flew into the distance. A guard who had a telescope watched through it and was aghast.

    "IT...IT HIT!!! A GOLEM DOWN!!!!!"

    His scream made everyone on the ground and on the wall turn their head at him. Those at the ground were confused as the sudden scream further scared them. But those on the wall did only know what was that scream about!

    An amazed smile rose on each archer''s face. They were witnessing the birth of a legendary archer.

    Confirming that the hit was perfect with his own eyes, Lee fired a volley of arrows. They flew scattered and killed a portion of beasts before they came in range. He initially experimented with poison and lightning, but he saw that they were ineffective inrge battles. So he switched to ''homing explosion'' types.

    Soldiers on the ground, outside the wall only saw a series of arrows flying away towards the horde. The next instant, they heard some muffled explosion sounds. They looked and saw dust and cries arising from the mon-wave. This uplifted their morale. They steeled their hearts and picked their weapon with enthusiasm.

    About half an hourter, the bow stopped producing arrows. Lee can guess that the Essence had been emptiedpletely. But his effort bore fruit. Many golems and werebeasts fell by his arrows. The homing feature was exceptionally urate. The horde was decreased to 70% of its original size.

    Lee saw his results and sighed.

    ''Status.''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 979

    Essence: 453 (3 P.M.)

    ----------

    Health: 280

    Strength: 280

    Vitality: 280

    Agility: 280

    Defense: 280

    Endurance: 280

    Sense: 280

    Intelligence: 270

    Resolve: 270

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (2584/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (7/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (9/10000)

    Combat Skills:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (365/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

    (A.N. Ipletely forgot to add the weapon mastery information to the status interface. Ugh...I''m such a stupid writer!)

 Chapter 33: Fameus

    Chapter 33: ''Fame''us

    About time, Lee summoned the status. The appearance of hourly Essence harvest delighted Lee. Except for two golems, all others were wiped out. Taking out golems will help the soldier to concentrate more on the werebeasts and skeleton soldiers.

    Lee fired two arrows and the two golems were destroyed. He hesitated to fire the arrows at werebeasts, so he keenly observed.

    At the back of the horde were 3 Liches. They were continuously summoning skeleton soldiers. Lee figured that taking them out will only do good and pulled the bowstring.

    *zingg*

    An arrow shed towards and flew at a lich. It sensed the iing danger and moved away, but got caught up in the explosion. It readied itself for the next attack, but the arrow has already arrived.

    *BOOM*

    Whenpared with previous muffled explosions, this one was clearly audible. The lich and a bunch of its soldiers scattered around by the explosion. A lich died.

    "One down, two to go!"

    [Essence left for 11 more arrows.]

    D promptly reminded him that the Essence is pretty low. Lee''s words raised the archer''s morale. They waited for the horde to enter their range.

    Lee fired two more arrows and they flew at Liches with a ''ziss''. Seeing them scattering like a deer caught up in andmine, Lee lowered his bow and sighed.

    He wanted to size the horde down more, but theck of Essence prevented him. It was at this moment, a notification popped up.

    =====

    Congrattions on achieving 1000 Fame.

    500 Essence rewarded.

    Obtained a ''One-time use Weapon Upgrade token''.

    =====

    ''What will the ''Weapon Upgrade token'' do to this bow?!''

    [Increase the range, speed and uracy. May have a chance to lower the arrow cost. Can''t say!]

    ''Use the token on this Bow.''

    =====

    Weapon upgraded to ''Lower Mortal Grade''.

    Slight increase in uracy, speed and range.

    =====

    ''View''

    =====

    Name: TiVa Bow

    Master: -----

    Grade: Lower Mortal Grade'' (Upgradable)

    Range: 3.501 miles

    =====

    ''I forgot to drip my blood!''

    Lee immediately bit his finger and dropped his blood on it. A notification popped up and told him that he has been recognised as its master.

    ''How far is the horde?!''

    [They seem to have slowed down a bit by your attacks. The dead golems have impacted their spirit. A little more than one and half kilometres.]

    ''How long can I endure lightning running through my body?!''

    [Much better than before. Numbness will not be felt, but a slight pain will ur.]

    ''More than enough.''

    Those standing near Lee saw him smiling for no reason. They stared at him in confusion. Lee slowly took his de from the Inventory. He took 6 steps backward and ran forward. The guards were wonderstruck by seeing his suicide attempt. They tried to stop him, but in vain.

    Lee took an initial run and jumped up. His strength gave him arge boost, enough to pull off a heroic one. The guards saw his figure floating forward with abnormal speed. They were afraid that he''d end up falling on the soldier on the ground.

    Lee descended to Earth with the help of gravity. Hended with a loud thud, and about 10 meters in front of the first line of defense. Tanks had their shields grounded deep to defend against the werebeasts.

    Where Leended was a crater. Fenfang and Freya standing among the crowd recognised this crater. It was a little smaller than what they saw at the vige. Lee stood up and walked forward. His beautiful de was ready to chop some monster meat!

    The horde came in a range of archers and they fired their arrows. Lee told the line of defense to stand still and not move or intervene as they might get hurt. The warriors, knights and the army stood behind the tank''s shields. Ian recognised Lee from his voice.

    Arrowsnded on the ground and Lee dashed forward. As he increased his pace, lightning strikes from the EsGen storage were released and covered all over his body. He jumped into the midst of the horde. Those beasts that hoped to munch on his flesh were numbed and killed by the lightning and his de.

    (A.N. If you want to imagine this scene, think of the Thor at the end of Thor: Ragnarok and ce him in the arena of Sakkar with those fragile Skelton soldiers!)

    Lightning shed from his body and an intense pain covered him. As the monsters noticed that they can''t even touch him, they went round about him and tried to attack the line of defense. Lee noticed their attempt and took out a whole lot of lightning and sprayed around him. It spread throughout the field and numbed the beasts and they fell spasming. The warriors saw this opportunity and stabbed and killed those that fall numb.

    More than half an hour passed, the unwavering spirit of monsters began to dwindle. They began to hesitate to attack as theirrades were almost wiped out. The skeleton soldiers were the first to be decimated as they acted as a channel to spread Lee''s lightning more effectively. Without liches to backup, those fragile beings were immediately eliminated.

    Lee wasn''tpletely domineering. There were times when beasts pounced on him. But their fangs could not make wounds on his body. Some broke their ws after hitting his super high defense. Lee waspletely imprable. Guards up the wall saw him head-chopping beasts from time to time.

    The horde was decreased to 30% of the original size. Fatigue and pain had taken over Lee as his speed was reduced. He slowly retreated to the line of defense while killing the monsters. He finally came into line of defense and the soldiers thanked him and told him that they''ll take it from here. The knights, wizards and soldiers dashed to cut down the remaining beasts.

    Lee slowly walked towards the wall as he leaned over Fenfang''s shoulder. He was panting heavily as she supported him. Fenfang was continuously scolding him in low voice. It was barely audible to a third person, and Lee was too tired to give an audience to it.

    =====

    4 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    As they neared the gate, Ian came towards Lee with four people carrying a stretcher. Leeid on the stretcher and closed his eyes in fatigue. Ian saw this and said inside-

    ''I hope you can be a beacon of justice in the future.''

    Fenfang followed the stretcher to the infirmary. Wenk was waiting for a patient, and he was delighted to see Lee again, in a stretcher.

    "Here we go again! Lee, I am so d to meet you. I was getting bored sitting idle."

    He nced at Lee who had fallen asleep and at Fenfang. She narrated the incidents on the battlefield. She didn''t say anything about the unknown archer as she didn''t know that it was Lee. Wenk was amazed to see this power-packed thunderstorm in the form of a teenager sleeping peacefully.

    "Miss, you can stay here if you like. Afterall, you are a friend of Freya."

    Fenfang didn''t probe further into his sentence, but she felt something amiss between Wenk and Freya. She sat on the chair near the table as Wenk applied certain ointment on his limbs, head and chest and covered him with a nket.

    "He will sleep for a few hours due to fatigue. There are no wounds or whatsoever on his body, which is weird. The continuous battling might give him a faint muscr pain.

    I''ll head out to the frontline. Since the soldiers have initiated attack, injuries and casualty is sure to happen. An extra hand will only help!"

    Saying this, Wenk took a staff from the storage room. It was beautifully sculpted and had a white crystal fixed on top of it. Fenfang guessed from the staff that Wenk was really a healer.

 Chapter 34: War & Love

    Chapter 34: War & Love

    "Is ending up in the infirmary after a fight your favourite thing?!"

    Lee heard this question as soon as he opened his eyes.

    "Ehee..sorry. Did I worry you?!"

    Lee could only smile awkwardly.

    "Promise me that you''ll only use the lightning affinity after thoroughly practicing it. I really worry about you ending up tired in a battle!"

    Fenfang was visibly annoyed and her cheeks puffed. Lee could only smile. He didn''t move because D warned him

    ''D, this is the second time. Find out why I fall unconscious everytime I use lightning?!''

    [This is not some ordinary lightning. This is the lightning from the Law of Lightning and Thunder, stupid. Be thankful that you didn''t die after being exposed to it!]

    ''I really wanted to ask you about the Laws and Law fragments. Can you exin them in detail?!''

    [Sure. Do you remember what I told you about the Origin dimension and it''s 999 copies??]

    ''Yes.''

    [Origin dimension is a ce of chaos and no mortal or immortal can live there. There is no atmosphere, only raw matter and energy in utter imbnce, inplete ck and white. The only thing that exists there are ''Amortals''.]

    ''Amortals?!''

    [Yes. Mortals are those with cycles of birth and death. Immortals have birth and do not have death. But Amortals are entirely different existence. They do not reproduce or fight. They are unbounded by Time. They do not have birth and hence, do not die. They are neither hostile or friendly. Their presence can only be sensed through thew fragments. They don''t have a shape or form or color. Thews we see where once parts of the corresponding Amortal. When 999 dimensions were born, Amortals alone could not copy themselves to other dimensions as matter and energy did. So they splitted themselves and sent a fraction of each of them with the outpouring of matter and energy. These one in a gazillion fraction of their powers got copied into 999 parts and travelled throughout the dimensions. These partster helped to nurture, reshape and reform life, matter and energy to the form we see today.]

    ''So the power ofws are infinite as they are their parts?!''

    [And this link transcends the boundary of dimensions. The Amortal of lightningw can sense the fragment and can even call it back to its original self. The system, that is me, can''t even think of stopping such an existence.]

    ''When you were in the Origin dimension, how did you end up as the food of those Amortals?!''

    [The utter chaos is the nature of Origin dimension. The Amortals are entities with no birth. But that doesn''t mean that they cannot ascend to Godhood. I mean real ''Godhood''!!!!]

    ''Exin!''

    [The intelligence of Amortals far surpasses anything in all the dimensions. They had already found out that the way of essing a higher power is to assimte itself with itself, but not as itself, but another self.]

    ''... Speak in English,D!''

    [In short, the 999 dimensions, the fragments ofws, the nurturing and all the bullshit happened till now was for their own gain. To reach the state of a real ''God'', one must be one with himself, which is not actually himself.]

    ''Can you give me an example?!''

    [Like peeling skin scrapes off of your body, growing mushrooms on it and finally eating the cooked mushroom to satisfy hunger. In a nutshell, you ate yourself.]

    ''So we are all test subjects and the dimensions are experimentalbs?!''

    [Precisely!!!]

    ''So thew fragments are to nurture us who will eventually end up in their stomach?!?!''

    [Precisely. Thew fragments have two functions. One is what you said, to nurture us. Two, to lure us back to the Origin dimension. You see, the Origin dimension is connected to Law fragments and anyone with aw constitution will understand the existence and bottomless powers the Amortals can provide. So in greed of power, they will enter the Origin dimension.]

    ''Cunning sneaky bastards!!!''

    [Since they are constant and unbound to Time, they can wait for all eternity.]

    ''What can you tell from your experiences?!''

    [Once you enter, you''re doomed. The origin dimension only has one way in and one way out. The key is to have at least one Law fragment assimted to your being. The only thing that can even make a scratch to that dimension are Amortals. Their fight to devour dimension sovereigns tore space and you came in without their notice.]

    ''So are there any Amortals that have ascended to real ''Godhood''?! Do they have any weakness?!''

    [Even if one attains true Godhood'', they are still bound to stay inside the Origin dimension until all 49 of them achieve ''Godhood''. Then theybine with those Amortals that had already reached Godhood'' and take a shape and colour.]

    ''Have you witnessed one attaining ''Godhood''?!''

    [Yes. They just condense into a sphere and stay immobile. You touch it, you''re written out of existence. When two of them merge, the sphere besrger. About weakness, they fight. And they only fight when a being with more than onew in them shows up. This is because two or morews attract the respective Amortals. So in order to find a victor, they fight. We cannot see them fight. But their inter-hostility creates cracks and tears in the Space-Time Continuum. Gravitation will go haywire. All logics are null when they fight. That''s our cue to run!!]

    ''What will possibly happen when they all assimte together and be one big sphere?!''

    [Then they can be one True God. Can exit the Origin dimension and rule the whole 999 dimensions. Total control.]

    ''Will the same can be achieved by a mortal?!''

    [Impossible. Even if you be an Immortal, it''s still a no-go. You have to exist beyond life and death to be a God, and that''s the basic criteria. Liberating oneself from all bondage of life, emotion and death is the true meaning of bing an Amortal.]

    ''Last question, how many do you think are still left to reach godhood?!''

    [Plenty. To be the immobile sphere, there seems to be a minimum requirement of consuming a fixed number of fragments. And I''ve seen three bing spheres by the time I was there.]

    ''So there''s an invisible doomsday clock ticking, eh?!''

    [You cannot deactivate the clock, but can halt its operation. But you''ll have to be a dimension sovereign as soon as possible. Only then can you escape the bound of this dimension. You''ll have to hurry, because who knows how many idiots would poke their heads into the guillotine!!]

    Lee''s eyes opened wide as he jumped up in this revtion. The pain it caused was not small. As D know him like the back of his hand, he added-

    [Do not let anyone know of this information. This is highly unbelievable and you''ll end up exposing your origin from another dimension. Even I cannot guarantee that you''ll not be assassinated before reaching the realm of Dimension Sovereign.]

    ''Ok''

    Lee jumping up suddenly jolted Fenfang. She walked to him and asked, to which he replied that he''s getting bored with lying down and he wants to sit straight. Fenfang didn''t protest and allowed him to sit as she sat near him.

    "Fenfang, now that-"

    "Call me An. My family doesn''t exist anymore. I would like to be called by my surname."

    Fenfang cut him off and stated her wish. Lee nodded in agreement and asked-

    "An, now that you have cured your poison, can I help you cultivate?!"

    An was confused as she frowned-

    "How can one help others cultivate?!"

    Lee smiled and nced at the notification that just popped up.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Essence.''

    [2730.]

    "I have a way to increase other''s cultivation. But the party must be ready."

    An said with concern and doubt.

    "Don''t force yourself. Take rest. All things can be discussedter."

    She pressed his forehead in a teasing manner. He felt pain, but didn''t show it. He sat there until the next notification came up.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    *sigh*

    "It''ste. Wenk hasn''t returned back. We must go and see what''s happening."

    An nodded and they slowly walked towards the northern gate. Soldiers with injuries were filled in tens of tents. They saw Wenk and Ian standing at an open ce, near many bodies with white clothes covered over them. Blood stains over those clothes told Lee what they were.

    Wenk saw Lee approaching and was amazed. Ian was surprised to see Lee back on legs in a matter of hours.

    "Casualties?!"

    Lee probed as he nced at the blood stained clothes. Ian and Wenk nodded together. Lee noticed the casualties were below 10.

    "Thanks to your interference, the casualty was drastically reduced. If it''s not for you, the city would have been fallen."

    Ian said with words brimming with sadness and respect. Lee kept mum as to let him say his mind out. After a brief silence, Lee asked.

    "The monsters! What happened to their remains?!"

    Wenk raised his head and replied as he nced at the wall.

    "They are left outside. We''ll burn them tomorrow morning."

    Lee felt his heart skipping a beat. What they were about to burn was his pile of Essence.

    "If no one have objection, can I take those dead bodies?!"

    Ian and Wenk looked at Lee with a deep frown. Even Fenfang couldn''t understand his intention. Ian shook his head.

    "Those beasts are either in pieces or severely damaged. Nobody cares for those. You may take them as you like."

    A faint smile decorated Lee''s face as he heard those words. He thanked Ian and went towards the gate. An was visibly surprised to see his love doing weird things. Wenk and Ian watched him walking at the gate.

    Lee gave signal to open the gate and the gate was partially open. Except a few burning torches, darkness had enveloped the battlefield. He signalled at An to stay at the gate as she couldn''t see in darkness.

    Lee clearly saw the remains of the beasts. He started to run around the battlefield and began to absorb the remains crazily. The guards up on the wall could hear a faint wind blowing sound as Lee dashed through the darkness.

    =====

    10 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was running frenzy throughout the blood reeking ground as he emassed Essence at an astonishing rate. Lee had absorbed about 90% of the corpses and he couldn''t wait to absorb the rest too. It was when he took the breather that the notification interrupted his thoughts.

    ''10 P.M...hmmm, D, anything alive in the vicinity??''

    [I''ll warn you if anythinges across.]

    Lee nodded on D''s reply. After making sure that the bits and bones are all absorbed and sold to the Shop, he bolted towards the gate.

    An was waiting patiently for him. Wenk and Ian had went back to their quarters and soldiers had gone with the wounded on stretchers carried by them. The night patrol guards changed their shift. Still, An waited patiently.

    He slowed down at a distance and caught his breath as he walked slowly. As he reached near An, his breath was back to the normal state. She was curious and confused about where was Lee all this time. He smiled and went inside the wall as the gate closed behind them.

    "I don''t want to pry into your personal matters, but tell me what you''re going to do in advance. I''ve been alone all my life till now, so I''m afraid that I may look like avoiding you."

    An said as they walked towards July''s Inn. Lee said that he''ll give an answer under one condition. She probed about the condition, and she said that it''s something that he need to tell to Freya.

    Freya was already inside her room. She was wounded as a beast has scratched her left leg deep. She could only walk with a limp.

    Lee and An entered the room and Freya tried to sit up. Her pain was visible so An supported her and told her to lie down. She sat beside Freya and looked at Lee. Lee suddenly reminded something and said.

    "I can see that you''re injured. So take rest. I''ll let Fenfang in my room."

    *ba-dum*

    An felt her heart skip a beat as she heard Lee speaking. She began to blush on thinking waht could possibly happen.

    "It''s okay. I need some alone time too."

    Freya''s reply was an indirect consent to Lee. He smiled at her and walked back to door and opened it and nced at An with a smile. She got the meaning of this action and quickly bid Freya goodnight. Freya could only sigh as it might get a lot loud tonight.

    Lee and An came to his room and sat on the bed. Lee can see her blushing wildly. He pinched her cheeks and said-

    "Bad girl! Always thinking about bad stuff whenever I call you into my room!"

    An felt a sense of relief and hopelessness simultaneously. He looked at Lee with a confused look.

    "Let''s get some sleep for now. I''ll exin the reason tomorrow."

    An sighed loudly with dissatisfaction. Lee noticed her sigh and slowly grabbed her by waist and pulled closer to him. His lips touched hers and the passionate moment spanked for minutes.

    An can feel a warmth growing inside her. She grabbed Lee''s hair as the warmth grew wildly inside her. Lee can feel his boy knocking at the door. His passionate kiss began to travel through her neck. Her hands went all around his body.

    The room heated up abnormally. As they both understood each other''s atmosphere, the scent of lust filled the room with muffled moans. The ceremonious defloration took ce that night. Freya was fast asleep and thus lost the opportunity to hear them.

 Chapter 35: The Clich茅 Arrogance Appears

    Chapter 35: The Clich�� Arrogance Appears

    =====

    7 A.M

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    *ding...ding...ding...*

    The ringing sound woke Lee up. He was surprised to hear such a noise from the system for the first time. He rubbed his eyes and yawned as he saw An lying peacefully next to him. Like him, she was naked and her wless skin was covered by the cotton nket. He came to realise that he''s also naked. He nced at the floor and saw his dress and An''s robe lying on the floor. He can guess the wildness from their scattered positions.

    Lee raised his question about the weird ringing sound. D replied-

    [It was to congratte you as you stepped into manhood. An will be your woman here onwards. Changes have been made in the system interface. Please take care not to die of a cardiac arrest!]

    Lee couldn''t find the reason as to why a cardiac arrest is possible now. But as soon as he opened the interface, he understood the intention of D''s warning.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1404

    Essence: 28230 (7 AM)

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 280

    Strength: 280

    Vitality: 280

    Agility: 280

    Defense: 280

    Endurance: 280

    Sense: 280

    Intelligence: 270

    Resolve: 270

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3210/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (7/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    Combat Skills:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (371/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

    Lee thought that his eyes were ying with him, so he rubbed them thoroughly and looked again. It wasn''t a hallucination or bug. It was the total Essence he obtained from yesterday''s scavenging.

    ''D, how did Essence increase to such a sigh amount?!''

    [What did you expect to see when you were selling Rock Golems and Liches to the Shop?! 20100 Essence was obtained from selling those corpses.]

    Lee can literally hear his own heartbeat. It took him a minute to calm down. After organising his thoughts and ncing at An, he asked-

    ''Find Qi umting objects in the Shop.''

    [There are Qi umting talismans and Qi condensing jade pendants.]

    ''Cost of Qi umting jade pendants?''

    [Varies from 900 Essence to 1800 Essence. A word of warning, if you buy the most expensive, it will perhaps attract unwanted attention. I advise buying the cheapest one and find how well it goes.]

    ''Buy the cheapest with 900 Essence.''

    [Pendant stored in the Inventory.]

    Lee took out the pendant from the Inventory. It had a bluish green hue with beautiful lines running through it. He sat there observing it''s craftsmanship.

    An was shaken from her sleep and sat up as she saw Lee up. She covered herself with the nket as she sat up. Seeing her awake, Lee said-

    "This is for you. It''ll help you to umte Qi much faster. Keep it a secret and don''t let others know of its existence."

    An saw the pendant and was wonderstruck. Such jade pendants were very costly. She nced at him and the pendant.

    She hugged him tightly and didn''t let go of him for a minute. Lee spoke to her-

    "We are still naked. Are you perhaps indicating to continue what we didst night?!"

    "Bad boy!!"

    An retorted at Lee as she smiled at his naughtiness. She quickly dressed up and Lee followed her lead. When they came out of their room, they saw that Freya''s room was still locked and assumed that she''s still asleep. They slowly went to the diner downstairs.

    July was at her desk standing and arranging the drinking sses. Upon seeing them both, she asked aloud-

    "It was pretty loudst night. I hope the bed''s not broken!"

    Lee smiled awkwardly as An went out of the diner, blushing. Lee bid July good day and walked to catch up with An.

    "I don''t know anything about you or how you do these weird things. But make sure no one is hurt by what you do and no one hurts you for what you have."

    An clinged onto Lee''s arm as she said this softly. She can only be amazed and pray that no misfortune befell on him.

    Lee patted her head and wrapped his arm around her. Lee nodded as they walked towards the Guild building.

    As they walked, many folks recognised Lee by his actions and fame.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee had arge reservoir of Essence to spend. He was thinking of a way to use them more efficiently and effectively.

    ''D, keep an eye on the Map and notify me on anything hostile.''

    [Got it.]

    ---------------------------------------------

    Adventurer''s Guild.

    There were many entering and exiting the building. Some stood here and there as a group. Some stared at the Mission board and some were enquiring about mission details.

    Lee and An moved to the desk. Changying notices Lee''s face and neared him and quickly said-

    "Guild-leader would like to see you. You can go up to his room by the stairs."

    Her words came out as she pointed at the stairs at the left side of the hall. He noticed that no one stood near the stairs.

    Lee nodded in appreciation and headed to the stairs. The adventurers were busy with their own work, so none noticed him.

    Lee went up the stairs with An following him. She was more curious than Lee, as he scanned the whole building and made sure that the Guild-leader was alone in the room, and was devoid of hostility.

    A door weed them as they reached the first floor. It was made out of mahogany and was heavily decorated. Lee knocked on the door and a pleasant voice came from the inside-

    "Come in."

    The feminine voice gave them orders to enter. They promptly entered and saw a youngdy with an alluring figure sitting on the chair, behind the desk.

    Upon seeing Lee and An, the youngdy stood up and spoke-

    "Greetings to adventurer Lee, or should I say Cultivator Lee?"

    Lee shrugged.

    "Anything not crude and rude."

    The youngdy raised in his urate and concise statement. She nodded with a smile and replied-

    "My name is Shi Sera, Guild-leader of the Adventurer''s Guild in the city of Lorin. Until you came, I was the strongest cultivator in this city."

    Her remarks fought confusion on Lee''s face.

    "I called you here to thank you for your contribution in the mon-wave extermination. The city would have fallen without your help. Major Ian had narrated the incident to me.

    The Mayor of the city would like to reward you with 1000 gold coins. He may have to depend on you for any help in the future - he quoted. Currently, he had departed to report the matter of the mon-wave to the Emperor. So in his absence, I reward you 1000 gold coins!"

    She spoke as she lifted a bag. The coins inside made ng noises as she lifted and ced it on the table. She then signalled them to have a seat. She sat and continued-

    "Introductions please."

    Lee spoke up with a pleasant face.

    "I am Lee, and this is my partner, An. We''re both cultivators. I used to be a wanderer before I met knight Darwin on his mission..."

    Lee narrated his life, except anything about D, the system and Law fragment. He took care to not expose any of the above when he speaks.

    Shi Sera listened to him with great attention. As he finished, she replied-

    "It must be hard to lose your dear and near ones at a very young age. Do you remember anything about them? A face or name or anything?!?!"

    Lee can see her intention to help, but he wasn''t in need of it anyway.

    "No, I don''t. All I remember is my name Lee. The more I try to remember, the more I forget about the details!"

    Lee took a preventive measure to evade her further questions and it worked. Even An was reluctant to ask about his past. She didn''t ask about the Spatial ring or de as he didn''t mention them in his narrative.

    "Adventurer Lee, there is another reason for calling you here today."

    The changes in Shi Area''s tone made him frown. An could only watch the scene from the sidelines.

    "Lorin city has many big and small families in it. Some are benevolent and a very few, arrogant. Yesterday, you seem to have encountered the carriage of the Hidwig family on the streets. That is a family that belongs in ''arrogant'' ss. They have found out your identity as an adventurer. The carriage you messed with, belonged to the spoiled hound mistress of that family who appears to be the most favoured by their family head. You''ll have to fight them in one way or another."

    The frown faded away as Lee rxed himself. He thought that it''s about a major war or personal dangerous mission. It turns out to be a simple matter. Lee rxed as he leaned backward on the chair with a serene expression. Shi Sera was annoyed in his ignorance.

    "Adventurer Lee, their family head is an Elite Swordsman. Your chance to win is less than half! Please consider your options before rxing."

    Lee smiled as a reply and stood up and turned to walk away. He took three steps and stopped. He extended his left hand and his de materialised in his palm.

    "You see ma''am, I''ve been looking for an opponent since I got this de. I sincerely thank you for providing the information. Now, if you may please tell the directions?!"

    Shi Sera looked at his left hand and saw the abnormally beautiful de with a unique shape. She clearly saw the Spatial ring, but didn''t raise a question. She can feel his resolve and could only give him the directions to the Hidwig family. An stood up to follow him, but he stopped her.

    "Ma''am, may I trouble you to let An stay here for a while, until Ie back?!"

    An can see his concern about her safety. Shi Sera replied with a smile.

    "Sure, why not?! I''ve been looking for apany, since it''s too boring to sit here all day!"

    Lee nced at An''s face and smiled. She nodded and let him close the door behind him as he exited the room.

 Chapter 36: Assassination & Ass-kicking

    Chapter 36: Assassination & Ass-kicking

    Lee came out of the Guild building and stood there. He took a moment to look around him, and slowly walked to where the Hidwig family was situated. Those passing Lee can see him trying his hard to not burst intoughter, as he pondered on the name ''Hidwig''. He wondered as to what circumstances might have happened to have them name the family so.

    [Lee, there are 4 people tailing you. Seems to be assassins. Killing-intent Well-trained and good disguise. Take a turn to the next alley at right.]

    Lee was ustomed with such sudden warnings. His resolve and intelligence agreed with what D said and he took a turn to the next alley. He entered the dark narrow area, barely lightened by the twin stars.

    "Either youe out or Ie for you. I''m getting tired!"

    Lee stood before a dead end wall and looked over his shoulder as he spoke. 4 people emerged from the shadows, two of them were ninjas and the other two were dark-cloth wearing assassins. They blocked Lee''s way out of the alley.

    "Our disguises were perfect, but you figured it out. Seems like we cannot leave you alive either way!"

    Lee looked dead at the ninja who spoke just now. They slowly took out their daggers. Lee can see poison dripping from them.

    "Before you kill me, tell this, who sent you after me?!"

    The ninja hesitated for a second, and he nced at hispanions over his shoulders. They nodded as they muttered-

    "He''s dead meat anyway. Just tell him."

    Hearing this, the one in the front said to Lee.

    "The order came from the Hidwig family. It''s handsome pay. Looks like you messed with the wrong person!"

    Lee could only simper at those unfortunate souls. He shook his head with a wide smile on his face.

    "Looks like he has lost all hopes of life. Better make it fast for him!"

    One of the assassins took a step and spoke. They stepped forward in agreement. Lee saw their advancement and took out the nunchunk from his Inventory. The assassins saw a weird weapon appearing in Lee''s hand and they were excited to know that they''ll get a spatial ring as a bonus. But what they did not see, is a faint coating of poison on either handle of the nunchuck. Lee''s ability to create poison indirectly, with only the help of a weapon or instrument took effect. The contact with poison increased his immunity by each passing second.

    The 4 assassins charged at Lee with vignce and silence. Their daggers were aiming at Lee''s neck, chest and stomach urately. Lee figured out their trajectories using ''Foresight''.

    They advanced about halfway and Lee shed forward. His silent figure moved as he passed each assassin.

    *pak pak pak pak*

    4 barely-audible short and blunt noises arose as Lee appeared behind them. The assassins immediately tried to turn at him, but found themselves falling on the floor. Astounded, they thought where might have their n had a fault.

    An intense pain scorched their skin as one among them began spasm and foam from his mouth. His breath came to a halt after writhing some time in pain. The other three raised their voice, but no sound came out. They can tell that they are clearly poisoned.

    "Poison. It won''t kill you immediately unless you are hit at vital parts."

    Lee slowly exined what had hit them. They began to tremble, as they found that they will surely die. Lee admires their courage to take their own lives with a poison tablet kept hidden in their teeth. Lee silently moved away from the scene as his nunchuck went back into his Inventory. Not toote after, he heard someone screaming aloud from where he came. Lee didn''t mind it as he paced towards the Hidwig family.

    ---------------------------------------

    Inside the Hidwig family mansion.

    "I''m telling you, grandpa, if you don''t kill that man, I will not eat anything! I''ll lock myself in my room till I die!"

    A girl of about 18 years old with full-grown stature was threatening an old man inside his room. The old man was in histe 60''s and can be seen as strong and powerful in a nce. He smiled at her and tried to calm her down with sweet words.

    "My dear sweetie, I give you my word that he''ll die like all others who offended you. The assassins are already after him. It''s only a matter of time to bring his dead body back."

    The girl roared back.

    "I don''t want to see that bastard''s body. Throw it to feed the dogs!"

    The old man smiled and nodded at her as she stormed out of the room. The old man''s expression changed seriously. He stood straight and nced at a dark corner of his room.

    "Is he dead?!"

    A figure emerged from the shadow and spoke.

    "He should be. Those gone after him haven''te back. But, I promise, it won''t take too much of the time."

    "It better not be!"

    The old man raised his voice with a prative stare. The figure immediately went back into the shadows. The old man went and sat at his favorite chair to take a nap.

    -------------------------------------

    Outside.

    Lee stood in front of the mansion as he scanned it from top to bottom. He nodded in appreciation as to how big and wide the mansion was.

    "Hey, who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

    An annoying voice distracted his observations. He looked over his head and saw a young man with a sword in his hand. Lee can tell that this man is proficient in the way of sword by that way he held it.

    "Is this the ''Hidden Wig'' family?!"

    Lee asked with a confused expression as he scratched his head. But inside, he wasughing wildly.

    "It''s Hidwig family, you peasant. Learn how to pronounce in hell!"

    The youngman was enraged. He charged and swung his sword horizontally, at Lee''s neck. Lee took a step back and raised his right hand and caught the sword de with only his index finger and thumb. The sword became immobile.

    The youngman tried to pull out the sword from Lee''s fingers, but in vain. After losing hope in his attempt, the young man charged at Lee barehanded. Lee flipped the sword, caught it with its hilt and pped the youngman''s face with its t surface. The p was powerful enough to make a ''pak'' voice.

    =====

    9 A.M

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The youngman fell on the ground, disoriented from the hit. He couldn''t even defend against Lee, because it all happened in a second.

    Lee looked at the man lying on the ground. He threw the sword on the ground, right next to him. It was a signal of non-hostility towards that man. The youngman watched Lee as Lee went near the mansion''srge wooden door and kicked it.

    *BANG*

    The entire mansion and everyone in it was startled to hear a deafening sound. Everyone rushed at the front door and saw it shattered to pieces. As they observed what had happened, Lee entered inside through the rubble.

    Guards surrounded Lee as he stepped forward. Lee casually nced at everyone around him and asked-

    "I heard that someone here wants something from me. Can theye forward so that we can have a little chat?!?!"

    The atmosphere went silent as they discussed on how a peasant cane into a mansion like this and who in the right mind want something from a scum!

    A voice shattered the silence and headed towards Lee.

    "I see that the assassins have failed. So allow me to take your life. No offense, but anyone who offends my little girl must die!"

    Lee raised his head and saw an old man walking down the stairs. Lee can tell that he''s an experienced swordsman from his movements.

    "Then be a man ande at me. Or are you all talk and only show?!?!"

    The old man was angry, but kept hisposure. He sneered at Lee and spoke-

    "If you''re that interested to die, I''ll make your wishe true!!"

    The old man reached ground in a second and a sword appeared in his hand.

    [Lee, I can sense elemental fluctuations from this man. It seems his attribute is wind.]

    Lee sneered as he raised his voice-

    "It''s too crowded here. Let''s go y outside!"

    Lee walked outside and towards the big courtyard in front of the mansion. Hidwig family members came out to watch their fight. Among them were swordsmen, swordswomen, archers and many who were warriors by profession. Lee saw a girl with luxurious dressings standing on the balcony, with disgust and hatred in her eyes.

    Soon the old man introduced himself.

    "I''m Eran Hidwig, an elite swordsman. Current family head of Hidwig family."

    Lee nodded in amusement.

    "I''m Lee. That''s all you need to know before death!"

    The old man frowned as a de appeared and Lee spoke.

    "Age before skill."

 Chapter 37: Against The Wind

    Chapter 37: Against The Wind

    ''Insult! An insult!''

    Eran roared as these words stormed in his mind. He waspletely engulfed by anger. He can clearly see Lee mocking him.

    The instant, Eran exploded with power. His sword began to vibrate as a faint glow came from it. Wind blew with ferocity.

    "Stone-cutting wind des!"

    He shouted as his sword cutted the air through various angles. Lee saw wind desing at him and evaded them all. Seeing that his wind des cannot touch him, Eran dashed at lee.

    *ng*

    Lee raised his de and defended Eran. Eran was more pissed off as he saw a greenhorn blocking his sword.

    "DIE BASTARD!!!!"

    Eran''s left hand bought a small dagger at Lee''s neck. Lee saw the daggering from his ''supposedly'' blindzone and retreated suddenly. But, Eran was not someone to give his opponent a break to breath.

    *ng ng ng*

    Lee''s de and Eran''s sword danced in the air. Eran will strike and Lee will block. This became a thing for about 5 minutes. The Hidwig household can see Eran slightly panting, but his opponent was sturdy as steel.

    =====

    10 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The amused expression disappeared as the notification lit up.

    ''It time to wind up''

    Lee decided to end this shit. It''s no fun to y cat and mouse with an old man.

    "One strike! Let''s finish this in one strike!"

    Seriousness resonated in Lee''s words as he stared at the old man. The old man smirked and stood straight with his sword held vertically in front of him.

    "Destroys with silence,

    Dances with elegance,

    Dominates with persistence,

    IMPERIAL WIND STRIKE!!!!"

    Eran shouted with all his might and a sword materialised in front of him. It was huge and translucent, which was obviously due to being formed from wind. Eran raised his sword and the huge sword also was raised. D confirmed that this old man''s going all out.

    Lee was initially going to take out the lightning from his EsGen storage, but D disagreed.

    [Try to picturise lightning flowing through your body and finally into the de. You can passively create lightning as you create poison.]

    Lee''s eyes sparkled with delightment. He picturised as D told and lightning strikes began to appear on his body and de. Everyone including Eran was aghast.

    The intensity of lightning increased with each moment. Lee can feel uneasiness as the lightning sparkled over his body. The lightning began to spread over the ground itself.

    The little girl on the balcony was pale. She can tell that her grandpa will meet his end if he''s to encounter that intense lightning. The lightning was too horrible as it fried the grass instantly.

    Lee was calm as the deep sea, inside and out. He raised his de to strike. His lightning was like a loaded arrow, waiting to be released from the bow. Lee noticed the pale girl.

    Lee and Eran shed their des. A strong gust of wind opposes lightning, but in vain. In a fraction of seconds, Eran was electrocuted. Lee felt a bit of hesitation in him and reduced the intensity at thest moment. The sword fell on the ground and Eran struggled to stand up, but ended up kneeling. His head was too numb to raise, his body unwilling to move. Seeing Eran take injury, warriors in Hidwig family jumped forward. Lee closed the distance between Eran in a second.

    "Take another step and his head rolls on the ground!"

    His words were not loud, but were very audible. Those warriors stopped in their tracks. Eran tried to stand up, but Lee released lightning and channeled it to his de. The lightning contacted Eran and he fell on the floor, twitching.

    Lee knelt on one knee near him and whispered-

    "Empathy nurtures wisdom. Apathy cultivates ignorance.

    Teach this to your household well"

    Lee stood up and walked away and disappeared into the streets. All of Hidwig household were astonished as to what did he told the family-head.

    Warriors and sword-wielders came near Eran and helped him up. They immediately brought him to the medical room as the physician treated his spasms. They queried about what Lee said, to which Eran kept mum. He felt burden and guilt in him since the moment he heard Lee''s words.

 Chapter 38: Signature Dish

    Chapter 38: Signature Dish

    Being one with the crowd felt good. Lee really enjoyed this feeling to be one with a society where all races co-existed. He saw some goblin kids ying with some little dwarfs in the sand. From the sand, a little wereboy jumped up and surprised them. Then their surprise turned toughter. Lee smiled on seeing their faces.

    [Thinking of having one?!]

    ''Not at the moment.''

    [It''lle up eventually.]

    Lee smirked on D''sment. He watched his surroundings as he walked towards Adventurer''s Guild. After rewinding on the recently ured incidents, Lee asked D.

    ''What were the sections in the Shop again?!''

    [Weapons, Consumables, Outfits, Skills.]

    ''I know that the magic skills and cultivation techniques disappeared because I cannot directly use Qi or Mana, but why did Talismans disappear?!''

    [The same goes with Talismans. They can only be activated by Qi or Mana injecting into it. So those are also removed.]

    ''Where does that jade pendante from?! I don''t see a section for ornaments.''

    [Jade pendantse from the Outfits section. Because you fit that thing to your exterior, like wear it.]

    ''Describe Skills''

    [Since you cannot use Qi or Mana, all techniques that require either of them are re-programmed to work with the expense of Essence. Just like how you remodeled the ordinary now to an Essence arrow bow.

    Skills are simply the Essence-version of everything we had. For example: the skill ''me'' costs Mana with respect to how much intensity and duration you maintain it. The technique ''Silent Forest sh'' spends Qi with respect to the duration and speed you run with. There are some that don''t require Essence, though. Like View and Foresight you have.

    Now, rece Qi and Mana with Essence, you have Skills.]

    ''Open Skills section''

    =====

    Offense

    Defense

    Agility

    Auxiliary

    Mastery

    Perception

    Deception

    Non-Combat

    Lifestyle

    Mental

    =====

    ''Define each.''

    [Offense is to initiate an attack, like ''me'' or ''Frost''. Defense is to block an attack, like ''Golden Turtle Shell''. Agility is rted to movement, like ''Silent Forest Footstep''. Auxiliary skills are those which can enhance or supplement other skills, like ''Berserk'' as it increases speed, strength and defense by slight margin and ''Curse Remover'' as it removes debuffs over your skills. Mastery is proficiency in tools and weapons, like ''de Mastery'' and ''Nunchuck Mastery''. Perception is to increase one''s awareness about the surroundings, like the ripple sensing feature of the Map. Deception is to confuse other''s awareness of their surroundings, like Illusion. Non-Combat are abination of skills that have no participation inbat, like ''Animal Tongue'', and those having passive participation inbat, like ''Telekinesis''. ''Lifestyle'' is about skills that empower your daily activities, like cooking, cleaning and farming. Mental skills are purely mind-rted, like ''Hypnosis'' and ''Hallucination''.]

    =====

    11 A.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Before Lee noticed, he was already in front of the Guild building. Lee didn''t continue the conversation as he walked inside and to the room of the Guild-leader.

    As he extended his hand, he heardughing sounds of An and Shi Sera. It seemed like they were getting quite along. He thought of retreating silently, but An opened the door and smiled at him.

    "I didn''t want to interrupt the moment, so I hesitated to enter."

    Lee gave an exnation before she asked anything. An moved aside and gave way to enter. Lee entered and sat down.

    "How did it go?!"

    Shi Sera raised her question. She was curious, so was An.

    "We fought, he lost."

    Lee summarised the whole incident in a few words. Shi Sera sat on her chair in deep thought. After a minute, she spoke.

    "They won''t mess with you for a while."

    An looked at Shi Sera and nodded. Lee sighed and got up to leave, but An had hesitation on her face.

    "If you two want to talk, you can stay. I''ll just go, roam around ande back after an hour."

    Lee replied and her face lightened with happiness. As an ordinary woman with a scarred mind, it was difficult for An to find someone as open as a friend.

    Lee went out and he heard their voice on track. He stepped down to the ground floor and walked outside. He had nowhere to go, so he entered the nearest hotel bar.

    ----------------------------------

    The whole building was the hotel. The doors were big enough to allow high orcs through it.

    Almost all tables inside were filled with people. Some dwarves were chugging down beer as his demon friend could only watch it. D told Lee that demons get intoxicated by a whiff of alcohol. Lee sat at the table and observed his surroundings. He saw many people eat many kinds of dishes. As he was trying to figure out what they were named, a young weregirl wearing a waitress outfit came near him.

    "Good morning sir, what would you like to have?!"

    For a second, Lee''s mind went nk. Noticing her stare, he somehow spoke out.

    "I''m new to the city. So please give your signature item."

    The weregirl was delighted to hear this. She quickly went back to the desk and came back a few minutester. She presented a bowl of soup and a main dish of meat with sliced and diced vegetables over it with spices. Lee thought it would be awkward to ask about the item, but he somehow asked.

    "The main dish is made from stone bull meat. The meat alone is good when cooked, but gets more delicious with sliced vegetables. You''ll have to eat meat with the vegetable slices. The soup is made using sky radish and forest peas. Theyplement each other in taste. You can use a spoon or sticks to eat the main dish. The spoon is needed to enjoy the soup."

    The girl exined and went to take other orders. He was satisfied with her short introduction. Without any further ado, he used the sticks to take a piece of meat and vegetables together. The very scent of them salivated him. He put them in his mouth and a peculiar feeling began to run wildly through him.

    "DELICIOUS!!!"

    Lee didn''t intend to speak it out, but it came out somehow. He chewed the meat and vegetables as he sucked in his drooling saliva. Someone who sat at the next table to him saw his face and chuckled.

    Lee''s hand moved on its own. The sticks went inside his mouth with a slice of meat and pieces of vegetables. His tongue was ecstatic for the first time.

    The meat was perfectly cooked and the sticks are enough to tear a piece of it. It''s smooth texture with a heavenly mixture of spices really made Lee''s soul fly high.

    Before he realised, the meat and vegetables had disappeared. Lee was disappointed to know that they didn''tst long. His mouth was still tingling from the delicate texture of meat. He slid the te aside and ced the soup bowl in front of him. The smell that rose from the bowl calmed his heart.

    The soup had a pale white color with some leaves swimming in it. The steam arose from the bowl with its hotness. Lee took a very little amount of soup to taste. He brought the spoon to his mouth and the soup touched his tongue.

    There was a certain serene feeling in it. The warm soup gave a pacifying effect to him. His mind became cool and empty. His demeanor became calm and content. He drank it with the spoon, slow and steady. Only when the spoon made a faint ng noise did he realise that the soup was also finished.

    =====

    12 Mid-day

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    He sat there for a moment to appreciate this wonderful delicacy. He remembered what he was talking to D and resumed the conversation.

    ''Status!''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1535

    Essence: 29580 (12 Mid-day)

    Money: 1000 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 280

    Strength: 280

    Vitality: 280

    Agility: 280

    Defense: 280

    Endurance: 280

    Sense: 280

    Intelligence: 270

    Resolve: 270

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (6/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (11/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (371/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 39: Cores, Pearls & Crystals

    Chapter 39: Cores, Pearls & Crystals

    ''Exin Money.''

    [The amount of money you have. You got 1000 gold from the Guild-leader. 31 bronze is the total of both Spikehog mission and bounty of bandit extermination.]

    ''I need to upgrade my Bow mastery to Absolute grade. Open Mastery and search for Bow Mastery.''

    ===

    Higher Bow Mastery: Improves your proficiency, uracy and harmony with Bows.

    Cost: 19,258 Essence.

    ===

    ''Why so expensive?!''

    [Since you have Medium Bow Mastery with progress of 371/10000, you need to spend 19,258 Essence toplete the progress and reach the next level. Do you want to proceed?!]

    ''NO. I''ll adjust somehow....umm, Do you think Ick some skills in any area?!''

    [Our ultimate aim is to reach Dimension Sovereign. The hindrance we now face isck of elemental affinity. You either need to consume an elemental beast core or expose yourself to a Law fragment.]

    ''Are beast cores avable in Consumables?!''

    [Finally.you used your brain! Yes, it is avable!]

    ''You could have told me!!''

    [First pay and let''s get out of here!!]

    Lee noticed that the weregirl was standing near his table and looking at him.

    "The food was really delicious. I got lost in its taste."

    Lee gave an exnation as to why he sat there silently. She was happy to know that the dish was really liked by the customer.

    "It''ll be 10 gold coins, sir."

    Lee nodded and gave 11 coins and said that the extra is for the unexpected deliciousness of the food. She was very happy as she bowed to him and went away. Lee got up and walked out of the hotel.

    ''D, anywhere secluded near us?!''

    [Go straight for about 12 steps and turn right. There''s an alleypletely empty and out of reach of starlights.]

    Lee followed D''s navigation and saw the alley. He slipped into the alley and walked to the shadow.

    ''Show the elemental beast cores and its cost.''

    ===

    Fire element beast core - Beast core of a Fire Smander. Cost: 700 Essence.

    Water element beast core - Beast core of a Deep Sea m. Cost: 1540 Essence.

    Ice element beast core - Beast core of a Frost Wyrm. Cost: 9000 Essence.

    Rock element beast core - Beast core of a Tovvic Golem. Cost: 1390 Essence.

    Metal element beast core - Beast core of a Steel-scaled Armadillo. Cost: 4090 Essence.

    Sand element beast core - Beast core of a Desert Golem. Cost: 1200 Essence.

    Nature element beast core - Beast core of a King Dryad. Cost: 1900 Essence.

    Air element beast core - Beast core of a Phantom Falcon. Cost: 1870 Essence.

    Dark element beast core - Beast pearl of a Lone-hunt Panther. Cost: 1330 Essence.

    Light element beast core - Beast pearl of a Typhoon Serpent. Cost: 34060 Essence.

    Gravity element beast core - Beast crystal of Netherworld Leviathan. Cost: 62000 Essence.

    Sound element beast core - Beast core of an Impulse Eel. Cost: 600 Essence.

    Life element beast core - Beast crystal of a 200-Millennium Disaster Dragon. Cost: 197000 Essence.

    Death element beast core - Beast crystal of an Evil Phoenix. Cost: 38700 Essence.

    Space element beast core - Beast crystal of a 17-headed Hydra. Cost: 80000 Essence.

    Time element beast core - Beast crystal of a Deadly Invisible Jellyfish. Cost: 488000 Essence.

    ===

    Lee was baffled. His jaw fell on the ground, as he screamed inside. His eyelids failed to close. If anyone is to see him now, he''ll look exactly like a statue of a person.

    D raised his voice and told him that he should have expected this.

    [The cost is different as the Beast Core changes to Beast Pearl and then to a Beast Crystal.

    An urate ssification has not been found till date on the power levels of Core, Pearls and Crystals. But we do know that Core is the initial state of power condensation, Pearl is the state of power purification and Crystal is when the purified power and energy amplifies the beast''s abilities by at least 9 times.

    Forparison, a being with a Beast crystal can single-handedly pull a whole continent into chaos!]

    Lee felt fear running along his body upon hearing this. To put a whole continent to chaos, is the biggest achievement a villian can ever have! Lee admires those thing''s strength and size in his heart.

    =====

    1 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''How much Essence do I have?''

    [30,030 Essence.]

    ''Buy all the beast cores.''

    [Bought 9 beast cores for 22,290 Essence. You have 7740 Essence left. Beast cores are stored in the Inventory.]

    ''Absorb them all.''

    =====

    ''9 Elemental Beast Cores'' detected. Absorb?

    =====

    ''Yes''

    The beast cores disappeared from the Inventory. Lee summoned the Affinity panel and saw the current progress.

    =====

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (11/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Rock Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Metal Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Nature Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Sound Affinity (0/100)

    =====

    Lee stared at the list of affinities for a few minutes. He was happy to see them all ready for progress, but was confused as to how they can progress. Thebat applicability of a few affinities was almost none.

    [I can feel your confusion. But those that look like they''re useless in an activebat can make up with creating a passive offense or defense.]

    ''How?!''

    [Fire can burn an enemy. Water can make one sloppy in speed and vulnerable to lightning. Ice can freeze or numb partially. You can apply these respective elements onto your de to achieve the effect.

    The Rock element has a special effect called Petrify. It''s a skill you can buy from Shop but it costs a lot. Even though you cannot utilise Petrify to the maximum, the petrification effect can weaken the enemy''s weapon by a very slight margin by each attack, until it breaks.

    The Metal element is a double offense element. It can help you to empower your weapon''s metal de with ayer of metal, and weaken the molecr bonds in your opponent''s metal weapon. The result will take a lot of time due to lesser affinity.

    The Sand element is more like an AOE skill. When surrounded 360 by enemy attacks, activate this element to produce sand particles from your swing. It will not create a change in thebat, but the charging sand particles released at your swing strength will hit the enemies like needles. It can also affect the opponent''s eyesight.

    The Nature element will look serene and natural, but has an unusual effect. Nature is all about vitality. So this affinity can slowly suck away the vitality of your opponent and stack it with yours. This effect will be minimal at lesser affinity.

    You have already seen how the Air element works. You can create wind des with your current affinity, that too, weak and short. A powerful Air de is equal to having an extra de with you.

    The Sound element will lookpletely helpless in a fight, but it''s not. Sound urs when two surfaces make contact, like pping. But sound is also made when sword des make contact. This element will help you to amplify the faint ''ng'' noise into a more deafening thunder with progress. It''s stunning capability is off the chart. There is a possibility for the opposite party to go deaf if your progress is high enough.

    And one more thing, if you don''t have immunity to the affinities you have, they can also affect you.]

    The lecture gave Lee many insights. He has somehow acquired a great arsenal of passivebat skills!!!

 Chapter 40: A Classified Mission

    Chapter 40: A ssified Mission

    Exiting the alley, he headed towards the Adventurer''s Guild. An and Si Sera were standing at the reception and Changchang gave thempany. The trio was talking freely as most of them had gone to have food and only a few were standing and sitting here and there. Changchang saw Lee walking in and she greeted him with a smile. An noticed this and saw Lee entering. Shi Sera was delighted to havepanies of two women.

    "Thank you for keeping mepany. It was a great relief for me!"

    Shi Sera thanked An as she held her hand with gratitude. Lee can tell that their talk hase to an end and asked his doubt to her.

    "Is there any bandit extermination requests avable?!"

    Shi Sera and Changchang raised their brows in surprise. Most people avoid such missions since bandits are very cunning and ruthless.

    "Yes, there are 23 requests. But the bandit hideouts are not pinpointed yet. And most adventurers avoid such requests."

    Shi Sera spoke and nodded at Changchang. She understood the meaning and took a small box from the drawer. Many mission requests that range from pale-yellow grade to deep-orange grade were stacked inside. She slid the box towards Lee.

    Lee nodded at Changchang and took out missions one by one. The trio thought that he was looking for a specific request.

    "I''ll take them all!"

    Lee rolled them into one and ced it inside his jacket. His poker-face was unreadable to them. Changchang nced at Shi Sera for help and got a nod in return.

    "These are not published ones, so there will not be any rewards."

    Changchang warned him in a serious tone. She was expecting him to put them back in the box upon hearing this. But his face remained the same.

    "I was not expecting anything. I took these as I need something to practice with, and bandits seem the perfect opponents."

    The trio was lost for words. For the first time, they are looking at someone who considers bandits as ''things'' to practice.

    Lee didn''t give any further exnation and turned to An. She was ready to apany him, but he patted her shoulder and said-

    "It''ll get dangerous as I''m not going on a pic. I want you to stay here because I''m concerned with your safety. I''ll be back by...a day or two."

    Lee didn''t say anything else and went outside. An didn''t defy probed him as she felt that he had his personal reasons. Shi Sera thought that the bandits may have been the reason he lost his group.

    =====

    2 P.M.

    450 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ----------------------------------

    Exiting the city through the western gate, Lee walked to a distance before taking the mission papers out. Among the 23, 11 were reported at the western gate. That means the road to the city of Festa or to the city of Crogh or both of them are infested by bandits. Lee intentionally didn''t ask anything about bandits due to security reasons.

    The road is not paved in any way, but the regr travelling of carriages and horses has carved out a brown path, with borders of short and thick grasses. After making sure that the gate is no longer visible from where he''s standing, he dashed with all his strength.

    ''D, I want you to increase my Intelligence and Resolve by 100 points.''

    [About that, when your attributes reach 300, the Essence cost will increase by six times. I forgot to tell you before. Teheee....]

    ''.....how much is my Intelligence and Resolve?!''

    [270.]

    ''Increase both to 300 points.''

    [Ok..and done.]

    ''What about my physical attributes?!''

    [All at 280.]

    ''To 300.''

    [Done.]

    ''Essence left?''

    [6890.]

    Lee calcted and responded.

    ''Increase all stats by 20.''

    [6600 Essence consumed. You have 290 Essence left.]

    ''Any skills that are rted to fatigue-resistance?!''

    [Skill ''Regeneration'' is avable, but it costs 1300 Essence.]

    Before Lee realised, he had entered a forest area. He was constantly in touch with the Map as it is inside his mind. There were many creatures as he travelled along. He captured them and ced them in his EsGen storage. D told him that they can give a small amount of Essence until they die.

    3 minutester.

    A bunch of dots appeared one and a half kilometers away in the Map. Lee counted 29 red ones surrounding 9 green ones. An immobile grey dot was among the red ones. He can tell which is which. Lee took out his de and activated Rock, Metal, Nature and Sound. He didn''t activate Poison or Lightning because Lee is familiar with them. Fire, Water and Ice are mutually countering ones. Sand and Air needed higher proficiency so he kept them forter.

    =====

    3 P.M.

    570 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Another green dot became grey and Lee hurried with all his strength to the spot. Within seconds, he can see 3 merchants and 4 warriors defending the bandits. Two warriors were already dead.

    Lee brought a ck mask from the Shop for 30 Essence. It only had eyeslits and gave an ominous aura. He took out his bow and fired a homing arrow at one of the bandits. The affinities took effect and their progress increased by one. He confirmed that non-opposing skills can be stacked together and that he can use his affinities with homing arrows for maximum efficiency.

    *thuk*

    The arrow shed and the bandit fell. All the red dots stopped in their tracks and looked at the arrow that struck the bandit at his head. They looked around immediately and saw a figure about 600 meters away. Bandits recognised the culprit as they saw a bow in his hand.

    Lee thought of the possibility that the bandits may escape and scatter if he maintained his distance. But if he''s toe close, they''ll attack him as he only has his bow.

    Lee ran at the bandits at a slightly-faster than normal speed. He reached around 300 meters and he shot down one more bandit.

    This was enough to enrage them. 11 of them started to run against Lee as the other 16 continued to strike down the warriors.

    Lee smirked and released his arrow as they reached about 100 meters from him. His speed considerably increased. The bandits were confused. Only two remained when they realised his trap.

    *thuk*

    *thuk*

    The warriors were happy to receive an ally. They prayed for him to survive till the end. They were thankful to him as the pack was reduced to 16. But the merchants who watched him were baffled by his sudden increase in speed.

    *thuk*

    *thuk*

    *thuk*

    Three arrows flew and struck three bandits who were at the outermost position. Before they realised that three were dead, two more followed their fate. They turned towards the archer and another one received an arrow in the forehead. 10 bandits who were left alive tried to run away, but the warriors blocked them from their retreat. Still, 5 of them got away.

    *thuk*

    *thuk*

    *thuk*

    *thuk*

    Four arrows flew past the warriors and four bandits that got away fell on the ground. Thest one saw this and stumbled on his track. When he tried to get up, an arrow pierced his back of the neck.

    Two of the bandits pushed down a warrior and ran away. As the warriors were protecting the merchants and blocking the bandits simultaneously, they could only put their hope in this anonymous archer.

    An arrow hit one of the runaway bandits and it exploded. The explosion was powerful enough to take down both of them. Their bodies rolled on the ground lifelessly.

    The 3 bandits surrendered and begged not to kill them. Warriors tied their hands and nced at the approaching archer. His figure made them shiver in fear.

    "What are you called?!"

    Lee sounded his voice. Through the mask, it gave off a rough and threatening presence.

    "The...the bull.people."

    One of the bandit replied as he drenched in sweat. Lee took out the papers and saw the name of the group in one of them.

    ''One down, 22 to go.''

    "You are reported as a nuisance to the travelling folks."

    Lee turned at the warriors and asked-

    "Tell me, should I kill them or arrest and send them to the city?!"

    Warriors nced at theirrade''s dead body. Their eyes welled up as they said-

    "Kill them!"

    Lee took out his de and chopped their heads off in an instant. The warriors were extremely thankful as they are alive to bring theirrade''s remains to their homes. They thanked earnestly and Lee replied-

    "I''m on a ssified mission to exterminate all bandits around the Lorin city. Do not spill any information about seeing or meeting me. If anyone asks, you killed the bandits and you lost tworades."

    The icy voice sounded as the merchants and warriors listened to him without blinking. They nodded in response and Lee dashed to the horizon.

    ...............

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1581

    Essence: 504 (3 PM)

    Money: 1000 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (6/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (11/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Rock Affinity (28/100)

    Lesser Metal Affinity (28/100)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Nature Affinity (28/100)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Sound Affinity (28/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (395/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 41: Justice Is Served!

    Chapter 41: Justice Is Served!

    =====

    9 P.M.

    1067 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee drank half a bottle of Horned-Mow milk in a go, as he keenly observed a bandit group dancing and singing around the campfire like a nomadic tribe. Their ''settlement'' was guarded with wooden spikes and regrly changing shifts of bandits. Lee counted 51 red dots and spotted 16 hostages locked inside a cage, which was inside a cave. There were 14 women and 2 men, and they were unharmed. Lee guessed that they were waiting for fun after their dinner. His brows rose with the revtion of existence of homosexuality.

    Lee took out 13 unfinished mission requests from the inside of his jacket. He had travelled the way to Crogh and eliminated all the bugs. They were only worthy of being his affinity progress points. This was one among 4 bandit groups that plundered people on the way to the city of Festa, and they''ll be thest to die. With this, western side will be cleansed, Lee thought.

    ''D, I have some doubts regarding immunity. Can you clear them as I carry on my work?!''

    [I know what you''re about to ask. You''re wondering why you haven''t acquired any immunities to the affinities you''ve brought recently. That''s because those two immunities were not obtained from your affinities, but from external sources.

    Think. You got poison immunity when you faced Swamp Serpent. You got lightning immunity when you received the Lightning Law fragment from the cloud. If you need to acquire Immunity, get exposed to something!]

    Lee walked towards the settlement withplete silence. He slipped past the roaming guards with his superior nimbleness. The guards only felt a gust of wind and they didn''t take it into consideration.

    Lee had the whole area plotted out in his mind. He can walk with eyes blinded, and still not get caught in the act. He precisely took control of the situation and moved towards the cage like a flying owl. The bandits didn''t know that their demise had already sneaked in!

    The bandits were allmon criminals grouped by theirmon interest to plunder and kill. They used women and men for their fun activities and killed them afterwards. Not even children were spared. Lee saw a dark pit near the cave entrance and sensed innumerous bones in different sizes and shapes in it, with the help of the Map. His rage was way over the threshold, but didn''t let emotion control him. He thought of killing them without killing, making their life a living hell till they die, for their cruelty and savageness was unbearable for any living being. WOULD YOU HAVE FORGIVEN THEM?!

    Lee saw a guard standing near the cave entrance. He was leaning on the wall and dozing off. Lee calmly walked past him, for his steps made no noise. The cave diverged into two. One leading to the hostages and the other towards the room of the bandit-leader. There was about 15 or 16 meters between entrance and divergence.

    Lee walked towards the cage as his first priority was to rescue them. A bandit was standing guard, facing the cage, and the cage was strong and made out of ck Iron. It was simr to iron in all aspects, except that it acted as an instor.

    The guard was feeling tired and he yawned. The very moment, a thin ck de pierced the back of his neck and exited through his wide-open mouth. His eyes went wide as he was wonderstruck. Those in the cage saw this and gasped, as Lee signalled them not to shout. Lee pulled out his de,id the deadman on the ground silently. He stepped forward, took off his mask and asked almost silently-

    "Are you the only hostages?!"

    A woman nodded as tears well up in her eyes.

    "Is anyone hurt?!"

    They signalled that no one is seriously hurt or misused by the bandits. A few women had p marks on their cheeks. Lee signalled them to stay put and to not make any sound. He assured them that he''ll save them from this hellhole.

    Lee nced at the dead bandit and said inward-

    ''One down, fifty to go.''

    Lee slowly came to the spot where the cave splits into two. The dance and enjoyment had ended and 8 men were walking down the path towards the cage. Lee hid in the shadows and the bandits passed him. He can smell intense alcoholic smell as theyughed out loud saying explicit jokes.

    Lee came behind the one walking at the back and slit his neck with his de. Lee took precaution to not make any noise, so he covered the bandit''s mouth with his hand. Heid the body on the ground and followed the next one. They noticed the deaths of theirpanions after being reduced to a number of three. The drunk and loud bandits tried to make noise to attract attention, but the de had gone through their necks like cutting butter!

    Lee caught the three bodies before they hit the ground. He bnced himself on one leg as he held one body on each arm and one on the leg. He slowly lowered his body and let the bodies join the dust almost silently.

    A fewpletely drunk stupids shouted out loud that the 8 men gone previously have note back and they might be having fun with the women. A loud voice of disagreement arose. The leader came out hearing the shouts and sent 2 more to call them back with the women.

    The 2 sent met the same fate as those 8 before. The leader sat on his high seat and was visibly annoyed as his subjects were disobeying him at in sight. He sent another 10 to drag the previously gone 10 outside.

    Lee became busy as this time, it was 10 at once. He killed 9 of them silently, but thest one made a short cry before biting the dust.

    The cry echoed through the cave and reached outside. Those drunk andpletely lost in the alcohol didn''t mind the scream, but the leader and a few of his loyal servants became vignt. They thought of many possible scenarios, but never in their wildest dreams have they thought of a bandit-exterminator!

    Lee sensed the atmosphere outside through the Map. He had broken the cage and released the hostages outside, but they were afraid to walk on their own. So he told them to stay inside the cage until all bandits are dead.

    Lee guessed that his time to make an entrance hade. He wore the mask and held his de in his right hand. To amplify the effect, he smeared the blood of bandits on his mask and jacket. From the darkness inside the cave, his figure stepped into the light!

    The leader was thunderstruck to see a stranger in the cave. He thanked fate as he was inside the same cave a few minutes before. He can tell that death went past him from Lee''s appearance. His appearance made an uproar in the settlement. The guards rushed in from all directions. Under themand of their leader, they had charged at Lee with killing intent.

    Lee held his de and watched the trajectories as the weapons slowed down in front of his eyes. Lee activated Poison affinity along with the already active 4 ones. He decided not to kill the 30 bandits in one swing, and to make sure that they die in the most miserable way.

    Lee shed from the spot as his de pierced stomachs and chopped off the legs of many bandits. He made sure to cut all the limbs of the leader scum.

    =====

    10 P.M.

    1067 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The bandit camp turned into the concentration camp. The hostages were guided outside by Lee. He warned them about the potential mental trauma that they might suffer from seeing this. But the men replied that they were ready for hell the moment they were captured and kept as hostages. Lee admired their courage and guided them outside. He gave them Honey Bread loaves to eat and Horned-Mow milk to drink. They ate a total of 34 loaves and 16 bottles of milk.

    Lee dragged the half dead scums and piled them up. The pile contained 18 bandits, whose stomachs were pierced. Lee took a torch and passed it to a woman and said-

    "Light them up. Let those who are destroyed by them be happy as they are this. May there be no more scums!"

    The woman looked at Lee with utmost admiration. She took the torch and lit the bandits. Their screams and cries echoed far and wide as their bodies slowly burned away in front of their eyes.

    The leader was trembling with fear. He can tell that there will be no better treatment than what he saw. He kept begging to leave him alive. He repeatedly promised to be a good man in the future.

    Lee briefly nced at him through his mask. The leader lowered his head in fear. He can only watch Lee dragging his loyal rades'' away. The men and women found his method of torturepletely justifiable. They thought that this man here had lost someone dear and near in a bandit attack.

    The limbless 11 bandits no longer screamed. One, they saw what had happened to theirpanions. Two, their throats were sore with screaming. They had given up all hopes on life and cursed the day they turned evil.

    The 11 bandits were lined up horizontally on the ground. Lee came towards the women and men with 11 clubs made from wood. He ced each one before each bandit and spoke-

    "We burned 18 bandits, but that will never heal the scar they have left in this world, in the hearts of many. So, this is your chance to take justice into your own hands. Take a club and release your anger. Remember the atrocities you have heard about these barbarians, remember the horrible experiences of women caught by them, remember to make them scream louder than their victims had!!!"

    The bandits shuddered inplete hopelessness. They thought that burning alive was a much easier way to die. They cursed their misfortune to be in this state.

    What Lee said stimted their hearts. A burning sense of justice appeared in their eyes as they stared at the clubs. One by one went forward and thrashed the bandits. As Lee said, their screams were louder than their victims!

    =====

    12 Midnight.

    1067 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Thest bandit hit the ground around by midnight. An air of justice prevailed in the atmosphere. The sttered brain and internal organs were all over the floor. The leader had passed out from the blood-loss, but he was nowhere near the death.

    The ''justice enforcers'' nced at Lee and the bandit-leader repeatedly. At the slightest hum of Lee, they will beat that guy to pulp. But Lee walked towards the bandit-leader, kicked him in the stomach and he woke up. Lee asked-

    "What was your group called?!"

    "Bone crushing bandits."

    The leader replied in a feeble voice. Lee took out the 13 mission requests and found the one with that name. He shoved it into the leader''s mouth. Leader was confused by this behaviour.

    "Your punishment is different from what you saw. It''ll be slow and you''ll enjoy it."

    Saying this, he lifted the limbless body of the bandit-leader and walked towards the dark pit near the cave. Upon knowing where Lee was heading, the leader cried like a toddler inside.

    "Say hello to your friends in hell!"

    Lee spoke as he throwed the torso into the pit with great strength. The men and women saw this and they came near the edge of the pit. It was dark inside, but they heard a deafening yell from the darkness. They were curious as to what thing inside the pit caused the already half-dead and sore-throat leader to cry with such energy!

    Lee saw the bones piercing into the limbless body. His eyes were gouged out as he writhed in pain. He rolled over the bones that immediately punctured him like a million needles. The long awaited death greeted him after a long time of agony and pain.

    Lee searched the inside of the cave and found that the room of the leader was decorated and spacious. He told the men and women to get some rest as he sat at a distance, his eyes at the cave mouth. He was concerned about their safety as the blood might attract wild beasts. D told him that the concern was useless as there are no beasts in about 3 mile distance around the settlement. They all have run away in terror of screams. The people closed their eyes with happiness and satisfaction. Lee felt delighted toplete 11 requests in half a day.

    .............

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1801

    Essence: 12879 (12 PM)

    Money: 1000 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (6/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Lesser Poison Affinity (54/100)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (64/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (64/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (64/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (64/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (421/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 42: Bandit-Exterminator

    Chapter 42: Bandit-Exterminator

    [Good morning sleepyhead!]

    ''Morning D''

    Lee yawned and stretched his limbs and body as he sat up on the ground. His eyes were filled with the desire to sleep, but he knew that he''d slept enough. Looking around, he saw that no one had woken up. Everyone slept with a faint smile on their face. Some good dreams, Lee guessed.

    ''Time?''

    [6.35 A.M.]

    ''Essence?''

    [19281.]

    ''If I remember correctly, the Dark element beast pearl costs 1330 Essence, right?!''

    [Yes.]

    ''Buy it.''

    [Brought it.]

    ===

    ''Dark Element Beast Pearl'' detected. Absorb?

    ===

    ''Yes.''

    The beast pearl looked like an opaque spherical ball which is visiblyrger than beast cores. It disappeared from the Inventory in an instant.

    ''How does this affinity work?!''

    [Like the name says, darkness. This affinity is able to envelope the opponent in darkness and all senses will be lost. At lesser grade proficiency, you can produce a blinding effect to the opponent each time you cross swords. Dark and Sound affinities work well with each other to confuse and deal maximum damage at least expected moment. They can throw the opponent into despair, but must have a very high level before attaining such a feat!

    A speciality of Dark element is, upon sufficient number of hits, the darkness will cover the opponent''s senses very frequently. The sensory reception will break continuously and the person will be stunned. This is a major advantage in longer and deadly battles.]

    Lee nced once more at those sleeping, and silently slipped outside. About 15 to 22 carnivorous animals were eating the remains of bandits. The ''roasted'' bandit pile waspletely gone, and the beasts were licking and eating the sttered bandits. Lee stood at the cave entrance and saw this. He smirked on the fact that these scums were barely worthy of being these creatures'' food.

    =====

    7 A.M.

    1067 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Around 20 minutes past 7, Lee can hear some noises from the inside. It meant that the women and men were waking up. The beasts saw the darkness lifting and they ran away with what they could drag away. Lee walked inside and saw the two men checking the conditions of the women. Upon noticing Lee approaching, they greeted him as the womenfolk were awakened. Lee greeted back. Lee heard a few hungry stomachs growling.

    Lee understood the situation and brought 32 loaves of bread and 16 bottles of milk. The folks were wonderstruck as they saw him bringing out more bread and milk from his Spatial ring. They didn''t probe about the limit of supplies in his ring as his act of saving them single-handedly was enough bbergasting.

    During breakfast, Lee came to know that these men and women were the residents of the city of Festa. They were traveling to the city of Crogh when these bandits caught them. Lee gave them instructions that they should not let out the information regarding meeting him as this was a ssified mission. They felt the seriousness of Lee''s voice and nodded in agreement. After eating, they left the camp of bandits. Lee guided them till they could see the gates of Festa. The folks were tearing up with gratitude. Lee bid them farewell and watched from a distance as they walked towards the city and entered inside safely.

    -----------------------------

    It took Lee 75 minutes to reach the western gate of the city of Lorin at his full speed. A normal carriage would have taken half a day for this journey!

    Lee slowed down from a distance and walked through the gate and headed towards the Adventurer''s Guild.

    The familiar figure of An and Freya greeted him as he headed towards the Guild building. An came running and hugged him tightly. He can tell how worried she was from her actions. Freya chuckled at this and the trio walked as Lee narrated the main highlights of his journey.

    Changchang was delighted to see Lee in one piece. Lee came to the desk and reported that the western side was cleared. As Changchang, An and Freya were standing stunned, Lee asked for any recent requestsing in at the time he was gone. Changchang shook her head. Lee turned to An and said not to get hurt while he was away. Freya saw his concern and assured him of her safety. An was very angry as they treated her like a toddler!

    Lee departed through the northern gate. The guards were familiar with his face and opened the gate immediately. Lee nodded with a smile as he walked through. After a safe distance, Lee sprinted forward with all his might. His aim was the 5 bandit groups reported on this road that led to the city of Culett. The road diverges into two and one goes to the city of Culett while the other goes to the capital city of the kingdom Venus, Yeuvis.

    --------------------------------

    Any beasts within 50 meters from the road were captured by Lee. As he did so, Lee was constantly searching for any red dots appearing in the Map. He began to feel disappointed as no red dots appeared.

    =====

    10 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    --------------------------------

    A gradual deceleration can be noticed as hemented inside. Almost an hour passed and Lee was feeling disheartened. Suddenly, a red dot shed in his mind. Lee froze for a second and checked the Map again, but that dot had already disappeared. Lee tried to remember where that dot appeared.

    [It appeared exactly at the right most border of the Map for a second and disappeared. Assuming from its appearance, it is a bandit and one that was roaming through the forest.]

    Lee immediately took a sharp 90 degree turn to the right and his figure dashed forward. Just after covering a 100 meters, 2 red dots appeared in the distance. Lee silently approached the bandits as they were talking to each other in an audible voice.

    "Is it necessary to merge with those bandits?! I mean, we are all bandits." (Bandit 1)

    "From what I''ve heard, this is only a temporary alliance. The Royal Annual Convoy will pass through the road in 3 days. Our spies confirmed it." (Bandit 2)

    "For true?! Then this makes total sense. Us alone are no match for the royal guards, but around 200 bandits can easily capture the convoy. And the forest is our turf!" (Bandit 1)

    "That''s why we are put on guard here. The absence of bandits in the road will surely give them hope of safety." (Bandit 2)

    "But will the other groups agree?! We may all be bandits, but friction always urs between groups." (Bandit 1)

    "They will have to agree. This is a once-in-a-year opportunity. Even the carriage that holds the gold is decorated with precious gems! We don''t have to plunder for almost a year if we pulled this off!" (Bandit 2)

    The exciting voices of bandits made Lee clear of the situation. The bandits didn''t withdraw, but they were secretly gathering together to take down a royal convoying from the capital city. From what he heard, Great King Aizil provides wealth to the cities under him annually, and these carriages will be apanied by the Royal Guards. This behaviour was fitting for a benevolent and kind ruler adored by his subjects. No wonder there are no discriminations, Dmented.

    Lee took a nce at the Map and saw red dots scattered in pairs throughout the forest. About 26 such pairs stood in a circle covering a vast area. At the center of the formation was a bunch of red dots clustered together. Lee can tell that the leaders are in serious discussion.

    D reminded him that the time is of essence. Lee took out his bow and shot two arrows within the span of one second. The Poison, Rock, Metal, Nature and Dark affinities were activated prior to firing the homing arrows. The progress went up by one as they fell on the ground. The light thud was inaudible to other pairs.

    A question arose in Lee''s mind.

    ''Can I kill someone from a distance by locking on them through the Map, without direct visual?!''

    [Try it out. You''ll never know unless you try.]

    Lee climbed the nearest tree to get a good clear sight of the sky. He locked his focus on the nearest pair of red dots and fired two arrows one after the other, in an angle. Lee saw the arrows homing in on them and in a second, the red dots turned grey.

    Lee was delighted to know that the focus lock can be done through the Map. He fired 44 arrows one after the other, as he shifted the focus from one to the next after each shot.

    Like a chain reaction, the red dots turned grey from one end to the other. Within a minute, Lee took down 52 bandits. From what he heard, the number of bandits were close to 200, so he was expecting more than 120 bandits and 5 bandit-leaders. Lee thought of killing them in a volley of arrows, but he thought of acquiring some information from them, with or without consent.

    Lee moved closer and loud conversations and arguments can be heard. He hid behind a bush and watched them. 5 leaders were sitting around a table and each leader had 4 subordinates near them. Surprisingly, he saw rogue cultivators among the crowd. There were two that looked like a wizard, as they had a staff in their hand. Except the leaders and their subordinates, 119 bandits were constantly on guard against any attacks. Lee fell into a situation as he saw 52 among these walking towards the 26 guarding spots for shift change.

    Lee immediately withdrew and killed the 52 men before they reached the site. Hopefully they were far enough from the ones at the center. Even if they heard them, the bustling of leaves and random noises kept them distracted from focusing on one particr noise.

    =====

    11 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    10 minutes passed.

    While the leaders and their subordinates were in a heated discussion, others recognised something was amiss. They quickly alerted the whole group and the vignce rose to the sky. Lee watched them moving out in a very cautious manner. Even the leaders and their subordinates were actively heading out. Some of them were ready to escape the moment they smelled danger!

    Lee slowly walked forward and his lower torso was visible from the shadow. His masked face wasn''t clearly visible from 200 meters away. The bandits who saw him alerted themunity and they moved towards Lee.

    Lee walked out of the shadow as he fired 6 arrows with patience. Those six hit the mark and this maddened the bandits. They guessed that this archer had killed their fellow bandits. The leaders roared to kill this fellow. Their subordinates and fellow bandits charged at Lee with burning eyes. The leaders stood at the back in case of any change in tides. Lee smirked inside the mask as a barrage of arrows showered upon them.

    *pak pak pak pak...*

    It took Lee 60 seconds to eliminate 81 bandits. In the beginning, they charged fiercely. When they realised that this archer was a monster, only the leaders remained. Even if they were titled leaders their cowardice was greater than his underlings.

    Leaders turned around and tried to run, but an arrow pierced each of their right legs. They screamed in pain and attempted to crawl away. But Lee''s nunchuck hit them unconscious.

    ----------------------------------------

    =====

    12 Mid-day

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was in an internal conversation with D when the notification came up. He stood up from his chair and walked towards where the bandit-leaders were tied up. He can see a blue coloration where the arrows pierced them, which indicated poisoning.

    "Hey, wake up bastard!"

    Lee pped one of the leaders as he shouted. The five were feeling a mixed sensation of numbness and agony through them.

    "Why the Royal Annual Convoy?!"

    This question stunned the leaders. They trembled as their grandiose n was exposed and spoiled by someone looking very strange. The mask enveloped them in an ominous aura.

    "Illians.Illians gave us...money...to...to attack and plunder the royal..carriage."

    The term ''Illians'' were unknown to them. As per the situation, they seemed hostile with the kingdom of Venus.

    "How did they contact you?! How many were there?!"

    Lee acted as if he''s well known with the Illians. His acting bore fruit.

    "They came...by night. 4 of them. One.is an official.They will.contact us.after two...days."

    The poison''s pain and numbness was taking effect. The leaders felt their throats bing dry. They saw each other''s legs and confirmed that they were poisoned.

    "Where will they meet you??"

    The leaders hesitated to answer this one. They began to think of a way to trick him. Lee noticed their faces and said-

    "You don''t need to tell. We have methods to extract information at the capital city of Venus."

    This sent a shiver down their spine. They immediately spoke-

    "At the ck Desert ins!"

    As soon as they finished, a ck de shed through their necks and their heads fell down and rolled. Lee did not feel any remorse in doing so, because they deserved more than this simple punishment. And Lee was in a hurry to convey this information to Shi Sera and Ian!

    ................

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1810

    Essence: 21316 (12 Mid-day)

    Money: 989 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Medium Poison Affinity (149/10000)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (259/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (259/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (259/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (259/10000)

    Medium Dark Affinity (96/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (669/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

    (A.N. The immunity cannot be obtained by its respective affinity, but can be progressed using them.)

 Chapter 43: Pest In The Past

    Chapter 43: Pest In The Past

    ''Any idea who Illians are?!''

    [Nope. Nothing. I am from the Intellus continent, so I have no idea. Perhaps a small-scale criminal organisation??]

    ''To hire bandits and attack the Royal Annual Convoy, they might be more than that. And the leader said one of them is an official. Maybe an official in theirmunity?!''

    [Let''s not derive baseless assumptions on what we have. Focus on reaching the city.]

    Lee was dashing swiftly to reach the city. His agility made the wind resistance negligible. His superior endurance kept him brisk. He didn''t slow down a bit until he saw the city gate in the Map. The travellers and carriages pondered as to what was the thing that just flew by them!

    =====

    1 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The very moment this notification popped up, Lee saw the walls of the city from afar. A weariness attacked his body as his speed was considerably decreased. His motion turned to that of jogging, which eventually came to a halt. While taking deep breaths rapidly, he recalled something.

    ''D, my affinities are enough to empower my arrow attacks. Then why do other arrows with Essence cost exist?!''

    [Firing an arrow with activated affinity and firing a ''affinity arrow'' are different. The affinity arrows are arrows with the affinity embedded in them. They are equivalent to an absolute grade affinity activated arrow. With your current progress, the affinity activation is merely a coating on the arrows. There is an effect, but it is rtively minimal. All you can do is continue progressing or choosing affinity arrows at the cost of Essence.]

    Lee sighed deeply as he relieved his fatigue. He walked at a calm pace and reached the gate. The guards recognised and smiled at Lee as they allowed him to pass.

    Heading towards the Guild through the familiar streets, Lee found himself smiling as he scanned his surroundings. His peaceful stroll directed him towards the Guild and he entered the building.

    Changying was at the desk busy with finding something from the drawers. Changchang and an unfamiliar man were also helping her. An archer and a warrior stood at the desk with doubtful faces. Lee felt the upset atmosphere in the air and moved to the mission board. He skimmed through the mission while regrly ncing at the desk.

    "I''m sorry, sir. I believe the Alchemy Guild has not delivered the potion. I''ll notify them immediately."

    Changying covered up her uneasiness with a smile. The adventurers bought her smile and asked when they shoulde to get the reward. Changying assured that the potion will be present by tomorrow morning.

    The adventurers left with a sigh. The male helper went back to the storage room. Lee saw the distress in her face and asked-

    "Got troubles?!"

    Changying looked at him with a lovely smile. But his poker-face was unchanging.

    *sigh*

    "The thing is, there were two missions issued by the Alchemy Guild. They transported two low grade healing potions to us as the rewards. The potions were kept in the same box. As those who finished first came in, we unknowingly rewarded the whole box. Now we don''t have a healing potion to reward."

    Lee noticed an unspeakable gloominess around the desk. By the suggestion of D, Lee proposed a solution.

    "Ipleted the 5 requests from the northern side and raided their camps. I did get some potions. Can you tell me how they looked like?!"

    The duo was joyful as tears rolled down their cheeks. They were in hopelessness, but Lee entered like an angel of help.

    "It looks pale green in color!"

    Changchang replied instantly. Her excitement was over the roof.

    ''D, how much does a low grade healing potion cost?!''

    [9 Essence points.]

    ''Buy it.''

    Lee touched the Spatial ring and acted as if inspecting inside it. After a second of acting, Lee pulled out the low grade healing potion from his Spatial ring. The duo nearly screamed in sight of this potion.

    "What I want is information in exchange for it."

    Changying took the potion from Lee''s hand and thanked him. Changchang asked as she witnessed this.

    "What information do you want, adventurer Lee?!"

    Lee slightly leaned on the desk and asked in a lower voice-

    "What are Illians?!"

    *ba-dum*

    A heart beat was skipped as this term fell in their ears. Lee took caution not to say the term out loud as he doesn''t know what effect will be caused. Changchang immediately pressed a button under the desk and a smallpartment opened up on the desk. There was a silver sphere inside the chamber. Changying took it and held it in her hand. Lee touched it as she signalled to do so.

    "Come to my office!"

    Voice of Shi Sera was heard from it. He guessed that this sphere is amunication device. Without wasting a moment, he climbed the stairs and opened the door.

    "Lee, where did you learn that term?!"

    Lee was perplexed by the question. He never thought that this term is such a taboo in the city.

    "You may not know, but this term ispletely banned from usage in the kingdom of Venus and all cities under it."

    Lee took a seat and spoke-

    "I learned this term from the bandits on the northern side."

    "What?!?! What else did you learn?!"

    "Exin the term and I''ll tell you everything."

    *sigh*

    Shi Sera deeply sighed as she sat on her chair.

    =====

    2 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "Illian was a gifted cultivator who lived in the capital city, about a decade ago. He was an orphan. At a very young age, he proved to be a prodigy. Everyone admired his talent, but not his ideology.

    He believed that the strong must reign over the weak and the strongest only should survive. The kings never supported such a crude method of ruling.

    Seeing that his dream may not be fulfilled, he approached many other cultivators. Through his words, he reced the concepts of unity and harmony with power and strength. The converted cultivators began to go rampant through streets. Many were in mercilessly. At a short notice, the king personally came with his army to deal with these rogues.

    The streets of Venus became blood-red. Bodies of cultivators and soldiers filled thend. With an assured failure, Illian and hisrades retreated to the forest. Many cultivators followed his trail and joined his ideology. The greed to power and strength made them be monsters.

    For a while, there were no conflicts. But one day, the cultivators began to storm small viges and began to strengthen their foundations, you know what I mean.

    Almost all cultivators from the cities joined his force. They were in the shadows for about 3 years. I don''t know why they are poking their heads out now!"

    "When I interrogated a bandit-leader, he said something about an official. What are those?!" (Lee)

    "About 2 years ago, our spies discovered that they are systematically growing in number and strength. The official you talked about is someone with power in the social strata. He is just a step above his fellow cultivators, that''s it." (Shi Sera)

    " So..does that mean they have a flourished social system?!"

    "Exactly. We don''t know the stratification details, but they do have elders, masters, vice leaders and a leader."

    Lee went into serious thought. He was picturising the kingdom''s history as clean as a pool, and this piece of turd fell into it!

    [ording to the situation, it''s best to te her everything.]

    D sounded his suggestion and Lee followed his advice. He narrated the whole incident, about the Royal Annual Convoy and the bandits meeting with the Illians.

    Shi Sera was expressionless, but her mind was in mayhem. What Lee just said casually had the power to turn the tides at a great margin. She jumped up in revtion and spoke-

    "Let''s go to the Army headquarters!!"

    Lee nodded and followed her. They hurried to reach the Army headquarters. Lee was faster and he was the first one to reach the training grounds where Ian might be. No soldier hindered Lee as they remembered what he was capable of.

    Upon seeing Lee, Ian was happy.

    "About time, boy! Come, let''s spar a little!!"

    Ian''s face changed as he saw Shi Sera rushing over. He could sense an emergency whenever he saw her in a hurry.

    "Recruits, the usual!!"

    Ian shouted out loud and the rookies reluctantly stood up and ran. He signalled at Lee and Shi Sera to follow him.

    ---------

    "Problem?!"

    Ian asked this only after making sure that the room is safe and secure. He closed the door behind him and triple locked it.

    "Illians."

    Shi Sera muttered. Ian froze up for a second, but came to reality after a moment.

    "Where?!"

    To this question of Ian, Shi Sera nced at Lee. It was his cue to narrate the story.

    ----------

    =====

    3 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee had narrated the incident and Ian was pondering on it, when the notification came up. The timer threw Lee back on track.

    "We have only two days time. If they show up and find that the bandits are all dead, they''ll be alerted. What should we do?!"

    Lee broke the ice and spoke up.

    ...................

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1815

    Essence: 24556 (3 PM)

    Money: 989 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Medium Poison Affinity (149/10000)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (259/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (259/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (259/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (259/10000)

    Medium Dark Affinity (96/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (669/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 44: Kingdom of Venus

    Chapter 44: Kingdom of Venus

    Ian looked briefly at Shi Sera. Her expression was a mixture of worry and confusion. Ian cleared his throat and spoke-

    "We have to alert the capital city. The n must be known to them. They''ll do the rest."

    Lee wasn''t satisfied with this answer. His thoughts were running strange.

    "Four Illians wille to the ck Desert ins to meet with the bandits. This meeting will be with bandit''s representatives. Why don''t we catch these Illians by disguising as bandits?!"

    Ian was stunned by his naive and crude method. Lee continued-

    "I can tell how powerful they are from all the narrations. But that doesn''t mean they are all-powerful. I''m confident in my ability to catch them. Are you??"

    Lee posed a doubt that shook the foundation of their hearts. He literally questioned their fight spirits. Their brows frowned as they felt a sense of seriousness in his voice.

    "You might be able to, but everyone cannot. We must convey this message and take down the 4 simultaneously. First, let''s go to the capital city."

    Ian spoke and rose up from his seat. Shi Sera and Lee followed his lead. They went out of the Army headquarters and mounted horses. Those former war-horses galloped to the city of Yeuvis.

    ----------------------------

    =====

    5 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The horses were more energetic than any ordinary horses. Lee only noticed them slowing down once, that too, for a very short period.

    From afar, the city walls of Yeuvis looked majestic. They were taller and sturdier than other cities. The gate was a lowering one, like those in the medieval periods. On both sides of the gate, there was a g painted on the wall. The g was pale blue that resembled clear sky and indicated serenity. At the center of the g was an orange circle made surrounded by olive leaves. Inside the circle, a strong and healthy looking hand was helping a weak and thin hand to get up. This simple g proimed the foundations on which the kingdom is built upon - Grace & Unity.

    The trio headed towards the gate. As they neared it, Lee noticed a big wooden nk hanging above the entrance, with a few words on it - "WE LIVE BY EACH OTHER''S HAPPINESS, NOT BY EACH OTHER''S MISERY."

    An admiration bloomed in his heart. Even D felt that.

    "To have power , pride and goodness simultaneously, is a rarely seenbination."

    Ian spoke as he saw sparkles in Lee''s eyes. He couldn''t help but be amused by this youngman''s expression. Ian stared at the words with admiration as he spoke-

    "King Aizil and his father and previous king, Athan and their forefathers before, all believed in this notion. They reminded others that the power that''s bestowed upon us is not by the heavens, but by the people.

    When King Aizil was throned, he said this and I quote, "My father used to say bedtime stories to me. Every story he said was unique and different, but had the same moral - One wins because the other loses. The winner has a moral obligation to help the loser, then drown in his happiness."

    Everyone in this city applies this concept to their field of expertise. No one would be in need of half-baked foods or iplete products, would they?!"

    Lee nodded as they entered the city. The sheer width of the streets was mind-boggling. 4 carriagenes ran through the streets all around the city. Pedestrians had walking space and rail guards to prevent tripping on to the wide road. Soldiers in full attire are seen roaming regrly. Whenever the soldier nced at someone, the person would smile back and the soldier would give a nod with a smile. Hotels, Inns and houses were all built with precise city nning.

    Lee observed that no building was taller than four storeys. An exception is the guild buildings, military headquarters and pce. Lee noticed lizardfolks and kobolds among the crowd. He was expecting it as the concept of unity includes all beings.

    The horses slowly moved on the brick-paved roads as Lee scanned his surroundings. He saw an Auction house and a Farmer''s Guild for the first time aftering to this dimension.

    =====

    6 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Before he realised, the horses had reached in front of the Army headquarters. This building was about 2 miles far from the gate. They got down from the horses and walked towards the main door. Seeing them oing, the guards opened the doors.

    Therge twin wooden door opened up. Lee saw a reception desk at the first nce. A youngman and a young woman stood at the desk and smiled at them. Ian took the lead and walked towards the desk.

    "Is Brigadier Zhang Suyin avable?!"

    The youngman replied with a smile-

    "She will be at her office. Let me notify her."

    The man turned around and walked towards the wall. It was then that Lee noticed a board fixed on that wall. It was aplete blueprint of the building with each room and it''s presiding officer''s namebelled on it. The names were in different colours. It might be indicating the ranks - Lee thought.

    The man pressed the name of Brigadier Zhang Suyin and her name lit up. He stood there for a few seconds. Then he nodded his head and walked back to the desk.

    "She is currently in her office. She has allowed you to meet her."

    Ian thanked the man and told Shi Sera and Lee to follow him. On either side of the desk were stairs to go to the upper floors. They went up to the first floor and walked towards a room. Ian knocked thrice on the door and a response came-

    "Come in!"

    From the voice, Lee can tell that the person is a middle aged woman. But what Lee saw was a beautiful woman with a seductive stature. She was standing near the window and scanning the recruits training and practicing at the ground. Upon seeing them, she walked towards her chair and spoke-

    "Good evening, Major Ian. Have a seat."

    The trio promptly took a seat and the woman leaned on the table on her elbows.

    "What made you rush over here with the Guild-leader and an adventurer?!"

    "Illians!"

    The atmosphere became serious by the answer. Ian nced at Lee to narrate the incident. Lee nodded and began the storytelling.

    -----------------------------

    11 minutester.

    Brigadier Zhang Suyin was in deep thought. The trio thought that she''s deeply pondering on the Illian n. But in actuality, she was wondering how this guy took down 196 bandits all alone. She was bbergasted to hear about his shooting proficiency.

    "So....you took down all of them with arrows?!"

    "Yes."

    Lee was expressionless. His answer was in and simple. Zhang Suyin stood up from her chair and muttered-

    "Three of you, follow me."

    Brigadier stood up and guided them to the training grounds. She was partially doubtful on Lee''s skill, so she decided to test it. Ian saw where they were heading. He could only sigh with sympathy. Brigadier might look good and beautiful at the outside, but she''s ruthless when ites to sparring.

    They entered the ground and the recruits and soldiers lined up at the side. Suyin walked to where the weapons were kept and took a bow and a quiver of arrows. She came back to Lee and stated-

    "Your shooting skills are too great to believe. So I''m going to give you a test. I will fire an arrow in any direction. What you have to do is to hit that arrow before it touches the ground, with yours. If you can hit half of the arrows, I''ll believe it."

    Suyin wasn''t an expert in archery, but she was confident in her ability to shoot arrows. Lee nodded and took out his bow from his Spatial ring. Suyin raised her brow at the first nce of the ring.

    "You may proceed."

    Suyin was visibly confused at Lee''s reply. She didn''t see any quiver of arrows in his hand.

    "Where are your arrows?!"

    "Ah.don''t mind me. You can fire."

    Suyin turned to the ground with a frown. She didn''t get his intention. Holding the bow vertically in front of her, she nced at Lee over her shoulder as she took an arrow from the quiver. He was standing like her, but with no arrow in the bow.

    *sigh*

    Since Suyin couldn''t figure out his trick, she could only see how he hits her arrow. She pulled the arrow back and swoosh...the arrow flew straight up into the sky with excellent speed. Lee saw her releasing the arrow and he pulled his bow. The arrow materialised from thin air, which terrified everyone around him, including Ian, Sera and Suyin. The arrow shot into the sky and Suyin''s arrow was struck half.

    *gasp*

    It was total silence. It was the first time they seeing an arrow materialising from thin air, and what''s more is, it went homing onto the first arrow with urate precision.

    Suyin''s arrow fell into two pieces. The arrow Lee shot went further upward and came back to thrust the ground. Suyin can see his talent, but she wasn''t ready to believe it. She looked at the recruits standing in line and nodded. Many of them went and took a bow and a bunch of arrows. Upon Suyin''s signal, they fired arrows at one at a second pace. They flew in multiple directions.

    Lee saw her intention to test his limit. Sadly, he had the homing arrows. He shot the arrows one after the other and the broken arrows fell around them. Ian and Sera had their jaws fallen to the ground.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The day light was almost gone and Suyin still didn''t signal to stop.

    The notification disrupted Lee''s shooting parade. D sounded to act like you''re tired from the test. Lee quickly faked an intense enervation and heaviness as he quickly squatted on a knee. His action caught their attention. The archers stopped and looked at him. His action hit the spot. Many including Ian, Sera and Suyin thought that it was due to some sort of backsh.

    Ian knelt and supported him to stand up. D manipted his blood vessels in the mouth to bring out some blood to boost the act!

    "Going 100 in a single go is too much to bear."

    Lee''s words made the scene clear. This was a backsh from the bow usage.

    "Then you should have told us before. And by the way, what is this bow?! It can produce arrows!"

    Lee looked at her. D gave him a prompt and he repeated-

    "This is no ordinary bow. It only works with the person it has contracted. Apart from me, no one else can fire an arrow."

    His words intrigued Suyin. She took the bow and tried to pull. The bowstring came backward, but no arrow formed.

    "What''s a contract?! The arrow, how do you produce it?!"

    D gave him help to respond.

    "I found this bow stuck in a big ice The arrowes at the cost of my own energy. Everytime an arrow is pulled, a small amount of energy is drained from me. If I fire over an amount, it could bring pain and torture."

    Apuse. Lee had to apud to D''s creative imagination. Never in his dreams have he thought of such a reply! It spoke three things. One, I own it bitch! Two, feed me well, or no arrows. Three, don''t try to misuse me!

    ..........

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1815

    Essence: 29072 (6 PM)

    Money: 989 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Medium Poison Affinity (289/10000)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (821/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (399/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (399/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (399/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (399/10000)

    Medium Dark Affinity (236/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 45: Mo family (1)

    Chapter 45: Mo family (1)

    The recruits lined up and saluted before dispersing. The descending darkness made torches to open their eyes.

    Suyin advised Ian to take Lee to an inn to rest. She rmended to select the nearest. Without sparing a nce, she left the ground. After making sure that the brigadier had left, through the Map, Lee stood up on his feet.

    "Let''s get some rest."

    Lee took initiative to head out. Outside, their horses were obediently waiting for them right where they left them.

    The streets had gone dark and thenterns smiled at the passersby. The artificial light gave an entirely new view to the streets. An unexpected interruption arose.

    [Lee, I see a familiar name called ''Mo family'' on an inn''s name in the Map. It''s about 130 meters right and 40 meters left. I''ve marked the building in the Map. Take a look!]

    D was Lee''s silent partner in crime. He looks out for hostile and friendly beings as well as scan the surroundings thoroughly. He had an additional necessity - to find anyone who he can remember. He needed to know what''s the situation in Intellus'' after his disappearance.

    Lee found the building marked with a blinking beacon in the Map. Lee quietly notified Sera and Ian.

    "My partner An Fenfang has an enemy in this city. They are heard to own an inn here. Let''s stay there. I need to know well about those that hurt my love!"

    The words of Lee made him look like he''s familiar with this city. But Ian''s heart told otherwise. If he was familiar with the city, he wouldn''t have gawked at the notion at the entrance. Ian nced at Shi Sera and agreed with Lee. Lee took initiative to guide them to the inn. Seeing that the destination is Mo family''s inn, Ian reminded.

    "This inn belongs to the Mo family. They have many establishments in any cities. The exact enemies might not be residing in this city."

    "But I can get a piece of info as to where they might be!"

    Lee said in a suggestive tone. His words reflected a stubbornness to find the culprits. The horses came to a halt at the doors of the ''Mo family Inn''.

    Giving the reins to the stableman, the trio headed inside. The luxurious room gave off afort feeling. The incense scent smelled harmless, but D instantly recognised it''s underlying dirty trick to attract customers. A seductively gorgeous young woman withrge assets wearing a tight red dress was standing at the desk. Shi Sera exhibited her feminine jealousy upon her appearance while Ian felt his heart beating faster. Lee was calm andposed, because he knew that this was enemy waters.

    "Good evening sir. How may I help you??"

    Her sugar coated words were enough to woo any ordinary male customers, but Lee was ready for it. His steel hard Intelligence and Resolve saw through her act. His voice was strong and serious, with not even a tinge of smile.

    "Best three rooms for one night, with meals."

    The receptionist confirmed that Lee is not her average customer. She immediately took out three keys and answered Lee.

    "Three V.I.P rooms for one night, with meals is 36 gold coins, sir."

    The woman was expecting him to back down with this ridiculously high price. But Lee simply ced 36 gold coins with a slight thud. She was stunned by his action, and could only put up a fake smile. She believed that Lee is some sort of big-shot from his strange attire and show-off.

    Lee picked the keys and asked-

    "The meals?!"

    "They will be delivered to your rooms, sir."

    She replied like a pre-recorded tape. Her reply was fast, and Lee guessed that this might be the treatment rich usually gets. Lee nodded gently and turned around and gave the keys to Ian and Shi Sera. The keys had a pendant on which the room location is imprinted.

    ''3rd floor, 3rd to the right. D, keep an eye on the surroundings.''

    [Already.]

    The receptionist guided them to the stairs to go up. Her professional smile felt irritating to Lee, but he didn''t express it. They silently climbed and Lee silently nced at the receptionist. She was running to a door at the opposite side of the wall. The door was concealed well.

    ----------------

    3rd floor.

    Ian, Shi Sera and Lee had entered their respective rooms. The rooms had arge and luxurious bed with superfortness. The lighting was beautifully crafted. The bath and toilet settings were the best he ever saw. After taking his time to inspect the room''s every nook and corner, Lee discovered 3 runes drawn in papers hidden at different parts of the room, one beneath the bed, one in the bath and the other inside the rug at the middle of the room. D analysed the structure of runes and notified Lee that these are sound-transmission runes. He also added that these things are usually present in upper-ss rooms as many confidential matters are discussed by the wealthy and they don''t rent normal rooms.

    =====

    8 P.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was standing in his denim jeans as his jacket and tee was lying on the bed. His perfectly toned body was a feast for any woman. When the reminder came up, a knock was heard on the door along with a sweet voice-

    "Sir, the meal has arrived."

    Lee walked towards the door and opened it. A young girl with mature assets in a navy blue chinese dress stood before him. Hervish body and seductive smile was enough for anymoner to pounce on her. She held a te on her hands. There was a bowl of soup and a delicious-looking meat dish.

    [Lee, the perfume applied on her is a strong male aphrodisiac. She''s not here with a good intention.]

    Lee extended his arms and took the te from her hands. She was confused by his action as the door was immediately closed. She stood there like a statue.

    ''My make-up was perfect. The perfume was the strongest I had. Still, I failed?! Unforgivable!!''

    The girl was a bitch at heart. She intentionally hooks on the wealthy people''s interest with her seductiveness, and this was the first time she has failed. It gave a big blow to her confidence.

    She immediately strodded to the stairs. The receptionist was waiting for her. Upon seeing her, young girl spoke-

    "He''s not an average customer. He didn''t fall for me. From his physique he''s like a god. I think we can notify the family elder."

    The receptionist nodded and descended the stairs with the girl behind her. Lee was watching these through his Map. D gave a summary that they''re n to woo him has failed and they''lle up with something else. He also added to be vignt.

    ''D, scan the food.''

    [Scanplete. Nothing suspicious. It''s clear.]

    Sitting on the chair, Lee slowly chewed on the meat dish and slowly drank the soup. The taste was heavenly, but the experience and exnation he can derive from the incidents till now, tells him that the whole inn is a test.

    He didn''t dwell on their ulterior intentions, so he went to sleep early. By 8.40, he had already fallen asleep. At the same time, a message was ryed to the Mo family in the city of Festa.

    ......................

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1906

    Essence: 30692 (8 PM)

    Money: 989 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Medium Poison Affinity (289/10000)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (821/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (399/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (399/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (399/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (399/10000)

    Medium Dark Affinity (236/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 46: Mo Family (2)

    Chapter 46: Mo Family (2)

    3 A.M.

    [Lee..I just want to notify that some Mo family elders have arrived at the inn. Nothing serious, just letting you know.]

    ''How many?!''

    [2.]

    ''Keep me posted.''

    Lee spoke half-slept and then went back to slumber. He added to wake him up at 5 A.M.

    -------------------

    =====

    5 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    *ding ding ding*

    [Lee, it''s 5. Wake up]

    ''Already?''

    [Just wake up. Lay down more and you''ll be azy ass.]

    ''Uhhh..ok.''

    Lee got up from the bed reluctantly. After turning thentern on, D exined the atmosphere downstairs. D assumed that the two elders from Mo family were here as a result of his ''rude'' behaviour. Afterall, they were very prideful beings.

    He wore his tee and opened the window to the horizon. The darkness wasn''t going anywhere, but Lee could see things clearly.

    As he sat on the chair beside the table, Lee queried-

    ''D, the condition for progressing the affinities, what were they again?!''

    [There are no conditions. As long as you use the affinities during attack, each hit will increase the progress by one.]

    ''So I need a target to practice, eh?!''

    [Were you expecting to practice without a target?! You are smarter than your brain!]

    ''Essence I have?''

    [45272.]

    ''Any suggestions?!''

    [Enough to buy the Light element beast pearl. Other than that, we still have 7 bandit extermination requests left, 2 in the south and 5 in the eastern side of Lorin.]

    ''Do you think we can depart from here today itself?!''

    [Unless any external factors involve, we can.]

    ''But the pearl and absorb it.''

    [Pearl brought.]

    =====

    Obtained ''Light element beast pearl''. Absorb?

    =====

    ''Absorb.''

    The pearl disappeared from the Inventory and Lee summoned the Status.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1913

    Essence: 11212 (5 AM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Medium Poison Affinity (289/10000)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (821/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (399/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (399/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (399/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (399/10000)

    Medium Dark Affinity (236/10000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

    ''I have a certain doubt I must try out.''

    Lee took out his nunchuck and activated Poison, Lightning, Rock, Metal, Nature, Sound and Dark affinities. He effortlessly moved the table and chairs from the center of the room. After making enough space, he took his stance and swung his nunchuck.

    *wush*

    A single swing and he froze. He took a second to make sure that his swing was perfect. Then, he immediately opened the affinity panel.

    =====

    Affinity:-

    Medium Poison Affinity (290/10000)

    Medium Lightning Affinity (822/10000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Rock Affinity (400/10000)

    Medium Metal Affinity (400/10000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Nature Affinity (400/10000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Sound Affinity (400/10000)

    Medium Dark Affinity (237/10000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    =====

    *INTENSE INWARD SCREAMING*

    D literally jumped out of Lee''s body when his soul was screaming jubntly. D took a moment toprehend what the hell was happening, and when he saw, his jaw hit the floor.

    ''Dee....I never thought it was possible!!!''

    [How did you do it?! Even I couldn''t see what happened!!]

    ''I just imagined that an enemy is standing before me. With this in thought, I swung the nunchuck and tadaaa....the affinities increased.''

    [Then don''t just stand there. Keep practicing. We need to reach the Absolute grade at each affinities before stepping into the Elemental Binding realm.]

    Lee nodded and began to swing his nunchuck with regr intervals. As soon as he realised that an interval between swings are not needed, his pace went super-high.

    ''D, go mute until 7. Only notify me if any emergencies arose.''

    With thismand, he began his session. Time became lost in vigorous actions.

    ----------------------------

    =====

    7 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    A one and half hour practice made Lee drenched in sweat and stink. His tee was all soaked in and stuck to his skin. The wet tee exposed his physical uniqueness and figure.

    The notification threw Lee off his track. He stored his nunchuck in the Inventory and walked towards the bathroom. He nced at the affinity panel before entering.

    =====

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11739/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12271/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11849/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11849/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11849/1000000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11849/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11686/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    =====

    A long and luxurious bath. Perhaps this is the first bath he had aftering to this dimension.

    He stepped out of the bath and dried himself. After checking that Ian and Shi Sera are almost awake, he quickly dressed and sat on the chair with the panel before him.

    ''D, active production of affinities, exin them!''

    [It''s quite simple. Till now, you have imagined how attributes cover up your tools. Now you have to imagine those affinities being created from your within. Don''t ask me to teach you. It''s something you have to find out yourself. I advise you to find another secluded spot to practice, because misfire is expected.]

    D made Lee aware of the potential dangers. Wearing the jacket on, Lee made sure to that all his belongings are either on the Inventory or in the Spatial ring. He also didn''t forget to take those 3 sound-transmission runes.

    Switching off the lights and locking the door, Lee went to the room of Ian. His was right adjacent to Lee''s. Ian opened the door and saw Lee in full attire. Ian was confused to see Lee At such early morning. He had only started to do some stretches.

    "I came to ask about leaving the city. I''m not in a rush, but if it is long, will I have the time to take a stroll through the streets?!"

    "It will take about an hour or two for food toe to our doorsteps. You have plenty of time."

    Lee smiled, nodded and backed off as Ian closed the door. Lee walked to the stairs and descended to the ground floor.

    At the reception, a newdy was standing. She was no less alluring that the previous. When he slowly climbed down, she caught sight of him. Her cautiousness under the fake smile was visible to Lee, but he didn''t mind it. When he reached the floor, she greeted him and asked as to what the customer needed.

    "Nothing, I am simply going out for an hour. Won''t be too long."

    Lee spat these words as he passed by her. It was a simple response, but felt like a p at her face. This woman and her plumpy front had never failed to attract a man''s stare. Seeing Lee walking out of the door, she went back to the desk and pressed a button beneath the counter. Her soft voice apanied her action.

    "The man has gone out. Notify the elders. He seems eligible!"

    -------------------------

    The daylight was slowly flowing into the streets. The roads sparsely had any carriages. The pedestrians were countable on the fingers.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee slowly strolled through the sidewalk with his hands in his jean''s pocket. He had a calm mind and a beautiful smile. His long ck jacket revealed his white tee. Many found him strangely attractive. His out-of-the-world attire pique interest of many!

    He enquired in the nearby stores about the city and its influential families. As he expected, the Mo family name came up as the second most influential in the city. He went around walking for nearly an hour. It was then D uttered-

    [Looks like the elders from early morning have assembled in front of the inn. They have arrived with some people with swords and spears. Probably cultivatorckeys. They are cautious.]

    ''Their cultivations?''

    [The elders are in the Soul Condensation realm. The others range from Foundation Building to Elemental Binding. Nothing worthy of being an opponent.]

    ''Then let''s head back.''

    Lee directed his legs towards the inn. Soon, he saw a bunch of cultivators in front of the inn. As soon as they saw him approaching, they reached to touch their weapons. The elders sensed his presence, but didn''t sense his cultivation. D has increased the cultivation masking to a whole new level, fixing the previous fault.

    Lee walked past the cultivators, to the door. They stared at him, but Lee didn''t feel any hostility. As he neared the door, an elder stopped him.

    "Young man, what is your name?!"

    The elder had white beard and a traditional arrogant look on his face. He tried to keep a smile, but his arrogance overcame it.

    "No one."

    Lee coldly nced with a repelling stare. The elder instantly sensed that he is not an ordinary youngster. The tall and ck bearded elder stepped forward and spoke-

    "We have piqued interest in you. Thus, we would like to test your strength. Fight these cultivators."

    Before Lee could frown and raise his confusion, a spear came from his back. He evaded it with incredible agility. The elders were impressed by his nimbleness. Lee shed and appeared at the center of the road. He looked dead at the 9 men standing in front of the door.

    "Move, or you will die!"

    Lee raised his left hand about his stomach height. His palm was upward and a ball of lightning began to materialise in his palm. The elders were shocked to see intense lightning from the youngman''s palm. They were ecstatic to see a young man with such urate control over his element.

    The cultivators looked at the elders. The elders nodded and they gave way to Lee. Lee walked forward to the door and nced at the two elders. The lightning in his hand was starting to condense into a lightning ball! Elders saw this and noticed his re-

    "Whoever you are, wherever you are from, I don''t care. Do not expect me to be reserved next time."

    The tall elder felt him. The white bearded elder felt him. All the cultivators felt him. They could only hope that he is not some big-shot.

    The tall elder sighed and replied-

    "We are sorry. Let me introduce ourself. I am Mo Chao, an elder in the Mo family. This is my brother and Mo family elder Mo Liwei."

    The name Mo family made Lee wanting to clench his fist, but he resisted. He frowned as he replied-

    "I have no enmity with your Mo family. I have not even heard of your family. Care to exin what these are for?!"

    Mo Liwei took liking of Lee''s straightforward manner. He took a step forward and replied-

    "Our young mistress ising to the age. We are in search for a suitable man for her."

    "That does not exin the intention of attack."

    Lee instantly replied as he looked over his shoulder, at the spearman. He immediately lowered his head, so as to avert Lee''s gaze.

    "It is not good to talk like strangers. Please follow us."

    The elders opened the door and weed Lee. He followed them to a spacious courtyard. There was a small pond at the center and koi fishes swam in it. Near the pond was an average round table with three chairs around it. Mo Chao invited Lee to drink tea with them.

    "Mo family is the most powerful and influential family in the city of Yeuvis. We are also one of the most respected families. Our family had given birth to prodigies at every generation. Our Mo family is very strict when ites to selecting someone."

    Lee was staring with a faint frown of confusion. He was thinking so hard, yet he couldn''t just find a reason for their invite. Mo Chao paused and nced at Mo Liwei. He took the cue and resumed-

    "Our young prodigies are nurtured from the very beginning. We only give them the best.

    Two months ago, our family''s youngest and most beautiful nprodigy Mo Jun turned 18. She is very talented among the generation. The family head conducted a test for finding a suitable and talented bridegroom for the young miss. Sadly, not even the sons of nobles failed to win. But you, youngman, seem to have what it takes to win the test!"

    Now, it''s all clear. These guys are no different than marriage brokers - Leeughed inside. As a result, a smile came up on his face.

    "What was the test?! How do you know that I can win it?! You don''t even know me!"

    Three young women came and served tea. Mo Chao took a cup and answered-

    "You will not know the answer until you give it a try!"

    The smile on Lee''s face disappeared. He lowered his head in deep thought. D was the only one he could lean on.

    ''Should I try or should I not?!''

    [Try it. It''s good to increase your fame and try out what you have obtained recently!]

    Lee raised his head and looked at the elders with a smile. The elders thought that he was happy to hear such an offer. But in reality, he just wanted to see the extent of his new firepower.

    "I agree. I am eager to try out this test."

    Lee replied and the elders became excited. They stood up and spoke to Lee-

    "If you don''t have anything else, shall we right now?!"

    Lee remembered about Ian and Shi Sera and asked permission to talk to them.

    Lee went to the lobby where Ian and Sera were standing. Upon seeing him, they raised their brows in confusion. Lee saw their expressions and spoke-

    "I''ll be going with these Mo family elders to discuss something. Shi Sera, please don''t tell An that I''m going with them. Instead, tell her that I''m on the bandit extermination requests, and that I''ll not take more than a day to return. Ian, please don''t disclose this matter."

    The duo can guess that situation. After making sure that he''ll be alright, they left and big goodbye to Lee. Lee watched them disappearing in the distance and walked to the elders. They had already mounted on their horses. Lee mounted up and they together left for the Mo family''s mansion.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ...................

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1924

    Essence: 22552 (12 Mid-day)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11809/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12309/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11919/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11919/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11919/1000000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11919/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11726/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 47: Conspiracy

    Chapter 47: Conspiracy

    =====

    10 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ---------------------------------

    Apparently, Lee and the two elders have been traveling for almost an hour after exiting the northern city gate. The elders led the way and Lee were following them. The brownish path was through a beautiful grassy in. Lee checked the Map and found that the path is not hostile. D was working behind the curtains to detect anything hostile.

    "How far to the Mo family mansion?!"

    Lee sounded his doubt. Elder Mo Chao came near Lee and replied him-

    "The Mo family lies east to the city. We are currently going to the test your strength and that ce is inside the jungle straight ahead. Our family head will be present there."

    Lee nodded at this answer and looked forward. The forest up ahead gave an eerie feeling. He wasn''t surprised, but initiated a conversation with D.

    ''D, anything?!''

    [The forest is vast. We''ll have to get close enough.]

    Lee calmly waited to reach closer. 5 minutester, D came up with notifications.

    =====

    11 A.M.

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Arge artificially created arena is detected inside the jungle. There is a ss Scorpion, a Rage Bear and a Swamp Serpent in it. Looks like you''ll have to fight them.]

    Lee didn''t reply as he was very surprised to hear the name of Swamp Serpent. He had fought it before and can tell the difficulty of capturing it. This was a creature Lee wanted to fight once again.

    The neared the arena and the elders saw no change of expression on Lee''s face. They smiled inwardly as no one had came out alive of this arena.

    Mo Liwei exined the arena. As he expected, he had to fight with these beasts. But D bought up an information that they deliberately hid.

    [Lee, upon close scanning, these beasts have been in an agitated state for some time. So their strength will be greater than what they naturally had. These guys are intentionally keeping them at such aggressive manner to ruthlessly rip the challenger apart!]

    Lee thanked D inwardly as he stepped into the arena. Therge door was closed immediately. The family head, the two elders and a few youngsters were present as the audience. The family head looked like a man in his 30''s, but his dark circles were much attracting than his age. The youngsters all wore a sleeveless deep green uniform.

    "Is he worth the show?!" (Head)

    "He has lightning affinity. I didn''t sense any cultivation from him." (Mo Chao)

    "*sigh* Let''s see how this one dies. Also, continue cleaning the city." (Head)

    Lee saw their lips moving and he focused his auditory senses to the maximum. What he picked up shed light on the truth. The Mo family was clearing talented people from the city for some reason. He didn''t probe the reason as he had a more pressing issue at hand. He didn''t take out his de, but cautiously took a stance. His eyes scanned through the three beasts.

    The huge ss Scorpion was as if it''s exterior was made of ss. It reflected the starlights and made it look like a big blob of shining light. The Rage Bear was filled with brown fur and it''s ws stood out maliciously. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it angrily roared at Lee. The Swamp Serpent was familiar to Lee, but it''s eyes were absolutely red without a pupil.

    The bear charged at Lee and the ground shook. Lee evaded the oing and began to run around the arena. The scorpion was abnormally agile for its big size. It''s tail was stic in nature, because it stretched beyond its normal length. The sting was deadliest and it tailed Lee for a longtime. The serpent was naturally a nuisance. It''s unique scale made its outline difficult to read. Out of options, Lee jumped up onto the bear''s back and channeled lightning into its body.

    The lightning made the bear immobile for a few seconds before it''s anger kicked in with double effect.

    ''Activate Poison, Lightning, Water, Ice, Rock, Metal, Nature, Sound and Dark affinities!''

    Saying this, Lee took out the de and began to cut the bear''s back. It writhed in pain and roared. The scorpion and serpent came in for bear''s assistance.

    The appearance of the de out of thin air attracted their attention to his left hand. Their eyes showed surprise and excitement as they saw this dying man had a treasure with him.

    Lee''s progress went up by each second. He was intentionally injuring the beasts left and right to drive it to the peak of craziness. D advised to do so. If he could drive them into blind and blood-burning rage, there is a chance he can escape this death trap without any scratches. But he didn''t want to escape. These creatures are his progress points.

    --------------------

    =====

    12 Mid-day

    1620 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The beasts had worn out to their 30%. The innumerous sh marks on their massive figures were dripping blood. The lost blood was proportional to their lost ferocity. Even though he was battling these beasts, he was cautious of the treacherous Mo family people. D was ready to activate Foresight at any given moment.

    The happy and smiling faces of Mo family began to fade as they saw Lee hurting and toying with these beasts. To not mess up his n, Lee also acted weariness. The lost luster came back on those vermin''s faces. This was Lee''s main advantage. Whenever he put on a show, those around him believed it without raising doubts!

    The enhanced auditory senses of Lee picked up the family head ordering the uniformed men to be ready to strike Lee down as soon he finishes the fight. Upon D''s advice, he slowed his speed down drastically and began to pant. Through the Map, Lee can see the smile on the family head''s face. The burning stars above the head affected the beasts adversely. Their blood-loss and intense heat on the wounds made the atmosphere around them heavy. Within a short while, their motionless bodies copsed on the ground. Lee immediately took a knee, panting heavily. Family head stood up from his seat and walked three steps forward. He spoke loudly, to make sure that Lee could hear him.

    "You are truly a genius. More than five hundred fierce men fell in front of these beasts. But you alone took them down. Since you have achieved such a feat, I shall reward you with the correct information. There are no bridegroom tests. All of these were part of eliminating the talented people from the city of Yeuvis."

    Lee immediately faked surprise. The family head was amused to see his expression. He added-

    "Do not be angry. We''ll make sure to kill you without any pain and suffering. After all, it is a rtively good death than in the hands of Illians!"

    Lee unconsciously frowned as he heard this term. His panting slowly faded away as he stood up on his feet. He raised his de in caution to guard any attacks. Family head ordered the men to give him a painless death. They jumped into the arena and charged at Lee.

    A faint smile. A faint smile was visible on Lee''s face, one that even the Mo family head didn''t notice. Lee faked fatigue and the charging fools became much happier. As soon as they came 10 meters near him, Lee shed from where he stood and an afterimage went through theckeys. A secondter, Lee appeared behind thest one in the team charging forward.

    *swish*

    *ARGHHH*

    The cries of nine men filled the arena. The paled faces of Mo family elders exhibited surprise and fear. Lee looked over his shoulder and saw nine men kneeling on the ground without palms. Yes, ms. Lee chopped off their palms as they can provide him Essence for a short while. Killing them would be a waste.

    Lee took out his bow. The very sight of the bow created a ripple of unknown fear inside the family head. He red at the elders as he said-

    "Attack that bastard. Your punishment will be lifted if he is dead!"

    The elders mustered strength and jumped down to the arena. But before they couldnd on the ground, two lightning arrows pierced their legs. They fell on their face with uncontrolled spasming. Lee looked at the family head.

    "I do not know why the Mo family is doing this truly unforgivable act. So I expect an exnation!"

    "HAHAHAHAHAAA.."

    A loudughter was the response. Lee stared at the family leader with an intense killing intent. The family leader saw his intent and was amused as he further spoke-

    "We are cultivators. We have power. We can touch the pinnacle. Then why should we be equal with peasants?!"

    Lee can faintly guess where this is going. What he guessed and what the family leader spoke were one.

    "Illians. They are ready to help us. They will make this wrong world right. For our wellness, some sacrifices are necessary. Now, you too can die. Pity that your talent ends here!"

    The family head released his Immortal Master realm aura. Lee was a little surprised, but nothing swayed his adamant heart.

    "Then you shall die. Here and now!"

    Lee raised his bow and shot a homing lightning arrow. It raced at the family head but he evaded it. The homing was beyond his expectations, so the arrow came around. He sensed danger and evaded again, but the arrow tailed him. Thinking that killing Lee will deactivate the ability, the family head shed towards Lee.

    Lee was grinning wide. He had been searching for a worthy opponent to test his extent of attributes. Now that he saw the family head shing with supreme agility, he couldn''t help but grin.

    Lee stored his bow and pulled out his de. The unique design on the de caught the family head''s attention. Greed grew in his heart. I want that de - his heart chanted repeatedly.

    *ng*

    Lee and the family head collided. Their strength was equal at a first nce, but a detailed look at their attributes showed the superiority of Lee over the air-head.

    [Lee, this man has an earth element affinity. It will be a bad matchup for your lightning. Try others. Also this man''s sword is made from a Drake''s spine. It''s hardness far surpasses your de. So I suggest you switch to nunchuck or bow.]

    Family head''sck in stats waspensated by his countless battle experiences. His ferocity was pushing Lee to go defensive. Everytime Lee strikes, the man blocks it easily. Lee can only use his brute force and agility against this man''s sword.

    Lee considered D''s suggestion and took out his bow as he jumped high into the air. He pulled the bowstring and an exploding homing arrow materialised. Like any other arrow, the family head stopped it with his sword. But the unexpected explosion worked like a miracle.

    The family head flew back with force and collided with the arena wall. Blood dripped from his mouth as he tried to stand up. A devilish smile came up on his face as he cried-

    "Survival of the strongest!!"

    22 men jumped into the arena as he shouted. They were all cultivators. Their outfits and weapons were strange from one another. Some looked like variations of Samurai while some looked like Sohei. Even colorful adaptations of ninjas were among the group. Lee even saw a man in a medieval french outfit with a conical hat and katana. D was bbergasted as the Map did not show any other signs of life other than elders andckeys. D softly advised to inspect their bodies after he defeats them.

    ''23 vs 1. What are the odds?!''

    [Their cultivations are masked. But from bits and pieces of analysis, they are well-seasoned masters.]

    ''Lets test.''

    Lee smirked at these men and asked-

    "Are you the servants of this old man?! You lot are very obedient."

    Lee''s remark made them unsheathe their weapons. An aura of oppression can be felt by him.

    *zing*

    A dart came at Lee''s right eye and he dodged it by a hair''s width. His surprise was satisfied as he saw shurikens and kunais in the hands of rainbow ninjas.

    With no want to confront head-on, Lee turned around and jumped onto the wall while he twisted his torso to shoot arrows at these intruders. The exploding homing arrows with poison coating spread poison to the surroundings as they burst to pieces. Lee was cornered by numbers, but he had tricks up his sleeve to hinder them.

    With Lee unleashing arrows, the cultivators also released their ranged weapons. Arrows, darts and kunais stormed at Lee as he jumped all around the arena. While Lee was clearly on the run, his skin had very few wounds whenpared to the weapons showered on him.

    The family head was watching this battle and he decided to attack Lee using any underhand methods possible. The activated Foresight warned Lee of this old man. Lee nimbly approached the old man and absorbed him into his EsGen storage. The warriors who witnessed this thought that he had some kind of teleportation talisman and that he teleported the old man to the city to prove the connection between Illians and Mo family head. Their desire to kill Lee went over the roof.

    Lee can feel the hair behind his back standing up with ominous intent.

    =====

    1 P.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The volley of arrows stopped as D warned him of his Essence expenditure. He stored the bow and decided to do something that D suggested. From above the wall, he jumped down to the ground with his palm striking the ground.

    *BANG*

    The earth affinity stacked on his enormous strength created a series of cracks on the shaking ground. The cultivators stopped in their tracks and smiled as the quake faded away. The cracks were not too wide. They scoffed on Lee''s failed final attempt to save his life. As their anger and pride blinded them, they failed to see a faint smile on Lee''s face as his palm was 1 inch deep in the soil.

    *pzzt pzzt pzzt pzzzzzttt....*

    The lightning jumped on these cultivators from the crack beneath. This was an attack that never anticipated. 9 cultivators got caught in the columns of lightning and they dropped dead. 4 others were partially numb or unconscious from this attack. The left 9 cultivators went pale as they saw the intensity of the attack.

    Lee stood up as he extended his arm sideways. He looked like a crucified jesus, except there was no cross. A sinister grin appeared on Lee''s face as his hands mmed together in front of him, creating a big boom!

    *BOOM*

    A deafening sound was produced as his hands collided. The shockwave made the cultivators'' eardrum to either burst or break so as to lose bnce of their body. The already numb ones were foaming from their mouth. Those who escaped the first attack couldn''t escape the second!

    Lee was no different from them. He suffered the most, but D had cut off all his senses at the very instant his hands created the thunder. The damage was greatly reduced, but he still felt loss of bnce. D assisted to properly channel the jumbled array of memory and sensory processing in Lee''s brain.

    With a slight sting and tingling sensation in his brain, he stood up and walked towards the cultivators. He stored the dead. For the ones alive and unconscious, he stored them in his EsGen storage after asking a few questions. The three beasts had long breathed theirst breath. Due to this, he could only sell their lifeless shells. Those beasts gave an altogether of 1209 Essence.

    D rmed that some beings are en route to the arena. Lee slowly jogged away from the spot. After he went away, two women in navy blue garments arrived at the arena. They were horrified to see blood spilled all over the wall with pieces of flesh scattered here and there.

    ..........

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1930

    Essence: 21461 (1 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (813/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 48: Problems Beyond The Scope

    Chapter 48: Problems Beyond The Scope

    ''Did they leave?!''

    [Yes, they have. Looks like they were some reinforcements. Their cultivations were a step into the Soul Manifestation realm.]

    Lee watched those two women hurriedly fleeing, through the Map. He could only sigh as his heart drummed inside.

    ''I don''t think it''s safe to stay here long. Others maye pouring in. D, suggest a safe route.''

    [We are about 40 kilometres north to the capital city. The city of Lorin is situated 16 kilometres south to the city of Yeuvis. At the east, Mo family is situated. Our only hope is to go around the city and directly enter Lorin.]

    ''What do you suggest?!''

    [I have marked a route in the Map. It will help you reach the city safely.]

    A blue line appeared in the Map. Lee pondered on the Map for a while and began walking. The proposed way was through a hilly area. Lee had no other way than the route.

    [Let''s keep moving. The journey will take a day toplete. If you''re fast enough, it''ll only take half a day.]

    ''D, how many Essence points are left?''

    [21461.]

    ''Search for the skill ''Flight''.

    [Search found.]

    =====

    Skill: Flight

    Description: A skill that allows the user to fly and hover in the air. Mental strength is the key to skill proficiency. No wings needed. 10% increase in Agility.

    Cost: 21000 Essence.

    =====

    ''How conveniently coincidental! Buy it.''

    The Essence points were reduced to 461. Instead, a new skill was added to the ''Innate Skills'' bar.

    ''Activate Flight.''

    [Simply activating the skill won''t make you fly. You need to control the skill with your mind.]

    ''So I need to imagine myself flying to fly?!''

    [Harder than said. Your Resolve is a crucial element. Stack it with Intelligence to see results quicker and better.]

    Lee halted his pace and crouched on one knee as his head lowered and eyes closed. The shadows of trees gave him abundant space to hide. D anxiously sat tight as he observed Lee''s mindputing and calcting. Within seconds, the process vanished and he opened his eyes. With an esprit mind and smile, Lee sprang up on his legs. Momentster, his body began to float. D was in awe as the grass began to wobble..

    [Did you just figure it out now?! How?]

    ''Yes, but it was not easy. To fly, you need to float. To levitate, you need something to counter gravity. Right now, I do not have anything of such ability. As a result, I had to consider my own body as a weapon in order to channel the Air element affinity. As soon as wind was released through my foot, Flight reted its ability by itself!''

    [.....so, it was a lucky shot.]

    ''Yup.''

    [Then let''s see how sessful your method is.]

    Lee leaned forward and his vertically levitating body moved along. It wasparatively slow, but was steady. D was slightly disappointed.

    [So, you are moving with this speed?! Is that all your n?!]

    Lee smirked as his whole being instantly elerated. The sloth pace became swiftness. Through the shadows of the trees, Lee shed like a flickering me.

    [Were you waiting for me to question you, in order to elerate?! Grow up, boy!]

    ''Yes and no. The concept of ''Air Swimming'' was something that I came up with moments ago. I was familiarizing with floating up when I finally decided to couple it with the psychic remote control.''

    D didn''t enquire further as he can say that Lee''s thoughts are weirder for him to understand. He beheld Lee flying like a falcon through the air, though only meters high from the ground. Lee picked up velocity as his body became almost horizontal.

    The aforementioned blue path in the Map disappeared and was reced with a straight blue line connecting his position to the city of Lorin in a straight line. An attempt to raise his altitude was fruitful, as D noticed the ground moving away from them. There was a grin on Lee''s face that D simply could notprehend.

    [Why are you smiling?! Have you gone crazy from such a simple feat?! Your skill mastery is still in a newbie range.]

    ''Hey, want to get surprised?! Check the affinity and immunity tab.''

    D didn''t voice his doubts further as he checked the tabs promptly. As he expected, the Air element affinity was increasing steadily. But what he did not anticipate was an immunity tab for the Air element. It too was progressing.

    ''Let me exin. You told me that I cannot use my affinity to create it''s immunity. So I gave additional eleration to Flight by releasing the Air element from my sole, before Ipletely mastered the skill. Due to this, I am experiencing air resistance which simply builds up my Air element immunity. Also, the nimbleness increases.''

    [I apud your smartness. Keep it up, we''ll need it to fight some amortals.]

    Lee didn''t speak up anything in response. His attention waspletely on the flight. There were some moments where he lost his controls as he went distracted by thoughts. Luckily, D would smack his head from the inside.

    ---------------------------

    =====

    3 P.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Anyone can see Lee flying wobbly from a distance. His umted fatigue has taken its toll on him. As soon as the city of Lorin was in the sight, Lee was dropped to the ground with a thud and dust dispersing. The in grassynd that extended about a mile in front of him was a refreshing sight to behold. Without wasting a moment, Lee slowly walked towards the city. His face was not something that the guards would not forget that easily.

    The intense hunger along with the tiresome flight made Lee chew down a Honey Bread loaf and finish the previously left bottle of Horned-Mow milk. He walked upright, but was dying to get some sleep inside.

    After locating An in his room in the July''s Inn, he hurriedly walked towards the inn. July saw him approaching tiredly. All the tables were upied, that she could not spare time for him. He saw her struggle and signalled that he is okay. Lee went straight to his room. As he opened, what he saw was the beautiful figure of An sitting in front of the table with her hands on her chin. She was very concerned about Lee that she forgot his presence. Her face reflected her thoughts and wishes. She can be seen smiling and blushing from time to time. Lee stood there observing her reactions and guessing her thoughts. D called Lee a blessed husband, as his wife is perfect and truthful to him in all ways. He did not forget to advise not to cheat on her.

    *ahem ahem*

    Lee made the typical noise to distract her. She immediately looked over and saw Lee standing there with a smile. An sprang up on her feet and a delightful smile bloomed on her face. He watched her like a loving husband while she cared for him like a devoted wife. Their bond was deep and intense.

    Seeing Lee, An came to him and hugged him. As she sat basking in the sunrays, her hug was warm andfortable to him. She hugged her back with intense care and affection.

    "Did you miss me?!"

    An did not reply, but raised her head. Her cheeks were blushing. She lowered her head in embarrassment and nodded in agreement.

    "Then why don''t we rest a bit?! I am feeling tired."

    An nodded and sat on the bed as she was still clinging onto Lee''s hand. Leeid down and his tiredness took effect immediately. As he slipped into hisfort state, he brought An right next to him, into his arms and covered both of them with a nket. She felt cozy in her arms as she fell into deep slumber. Thisfortness nked out her mind as she forgot what she was preparing to tell Lee. She didn''t attempt to remember it, and went with the flow. As sheid in Lee''s arms, hugged tight to his body, she raised her head and looked at Lee''s peaceful face. Never in her life had she expected to be in the hands of afortable and capable man, let alone marry one. The surprise doubled as the bridegroom was 8 years younger than her.

    --------------------------------

    Almost 5.40 P.M.

    The city of Lorin was dipped in the blissful radiance of the setting stars. The evening crowd in the city never disappointed the street vendors and shop owners. No one wished for a catastrophe that can harm this serene bustling.

    *dhumm...*

    A loud bass voice startled the city. The whole of Lorin heard it. People of Festa and Crogh heard it. Great King Aizil and his capital city Yeuvis felt it. The people of these cities thought that it was something to do with other cities and carried on their tasks. But the truth was on a muchrger scale than that.

    *RUMBLE*

    Momentster, a faint earthquake followed the sound. The quaking was initially too small to notice, but began to gradually increase in magnitude. Within a matter of minutes, the whole of Utopia was trembling like a lost deer in darkness.

    *THUD*

    *BOOM*

    *CRAAAAACCKKKKK...*

    Many proud and beautiful architectural amazements began to cracken. Buildings began to develop intense web-like fractures all along the wall. Some of those buildings hugged the ground. Thin cracks that span over tens of miles began to form on the ground. Unrest and chaos rose from the darkening streets. Screams and cries apaniedments of the dear and near of those that died!

    Lee had already jumped out of the room through the window. An was safe and secure in his arms. She waspletely wonderstruck as these incidents happen. Luckily, July''s Inn only suffered a few major cracks along the wall. But this was enough to scare the hell out of people.

    City Mayor had to give the people an answer regarding these situations. He announced that the same earthquake has been reported in all the cities through out the kingdom. Mayor''s initial assumption was arge scale earthquake. But D informed Lee that the cause was even more unanticipated. His heart skipped a beat when D stuttered.

    ........................

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 1938

    Essence: 8960 (6 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (273/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1045/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 49: Sea of Sorrow

    Chapter 49: Sea of Sorrow

    ''D, you are the Dimension Sovereign. What are you afraid of in this ne?!''

    D was bbering many ''out-of-the-world'' terms like aplete cuckoo. Lee can guess the severity of the phenomenon if it can make D go out of his resolve.

    ''D, I hope you can exin the situation to me as soon as possible.''

    Lee didn''t give his attention on D any further, as the devastation was severe for many and upensable for a lot. Lee and An ran to help those who are trapped inside copsed buildings. Many other able-bodied people were actively participating in the rescue mission.

    A lot of adventurers andmonfolk gave their best to save others. Little children were the most enthusiastic. They carried small buckets of water and bandages through the crowd. The cultural significance and social importance of ''Karma'' was taught from a very young age.

    Lee ran from ce to ce to lift the copsed building parts. His strength was evidently enormous to his stature. Brushing a lock from his face, Lee lifted many boulders of stone within a short time. The joy of narrow escape soon transformed to weeping of sorrow. The darkness of night was weed with broken hearts and crumbled minds.

    ---------------------

    =====

    8 P.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The time did not heal the wounds, the darkness did not cover the cries. Despair and pain stagnated the atmosphere. Lee and An can be seen leaning on a copsed hotel''s pir. Their clothes were covered in blood, and hands dyed in red. An looked at her hand with tears welling in her eyes. Lee noticed that she was at the verge of bursting out. Lee gently embraced her and brought her near to him. Her red eyes rolled tears down her cheeks. Lee felt an immense pain as he saw this. He rested her head on his bosom after wiping her tears off.

    "Why did they die?!"

    An knew the pain and suffering of losing someone. One of her passive objectives was to save people when in distress. For someone who valued all lives, An felt these deaths totally unforgivable. The muffled voice of An began to break up into many pieces of cries.

    A Swamp Serpent?! Easy. A ss Scorpion?! Simple. A pack of Cold Wild Wolves?! Effortless. But.tears, that was much more powerful than any weapon mankind had ever created. In front of An''s overflooding sadness, Lee could only stand like a statue offering hugs. His heart felt a sting as his eyes became wet. It only increased as he scanned over thementing people and lifeless bodies.

    "He...hey.don''t cr...cry.it will only..make you.sad..more sad.."

    For the first time, Lee was so enveloped in sadness that his words broke apart. An raised her head as she heard him stuttering. She can tell his sorrow clearly. She immediately wiped the tears as she could guess the source of his sorrow. An broke away from Lee''s embrace and held his arms to go and help others. He quietly followed her. Their navigation system was unconsciously set to July''s Inn.

    --------------------

    July''s ''broken'' Inn.

    July stood outside her inn with her hands at her hips. Arge diagonal crack tore the inn''s front into two parts. Thankfully, the insides were not too affected. Lee and An approached July as she had casted her vision over the inn. The area was rtively less crowded as there were no deaths inside the buildings. The customers ran out at the first notice of the quake. Despite the situation, July had given asylum to the wounded and lost in her inn''s diner. As she scanned over the crowd, her sight caught Lee and An.

    "Ah, thank greatness, you both are okay. I was worried, you know."

    An saw the gloom on her face veiled by a smile. She slowly came near July. Before An said a word, she spoke up softly-

    "Go upstairs. I heard that both of you rescued many from the rubbles. Take some rest."

    July spoke soft enough for both to hear, but it had amanding voice. An did not oppose her decision. She turned to Lee and he nodded in return.

    ----------------------

    The scattered rubbles are visible with thentern lights. The streets were almost empty, as boulders and stone blocks are all that was left.

    It''s been half an hour since the 10''o clock''s notification came and went. Themp in the room burned with dim yellow light. On the table, a sword, an outer robe and a ck jacket was ced. Lee, in his tee, sat on the bed with his back against the wall. An was leaning on his bosom and her eyes were aimlessly scouting the darkness outside the window. Neither Lee nor An uttered a word. The silence was too much for a normal person. Lee gently caressed her hair as she hugged him tightly. He can hear her yawning, but her willingness to stay awake worried him.

    "Dear, I can hear you yawning. Why don''t you take some rest?!"

    An didn''t respond verbally, but shook her head. Lee decided to probe the reason for her gloominess, even though it is evident. He was alone without D''s constant yapping. Lee gently asked-

    "Are you thinking about the quake?!"

    An nodded her head. Lee was expecting an oral answer, but in vain. He gave her a minute to speak out her mind. He can tell that her mind is probably in sorrow.

    "Why did all those people die?! They were truthful to all the races and in their deeds. Still?"

    An''s toddler behaviour put him in a tough state. To be a truthful husband, he was thinking of sharing his origin secrets, except the system. Like an angel to help while in distress, D raised his humanoid-mechanical voice. Lee was surprised and screamed internally-

    [Did you pee in your pants without me?!]

    ''Deee.....you quadrupedal mudblood! What the hell?! By the way, you were going crazy at the time of the quake. What was that you were bbering?! I believe you can give me a detailed exnation on ''What the hell happened here?!''''

    [Sorry for going cuckoo. I will exin things in detail. But now, I want to ask you something. Are you willing to share your origin secrets with An?! Will you let her know everything about you, except the system?!]

    ''I have thought about it and I''m fine with it. Tell me, what should I do?! Have a ceremonial sex?!''

    [Your parenting side is asking for a child, Lee. Discuss it with her in the future. But for now, tell her everything, just like that, EXCEPT THE SYSTEM!!!]

    Lee sighed as he obtained D''s approval. He nced at An through the corner of his eye and asked her-

    "An, can I tell you a secret?!"

    The seriousness in his voice made her frown. She slowly sat up right next to him, leaning on his right shoulder.

    "You are mine. I am yours. Your secret is mine and mine, yours. I will always try to be a devoted wife to....."

    Lee raised his left arm and ced his index finger on her lips. With a bright smile, Lee spoke gently-

    "That is enough, my dear. You don''t need to tell anymore."

    [Now, go to sleep with her in your arms. I''ll make a psyche-link between you two. That way, both of you can speak without losing any sleep. After you finish your part, I''ll appear and exin the current scenarios in detail, to both of you. She has to learn about the events happening and that are supposed to happen. For the safety of the system, I''ll adapt the original story slightly.]

    D was giving Lee directions on what to do and what to say. Lee followed his directions and hugged her closely. From what that has happened, An was expecting Lee to exin the secrets tomorrow.

    =====

    11 P.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ................

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2012

    Essence: 17460 (11 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1045/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 50: The Real Utopia (1)

    Chapter 50: The Real Utopia (1)

    *Looks around*

    An was confused and surprised to see herself in apletely white room. She can feel and touch the tform below her foot, but it was not distinct from the white surroundings. As she scanned the entirety of the space, a voice from her behind made her screech in surprise.

    "You look confused."

    An turned 180 in an instant and reached for her sword, which was an instinctual response. To her wonder, Lee was standing behind her. She was perplexed to see him as she can swear that he was not there a moment ago. The strange room and his abrupt appearance made her put up her guard.

    "An, it is me, Lee. Your one and only Lee."

    Lee had to convince her of the safety of the space. He took steps forward and reached her hands. She wasn''t on defense, but was always ready for an attack. Lee ced her hands on his chest. The sensation of his beating heart brought a faint smile on her face, which was far from a response of satisfaction. He saw her frowned brows despite of the smile. He hugged her and let her feel the warmth of his being. The familiar sensation proved his originality to her. A wide and bright smile came upon her face as she broke free from his embrace.

    "Where are we?! You sounded like you have been here before."

    Lee took a step back and introduced the consciousness space. Followed by the precise and concise description, he borately recounted his days of both worlds. He was cautious to avoid anything that exposes the existence of the system.

    The original story was slightly changed as he narrated. ording to this new one, Lee was brought here by the Dimension Sovereign who summoned a saviour from other-world. Lee could only go with the flow as D dig up this clich plot from his own brain. The truth about Amortals and their extensive plot to devour and achieve Godhood was not hidden from her. He also let her know about the sinister n of Mo family. Both D and Lee wanted her to know about these things.

    "The one and only person who reached the pinnacle of cultivation is residing inside my body. Though as a wisp, he has the power and pride of his peak. He agreed with my opinion to let you know of these incidents."

    Lee finished his narration and sighed. An was surprised and worried after hearing his journey. She came to him and hugged him tightly.

    "From today onwards, I will not let you suffer. As a wife and a resident of this dimension, I have my filial and moral duty to support and help my husband and my saviour. Promise me that you will never hide any secrets from me."

    An was happy to hear his adventures, but was unhappy to hear that he hid these ounts from her. It was only after promising by the name of all known and unknown gods, did she release him from her grip.

    An was still confused.

    "The Dimension Sovereign, where is he?! Can I see him?!"

    Her question was filled with anxiety, curiousity and doubt. Even before Lee opened his mouth, arge ball of ck smoke materialised next to them. Even Lee was dumbstruck upon seeing this. D sounded his voice in his being that this is part of his grand entrance. Lee shook his head and looked at An.

    "The person you asked for is here."

    An''s eyes were filled with curiosity. She was about to meet the most powerful person in this dimension. Of course, she was anxious.

    The smoke condensed into a humanoid form. The outline was not visible, but the limbs, bead and torso was evident. The condensed ck smoke manifested to Dnekewy''s ck bandage form. His ive rose up from the ground and stood beside him. An''s eyes went wide as she saw a monstrous power surging from it.

    "I am Dnekewy Mbsilo. The most powerful cultivator in this dimension. It was me who summoned Lee from his world. I am sure you have heard the truth from your husband."

    D sounded deafening as hell. Lee was shocked, but smiled at D as he remembered that these are all his setup for a grand entrance. But for An, this powerful figure sounded like raging oceans.

    An nodded as she held Lee''s hand tightly. Lee sensed her nervousness and pulled her to his side. She came to him like a lovely dove as his arm went around her shoulder.

    "You said that you would exin the recent incidents after I narrate my adventures to her. I did mine, now you did yours."

    An was surprised to see Lee talking to the most powerful cultivator like a friend known for a long time. The amorphous head turned to Lee and nodded after a second. The smoke began to grow rigid and took the form of a very old man. The ground beneath grew grass and became simr to terrain while the atmosphere and sky developed. The white and devoid room was now a beautiful grass in.

    Two wooden chairs sprang up from the ground. D waved his hand in an expression of weing Lee and An to take a seat. At a nce, this resembled a ssroom setup. They promptly took a seat and the old man began to talk. His voice was not deafening anymore, but was that of a caring and loving old grandfather.

    "If there was a timeline where I did not cultivate, I would look like this. But that doesn''t matter anymore."

    D paused for a second and raised his left hand. As he raised his hand, a 3D model of the Utopia formed infront of them. The continents, inds and oceans were precisely outlined on it. The details were so sophisticated that the entirety of with its internalponents were visible. An was bbergasted to see the whole in front of her. Clearly, this dimension had not yet developed any kind of 3D projection technologies or techniques. Her eyes filled with amazement. Lee was amused to see her expression.

    "What you see before you is Utopia. This is the only life-supporting in the dimension. Because of that, allw fragments ended up on this big mass of a mess.

    You might be familiar with the 10 continents. The''s signature arrangement of continents is its major attraction. Anyone from outer space will feel like somebody deliberately ced them like so.

    But what you see is not the true Utopia!"

    Thest sentence attracted the line of sight of both Lee and An. Their faces reflected a sense of mysterious anticipation. The old man slightly tapped the hologram and the continents began to shift away slowly. The whole tilted in such a way that the continents of Intellus and Chaos were now ced at the poles. Steady, yet slow, the 8 continents that guarded the eight directions assimted to form 4rger continents. The distinct shape and color thesendmasses exhibited was bizarre. When one was moulded into a hollow circle with a thicknd area as border, another one was a wless triangle. The other two were apletely filled circle and a round-edged square. The precision of theserge shapes was apudable. For natural structures like continents, these shapes were bizarre enough. The umtion of certain colours at each continent was nothing surprising, when considering the change.

    "Before I speak of the recent earthquake, I need to tell you about the history of Utopia. This is the real as you can see. Contrary to the name, it wasplete chaos and turmoil. A dystopia, in a nutshell.

    The 4 continents you see are not simplendmasses. They housed the most vicious, hostile and cunning beings that could have wiped the entire, if given plenty of time.

    Let me describe each one of them."

    Without anymand, the northern part of the was erged. The continent of Intellus hadn''t changed, with itsrgely distorted oval shape.

    "Intellus, the stronghold of humans and humanoid beings. All bipedal beings with a cooperative conscience were epted here. Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres, Goblins and Beastfolk resided alongside human beings. Fairies, Insectfolk and Dryads were not rare among them. Apart from these mainstream races, demi-races also existed through inter-racial marriages. The unanimous notion of the continent was ''Be good to all''. A much higher rate of war and bloodshed was the second main feature of thisnd"

    D rotated the globe with his hand and the south pole came upward. Chaos was visually different from Intellus due to its asymmetric and disproportionate shape.

    "Chaos, thend where only strong ruled, with the notion of cooperation still intact. This continent was infamous for its demons and demonoid races. They were not limited to bipedal. The Queen Arachna, ruler of all arachnid species was so big that she had 16 legs. The residents were Zombies, Undeads, Vampires, Wereanimals, Harpies, Subuses, Minotaurs, Manticores, Imps, Wraiths, the God Devil and other majestic and overpowered legendary creatures. Like the name, the fight for food and leadership never ceased. It was the citizens of Chaos that discovered the other 5 continents."

    A deep sigh originated from D as he paused. He extended his hand and pinched the hologram and it shrunk to its normal size. A wave and the globe slowly began to move.

 Chapter 51: The True Utopia (2)

    Chapter 51: The True Utopia (2)

    D tapped on the round-edged square continent. The hologram erged it big enough to see it''s dense green color. If looked keen enough, one can notice that it was the result of thickly popted forest.

    "This continent is called ''Decarna''. The thick green colour is due to the existence of extraordinary floral life apanied by supernatural fauna. The density of trees and grasses are so high that in brown soil is invisible here.

    The fragments of Sentience and Soul gave birth to this continent. These fragments gave birth to Flora and Fauna. The Airw fragment''s traces can be found here. Due to the overpoweredbination of Sentience and Soul, the lifeforms are insanelyplex and mutated. Some even transcend the boundaries of nts and animals.

    In essence, this continent is a minefield. From shorelines to the deepest parts of thend, vicious lifeforms stay hidden. Both floral and fauna lifeforms consist of carnivorous as well as herbivores. Their power was overwhelmingly terrifying that even the undead miasma couldn''t do shit to them. In fact, the demons and wereanimals sent to invade thend were mostly eaten by the nts. Some were shredded to pieces and became food to animals.

    There is an internal cycle of ''fight for survival''. But when ites to the safety of the continent, an unnatural coordination can be seen among the nts and animals. Later, the God Devil herself voiced hermand to avoid that hell at any cost."

    Lee and An were listening while holding their breath. The savagery of the demons were infamous enough to send chills down the spine. Now they just heard about a bunch of lifeforms that even threatened the demon''s existence.

    D poked the globe and the wless triangle came up erged. The barren terrain with hardly any vegetation was unpleasant to eyes.

    "The continent is named ''Romoke''. There are no hidden dangers here, because you will be attacked in in sight. You will scream and roll in pain as you witness your limbs being chewed by beasts. Romoke consists of red hot deserts to freezing mountain peaks.

    Thew fragments of me, Frost, Earth and traces of Air makes up the entire continent. The mew is fire in sma state. The Frostw is Water simultaneously existing in the states of gas, liquid and solid. These twows share thend equally andrge currents of respectivews flow throughout thend while painting its path with me or frost. The Earthw creates the continent''s diverse valleys, mountains, deserts and ins.

    Since there are no vegetations, beasts and creatures feed on thew fragments directly, by absorbing it''s radiated energy little by little. Thus every creature on thatnd has either me or Frost or Earthw constitution. A single race can also consist of beings with differentws.

    For instance, Stone Golems are the mostmon variety of golems. But in Romoke, we can see me Golems, Frost Golems and Earth Golems. The major advantage these three varieties hold over the stone version is that they can regenerate their whole body from a single andpletely intact body part, whenever and wherever they are.

    Abnormally gigantic insects, Skeletons, Golems, Dragons, Wyverns, Drakes, Hydras, Djinns, Wyrms, Serpents, Elemental spirits and Dinosaurs roam thend. Despite being filled with voracious legendary beasts, this continent has a very unique peculiarity that increases its residents by a great number. Any being, be it humanoid or demonoid, that dies on Romoke can be resurrected if its skeleton is exposed to a specific amount of thew energy. The amount or time period is unknown. All we know is that the resurrected skeleton will lose its previous memory and will act as one of the residents.

    Since its discovery, many demonoids and humanoids have tried to invade it, but they all ended up dying andter being resurrected as a resident. The dangerous part of being resurrected is, despite losing your memory, your strength will be amplified by many times withw energy. The atmosphere is the most freaky thing about the continent. Sometimes it showers hailstorms and sometimes, thunderstorms. The continent also has an intruder response system like Decarna."

    Like a pre-recorded tape, D spoke with utmost fluency and precision. Lee and An didn''t question the authenticity of the knowledge. As they were expecting, D flipped his palm and the dark purple coloured circr continent came up. The dark colour was spooky. The hologram magnified and the smooth and in terrain was visible. Its surface was only a few meters above sea level.

    "Decarna and Romoke are unmistakably dangerous. But this continent is the most unpredictable.

    This is known as ''Exiriado''. A continent that is entirely made out of an unknown metal. It''s very peculiar and unpredictable as the metal has both metallic and earthen properties. Most importantly, the whole continent is one big sentient being!

    Thews of Electromaism, Gravity, Force and Metal assimted together to form this continent. The surface is barely above the sea level, yet even the Leviathan of deep sea fears to step on it. At normal times, this is its form. But from moment to moment, it changes its shape randomly and instantly. You may see the continents full of mountains at a time, and it will change to an entirely different shape in the next second.

    Decarna and Romoke stand on either sides of Exiriado. Using its immense force, it tries to drag both of them towards it. But the very foundation of all the 6 continents were deeply embedded into the core of the. As a result, no movement ured. Then,rge metallic beams began to grow out of it. They stretched towards the neighbouring ones and tried to invade them. Decarna and Romoke sessfully defended against these attacks, but the metal limbs had already snatched a small portion of thews residing in the continents.

    Thendmass grew nts and animals out of it. All were part of thatrge metal mass and everything was of the same colour. The dynamicity of thend attracted the attention of invaders. Both humanoids and demonoids invaded thend, only to be pierced by the metallic spikes. A totally unexpected thing happened. The deceased beings were sucked into the metallic ground and we''repletely scanned to their biological signature. Within no time, a strange and indigenous species was born on thend.

    With a conscience to attack and invade, the metallic beings started to navigate towards the other continents. But the more they travelled from the continent, the more their powers became fragile. When they reached the coasts of Intellus and Chaos, they were brittle like ss. The civilizations greatly benefited from this incident as the metallic beings were melted and crafted into weapons of great strength. These metal crafts were indestructible once forged.

    But in time, the continent slowly recalled these forged weapons back to its origin. Only one such weapon exists and it is now personally guarded by the Great Devil herself, known as Scepter of Doom. Capable of producing intense seismic vibrations when slightly tapped to the ground, it nearly decimated the Chaos continent as it once nearly fell to the ground slipping from the grip of the Great Devil.

    To summarise, this continent is actively aggressive!"

    Pale. An was pale like a white sheet. She had expected terrible lifeforms, but none to this scale. It was unimaginable to think of the existence of a ''non-living'' living metal that can absorb otherw energies and empower itself.

    D sighed as he can hear her heart drumming inside her ribcage. He didn''t mind it as he moved to thest continent and it promptly came up erged. The circle was perfect and its doughnut shape amused Lee. It reminded him of the moon.

    "The three continents I spoke before were infamous for its savagery and unpredictability. But that is not the case of ''Chreith''. This continent has no nts or animals on it. Nothing has been detected to be living there since it is opaque to all kind of sensing methods. It is so mysterious that me and even the previous Dimension Sovereigns before me could not probe into the continent.

    The urate size and figure of Chreith is unknown to all. This is due to the unrivalledbination ofw fragments of Space, Time and Mind. Standing alone, they pose no threat. But their deadlybination is enticingly beautiful that the passersby by are subconsciously attracted towards thisnd. The shores are of sand and the thick circle you can see is all we can ever find out about it.

    The middle portion is not nk, but is unable to observe due to Temperal and Spatialws fluctuating dynamically. From the surface, all we can see is a big curtain of smoke. It is not actually smoke, but intense time and space distortion that makes the appearance of smoke, making itpletely opaque to sight. This veil envelops the whole continent and makes it look like a big ball of dense fog. The Mindw entices any sentient being towards it. Once anything gone inside the smoky barrier, it is lost forever. But an adventurer once sessfully ryed a message to the outside world before he vanished forever. It goes like, ''This is a paradise, a world in my dreams''. Thus, Chreith is nicknamed as Dreand. A predatory dreand, in a nutshell."

 Chapter 52: The True Utopia (3)

    Chapter 52: The True Utopia (3)

    Lee was extremely surprised to hear the ount on these ancient continents. His perspective of a peaceful was slowly morphed into a horror manor. While he was hearing D''s narrative, his eyes were scanning every nook and corner of thendmasses. His keen sight noted all the peculiarities of the four dangends. The abnormal Resolve and Intelligence was going hand-in-hand to sessfullypile the information.

    An got used to the information rather quickly. Her battle experiences had made her capable of processing information much faster. But it was never near to that of Lee. She can be seen expressing a parade of emotions. Fear, horror and astonishment shed through her face. She put her best to note down the physical characteristics of the continents.

    Both of them were relieved as D paused his narration. An sighed inward and Lee leaned back on the chair. Just as they thought that the geography wasplete, D pinched his fingers and the globe came back to its normal size. It slowly rotated around the twin stars. Lee was interested to know more about these stars. Since D lives in his head, he heard his thoughts.

    "The twin stars in the sky is a sight to behold! Children are taught that those two are the embodiment of Qi and Mana. They standing close to each other are interpreted in different ways in differentnds. Demons see them as the embodiment of Great Twin Devils, elder to the present Great Devil. Humans see them as the Eternal Siblings ascended into the sky to illuminate the world. Unfortunately, both are wrong!

    They are simply two huge lumps of energy ced to produce heat and warmth exclusively to Utopia. The Will of Dimension took care to not spoil the only life-supporting it has. They also create an invisible protective shield around Utopia."

    An and Lee had their mouth like an ''O'' when D debunked the contemporary theories. Their raised brows soon frowned as they saw D rotating the''s hologram again. D dragged his hands to the sides as he gripped on the hologram. The hologram expanded and its outer crust andndmasses vanished. All that remained was an enormous blue colored body of water. The removal ofnd areas and its supporting parts revealed the unventured depths of oceans. The very sight of patch ck colour that darkens as the depth goes gave a shiver down An''s spine. Lee can sense certain death from those inner parts.

    "What you see is the Waterworld, which in simple terms, is ocean. The surface area of water bodies only takes up about 25%, but it''s depth and danger is on a whole new level.

    Utopia has a radius of 19,500 kilometres. And scarily, the Waterworld nearly goes to the depths of 15,000 kilometres. The Flora and Fauna of Waterworld are many fold intense and diverse than that ofnd. From tiny microscopic single celled organisms, the depths unknown houses the legendary Kraken and Leviathan. The Waterworld is divided into 4 zones. They are-

    Surface zone - the outer mostyer of Waterworld and only spans to a depth of 20 kilometres. Least dangerous of all. The lifeforms are hardly threatening and many in number. It''s visual beauty is contributed by ample exposure to light. A pleasent space to expend time swimming.

    Sentience zone - the zone of intelligent beings. Waterfolks and other marine beasts with adaptive survivability and intelligence are seen in this portion. They reproduce faster than a catholic rabbit, but the primal instinct to kill and eat keeps the numbers at check. It spans to a depth of around 900 kilometres. The danger level increases the more deep it goes. Underwater civilization lives in great numbers and strength in this zone. They have not entered into a modern era, but they are a bit ahead of the surface dweller''s technology. Yes, there are kingdoms and territories, but we don''t need to concern ourselves with those information. Just like Humanoids and Demonoids, they have their own aquatic derivations. Halfway through, we can see carnivorous aquatic nts. Be cautious of parasitic creatures also. The lower portions of this zone receives very little amount of light, and beings start to develop bioluminescence properties.

    Trial zone - this zone is also called ''Torment zone''. The name speaks for itself. Trial zone contains savage beasts and mutated aquatic lifeforms. The fight for survival is much fiercer than the above zones. The property of water gradually changes from the depth of 900 to 975 kilometres. A certain microscopic lifeform found in this zone onwards produces a chemical magic that increases the life expectancy of the organism whilepletely hindering sunlight. If this chemical magic goes out of its territory, it simply disintegrates itself and its host. The lifeforms are in constant fight and the winner lives for an exceptionally long time. The creatures aremonly known to have a leadermanding it''s pack. After spanning to a depth of 1500 kilometres, what awaits us below it is death itself!

    Unknown zone - from 1500 to 15000 kilometres, it''s a no-go. The water itself is lethal to almost all living beings. It''s mysterious property scrambles any sensing methods. The evergreen legendary beasts like Kraken, Wikyan Dragon, Jsura, Leviathan, Ghidorah, Behemoth, Godzi, Sleeping Charybdis, Eternal Hydra and various other gigantic beasts peacefully sleep in here. They are so old that they can be called ''Living Fossils''. They are so powerful, their awakening from slumber trembles the whole faintly. ording to my immediate predecessor''s assumption, they do not cause mayhem when awake, but can endrge-scale wars with a stare! Luckily, they have onlye out of the depths once in history, and thatmotion tore the 4 major continents into 8 smaller ones. The''s axis was even tilted!

    Many minerals and substances that are not found onnd are found in depths of sea. Many risked their lives to do so, and only a very few have ever seeded. Though what they brought was small in amount, it gave them a fortune.

    Land dwellers and waterfolks were never at peace. Attempts to enve both sides ended up in failures and with a lot of casualties. Now, both parties have entered into an unwritten peace treaty.

    That is all about the Waterworld!"

    D sighed as the hologram disappeared. Lee and An could not take their eyes away from where the hologram stood. They were horrified to an extent their eyelids did not close. D walked towards them and patted their shoulders. This action broke them free of their stillness.

    "These informations are too much to take in one go. I have yet to exin about the skyfolk, which I''ll talk about tomorrow. Now, you both can have a good sleep."

    D stamped his leg slightly and Lee and An faded away like smoke. Their consciousness went back to sleep and their thought processes halted. A moment of ufort frown could be noticed on both of their faces, but it soon disappeared. In each other''s arms, they slipped into slumber.

    -------------------------------

    =====

    8 A.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The lovebirds woke up in each other''s arms and stared at each other. They were delighted to see their sweetheart''s face as the first thing in the morning. They stared into each other''s eyes as their faces were only inches apart. They looked to be infatuated, but in actuality, were frozen in deep thought. Their minds were digesting andprehending thest night''s infotainment session by the Dimension Sovereign.

    Lee warmly embraced An and she woke up from the trance. A sweet smile crept up her face as she coil her arms around him. Her hands went through his silky smooth hair and his hands ran all-over her body. After feeling each other, they broke loose from embrace and got up.

    "An, do you remember what the Sovereign taught us?"

    Am stopped in her tracks to grab her outer robe. She didn''t turn back, but nodded in response. Lee came near her and said-

    "Everything he and I said must remain as a secret. You must not let others know of this under any circumstances."

    Lee held her arms as he spoke. She didn''t say anything, but clung to his chest.

    "Promise me, that you will not go adventuring alone. If something happens to you, then how can I live alone?! We are in this together, we will go through it together."

    Lee didn''t voice his agreement as he locked himself to her. Seeing him conceding, she spoke up-

    "I wanted to ask you something. Can..can we get married?!"

    She slowly raises her head and peered at him. A gentle smile bloomed on his face as he patted her head.

    "What you said was what I wanted. Let us get married!"

    ------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2015

    Essence: 32760 (8 AM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1045/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 53: Lorins Lament (1)

    Chapter 53: Lorin''s Lament (1)

    After a slight peck, Lee and An went downstairs and greeted July. They talked to her for a couple of minutes and then parted from the inn. Their destination was the Army headquarters to meet Ian. The streets were warmly reflecting the bright starlights. The crumbled buildings and fractured walls were clearly visible in the daylight. The transport on the streets were sparse. Rubbles were scattered all over the ce.

    Each step brought them closer to the Army headquarters. Slowly and steadily, they advanced towards the heavily cracked building. It was shaken to the core. It is evident from the widespread crevices that the building wasparatively stable than other buildings. The wall around the headquarters was quite in bad shape. As they noticed the pathetic situation of the building, their eyes scanned across to find Ian drenched in sweat pushing arge boulder from the front path to the door. 3 or 4 recruits were apanying him to move the block. It was evident that the building did suffer some major damages.

    Upon seeing him struggling to move the irregr stone mass, Lee quickly approached him and gave a hand. The block was rather easily moved out of the path. Ian was relieved to see Lee and An in the morning. The smile on his face was reced by a serious frown as he shouted at the hard-working recruits-

    "I want this ce clean as before and these stones moved out in 2 hours. The team whichpletes this feat gets a day off of training!"

    The recruits who had already be sluggish from the tiresome job sprang up on their feet. Their eyes were filled with energy as they scanned at the nearby stones. The next second, a full swing cleaning process began. Seeing the surprise rise in morale, Ian signalled Lee and An to follow him to the office.

    As he reached his office, he made them sit for a minute while he quickly cleaned himself off the sweat and wore his uniform. He quickly came and sat in his chair and peered at Lee and An sitting on the other side of the table.

    "Our spies have found their temporary hideout in the ck Desert ins. Fortunately, the quake made them retreat abruptly and has not seen them since yesterday. We have reasons to believe that the quake hit all indiscriminately."

    Ian continued to speak about the Illians. He also mentioned that the Illians use a special technique tomunicate between them. After a short and precise briefing came to an end, the hourly notification showed up.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification gave Lee the sense of time. He quickly nced at An through the corner of his eyes. A mixed expression was visible on her face. Lee did not ask anything about it, and turned to Ian for doubts.

    "If that''s the case, can we utilise this time to attack the Illians before they do?!"

    "That would be suicidal. The Illians have settled and have about 3 to 4 viges under them. The vigers are all brainwashed using sweet words and cultivation offers. Themon vigers are enough to alert the whole Illianmunity."

    Ian shook his head as he responded to Lee. He was praying for their retreat to be for a long time. His disturbed face caught Lee''s sight as he keenly observed. Lee knew that he had to change the topic.

    "The earthquakest night, do you have any information about it?!"

    The question made Ian raise his head and look into Lee''s eyes. The slight frown faded away as he shook his head again.

    "Earthquakes have been extremely rare in our kingdom. Our investigation team suspects that the whole continent might have been affected by the quake. What''s more is suddenrge scale migration urring among beasts. A long fissure had also been spotted north-west to the city. Our archives seem to have nothing on such an incident in history."

    Theck of information and magnitude of mystery regarding the quake was vivid in Ian''s response. Hearing this, An bit her lower lips as she turned to Lee. His calm and collected exposure with an unrmed face reminded her of his words earlier today.

    [As I expected, the kingdoms have no idea of what is about to happen. Their forefathers either hid the information about this catastrophic event or they were not informed of it.]

    Lee turned his sight to outside through the window as he contemted on D''s words. He was thankful of D since he is the Sovereign of this dimension, and was also intrigued by the fact that not even D could hold back the horror of these continents.

    *BOOM*

    An ear shattering boom came from a distance and the building began to tremble. Minute cracks crept up the walls as fast as visible to eyes. The wood and stone structure vibrated like a high frequency fork. At its first nce, Ian shouted at Lee and An to escape!

    *chaotic noises*

    Lee and An came out running with Ian behind them. As they ran out of the door, dust was kicked up by a big stone block that fell right behind them.

    *THUD*

    The shockwave of the impact scattered An, Ian and Lee in different directions. As Lee tried to stand up on his feet with a dizzy head, he saw recruits getting crushed by the falling stone blocks. The sounds of crushing bones and screams of agony vellicated Lee as he quickly scanned around for An and Ian. He dashed at her as he saw An trying to get up from the rubble. With a single swoop, Lee took her in his arms. The moment, Ian shouted as he sprang up on his feet.

    "Lee, above you!"

    Lee didn''t look up as he was able to tell that danger wasing from above. He leaped forward instantly and avoided the dowing doom by a hair''s breadth.

    Ian took off and distanced himself from the copsing building as recruits and soldiers followed him. The rookies were pale from the sudden events turning in unanticipated directions. In front of their eyes, the army headquarters no more had its pride.

    *CRACK*

    The ground crackled and trembled as the terrain deformed. Massive fissures that were long and wide began to sprout out of the ground. At a visible pace, they spread out through the ground and sank a half of the headquarters. As the terrified armyfolk turned their heads after hearing loud screams behind them, the city of Lorin was at the verge of disappearing.

    The fissure that swallowed army headquarters began to widen up. The quicker widening exposed depths immeasurable to the city dwellers. As the city was struggling to keep themselves together fromst night''s event, the next day greeted the whole with grand scale tectonic movements.

    Somewhere in the city, a fire started. The natural gas unfortunately bellowed out by the widening terrain ignited a catastrophic event. With a deafening bang, the ground opened its mouth wide and fiery holocaust came forth. Many blocks of buildings crumbled in the heat. People were burned like shpaper. It only took seconds for things to escte to levels unreturnable!

    Lee and An can be seen running through the streets frantically. The fissures had separated them from Ian. Under the navigation of D, Lee guided An towards the eastern gate. They avoided fatal situations all the way with a hair''s breadth. The gate was damaged and the wall was significantly destroyed. The wailing and screeching surrounded them like ayer of difort. An and Lee skillfully glided through the falling and fallen buildings as they neared the gate.

    *BADHUM*

    The shockwave swept across the fleeing residents as they froze in their tracks to look around. Lee felt the shockwave like an invisible sword behind his neck. He increased his pace as he took An in his arms. His dash became apanied with leaps as every cell in his body yelled ''Danger''. With a face painted with terror and cold sweat, he looked over his shoulder with wide eyes and saw a pale green gas rising and spreading all over the surroundings from the breach.

    *crack*

    A hardly audible crack fell in his ears and therge cloud instantly transformed into arge fiery cloud. Arge area was engulfed by the infernal heat as buildings and structures began to crackle. Many people fell into their demise in those fires. The explosion elerated the pace of rupture as it elongated in an almost linear path and extended to north-east and south-west.

    The gate was so congested that many fell and were trampled to death. The carriages were overloaded to the extent that some had it''s wheels broken and grounded. Many tried to scale the walls, but only a very few crossed alive. The notion ''Survival of the fittest'' was unconsciously powering up the minds and hearts of those that escaped their deaths.

    ------------------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2015

    Essence: 36160 (10 AM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1045/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 54: Lorins Lament (2)

    Chapter 54: Lorin''s Lament (2)

    Through the chaos, Lee took off from the ground and reached the top of the wall with a single leap. An was safe in his hands as she gripped onto his jacket in fear. After standing steady, he let his sweetheart stand firm on the stonewall as he sighed with a frown. He didn''t look back as he saw the horrors reflecting in An''s eyes. As he quickly nced around, he became aware of the direction of fissure development. Sadness and helplessness veiled the face of An as he took her into his arms. Lee treated An like a little child to which An didn''t bat an eye.

    With a moment''s preparation, Lee began to float up in the air, hanging a few inches above the wall. At the same moment, the part of the wall where they stood copsed. Luckily, about 20% of the total survivors had escaped through the eastern gate. The four gates conjointly aided in evacuation and the chaos was down by a notch. Lee glimpsed at the copsed walls and the bodies of those that lost life in an attempt to save themselves, in a distance.

    Lee knew that floating in air would bring unknown dangers and suspicions, so he quickly descended in a controlled manner. The fleeing residents of Lorin did not have a moment to spare watching others. They only had one word shing in their minds - survive!

    Lee let An back on her feet. He did not flee through the usual brown path, but hurriedly walked towards the forest he saw in the south eastern direction. After making sure that he and his love is in no man''s view as they slowly advanced, he seeked D''s help.

    ''D, is this forest safe? I ran at it in a hurry.''

    [It is safe. Thergest beast you will encounter is the Spikehogs. That too is rare toe across in this vicinity.]

    Hearing this, Lee calmly sighed as he took a glimpse of An. She was shaken from the sudden turn of events. The courage she had mustered was not enough to hide it from Lee. He brought her near as they walked in a calm and collected pace. His right arms went over her shoulders and gave aforting sensation. The frown on her face was still unfazed.

    An was contemting over the things she saw happening. Her thought process was so intense that the resultant emotions and expressions were evident. She thoroughly linked the information she had acquired from the Dimension Sovereign and today''s phenomenon. Lee did not interrupt her and let her mind be itself. D advised to let her be undisturbed as she was processing and obtaining some vital information.

    As she came to the final conclusion, she was already inside the forest with Lee. Her mind still posed doubts and concerns on several things. She reserved them for an asion to ask the great cultivator!

    =====

    11 A.M.

    1700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification popped up as they walked quietly through the forest. Peeping at the Map, Lee can see some refugees and caravans at the border of the Map. As a forest, the ce was particrly calm. The abundant starlights seeped through the leaves to illuminate the ground below them.

    "Are you tired?"

    Lee posed a doubt as he looked over his shoulder to An who was closely behind him. She shook her head after a moment''s hesitation and did not utter anything. Even if one is a cultivator, there is a limit to which one can suppress the fatigue, hunger and thirst. Contrary to her reply, a short growling came up from her. An instinctual blush crept up her face as she tried to cover it up.

    ''D, any cave-like structures or sort of things in the vicinity?''

    [I have just upgraded the Map function to explore the whole. Take a look at it!]

    Lee decreased his pace as he stared at the Map in his mind for a couple of moments. After zooming out, he noticed a rocky formation deep inside the forest. The lithic hills were surrounded by thick vegetation and were more than 11 to 13 miles far away. A confident smile rose up Lee''s face as he expected it to have caves.

    ''D, pin the formation and show the optimum discement route towards it.''

    As Lee said, a blue meandering line lit on the Map. With the path visible as day, he took hold on to An''s soft hands. She was confused by his action.

    "It''s daytime and best suited for travelling forward bravely. Let''s not slow down."

    An nodded in response as she held sighed lightly. Lee took the lead and walked ahead while An followed right behind him. The green dots of refugees and caravans went farther and farther from them.

    --------------------------------------

    =====

    12 Mid-day.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Halfway through the journey, some hostile beings started to appear. As An tried to unsheathe her sword, Lee tapped her shoulder and signalled to be at ease. Then, he would sh forward to scare and chase away the beasts. It seemed so, but Lee was actually absorbing them into his EsGen storage when out of An''s line of sight. An beamed as she saw Lee ''scaring off'' beasts by causing no harm.

    20 minutester, they sat under a tall and thick tree with dense foliage that provided ample shade in the heat. Lee peeked at the Map and saw that they are very close to the greyish patch ofnd. After making sure that the area is devoid of hostile beings, Lee took an aerial sight of the city of Lorin.

    The devastated city of Lorin remained as a masterpiece of an all-powerful psychopath''s skillset. The enormous fissure that ran diagonally, right through the middle of the city easily resembled the outpour of an orc''s wrath. The pitch ck abyss ran long beyond the citywalls, and towards the capital city. His mind slightly trembled with a hint of horror. Lee did not zoom in on the magnitude of destruction, as he was not strong enough to see burned and scattered organs. With his mentalmand, he moved the Map around Lorin in arge circle.

    Deste! Forsaken! Bleak! If anything can be said about the situation, it is these words. What happened in the city of Lorin was only a fraction of the total urence. The same fate was shared by the capital city Yeuvis, but much worse. The city was almost upside-down with the rapid terrain discement. The instantaneous caving in of the top soil marked the beginning of destruction. Above 95% of residents fell and vanished into the pitch ck devourer. The most important factor that escted the incident to its culmination was the sturdy foundation on which the buildings and the whole city were established. Mana imbued bricks and other magically enhanced ingredients were used to create a foundation that can withstand earthquakes. Thisplex and efficient foundation that span more than 80 meters into the ground held the city up above until it failed to hold the widening. The expansion beyond its threshold by the overwhelming power of nature ripped it apart. The resultant was sudden loss of support and the rest is history.

    The cities of Festa and Culett were rtively safe as a gigantic fissure made its way right beside the city walls. The city walls copsed to a great extent, but the damage was nowhere near to that of Lorin or Yeuvis. It was enough to plunge the cities to chaos as they were aired of the information that the capital city and Lorin had fallen into abyss. Minutester, the city guards of Festa and Culett reported numerous refugees approaching from a distance. They opened their city gates wide in order to receive the homeless residents of Lorin. A good amount of resources were used by the cities to treat the iing waves of men, women and children.

    Cities of Crogh and Alls did not experience any tears or cracks in their vicinity, but intense vibrations gifted cracks over most buildings. When all were puzzled by the disturbing tremors, guards at the gates rang distress bells and revealed the appearance of many caravans. The gates were raised and the misfortune that fell on Yeuvis and Lorin fell into the residents. Panic and unrest rose among themonfolk.

    --------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2015

    Essence: 39680 (12 Mid-day)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1049/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Curse Remover

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 55: Adventure Begins!

    Chapter 55: Adventure Begins!

    Eyes went wide as Lee came back to his senses. He looked as if he saw a ghost. The dted pupils came back to its normal size within an instant. He sighed lightly as he nced at An who was sitting right next to him and her head was resting on his shoulder. She was wrapped around by hisforting hand.

    Lee didn''t twitch or move as it might disrupt her delicate nap. He sat still without any movements for a while. His eyes were aimed at the vast sky visible through the greenery of trees. His mind was wandering aimless like a kite.

    =====

    1 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The hourly notification jumbled Lee in his tracks. ncing at the popped up panel, he sat like a dumb as he forgot what he was thinking upon. He scratched his head as he tried to recover his thoughts, but in vain.

    ''D, do you remember what I was thinking?!''

    [Kid, your perspective was weirdly familiar. Even though I am in your brain, all I could see was a formless cluster of symbols and figures randomly floating. But from my opinion, it looked tooplex toprehend!]

    *sigh*

    Lee opened up his attribute panel and scanned through it. His observing eyes glimpsed at the Essence points left to spend.

    ''D, do I have enough Essence to buy a new beast core?''

    [You have enough to buy the Death element beast core of an Evil Phoenix. Want to proceed?]

    ''Yes please!''

    The Essence reduced to 2,800 and the beast core appeared in the Inventory. As he expected, the prompt regarding absorbing the core came up and he approved it.

    [The Death element. It''s pathetically powerless at lower grades, but increases its potential by leaps and bounds by each upgrade. An attack imbued with this attribute acts like an immovable curse. It slowly eats up the opponent from the inside like a parasitic worm. The opponent will be unknown to his or her impending death!]

    ''Scary!''

    Lee uttered as soon as D narrated it''s characteristics. He can feel this attribute''s fatality from D''s words. He nced at the affinity bar.

    =====

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1049/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Death Affinity (0/100)

    =====

    ''D, how does it look?''

    [Looks like you need a lot of enemies to practice.]

    An woke up from her short nap and rubbed her eyes like a little child. Her behaviour was that of a little girl whenever Lee was near. An beamed at him like a little girl who was gifted a candy. Lee patted her head with care and love.

    ''Why would one need many opponents when you have a partner?''

    D did not reply and agreed in silence.

    "Shall we continue our journey?!"

    An sprang up as a response to Lee''s query. She helped him up and let him lead the path. An was expecting to walk to the destination, but Lee''s love and care detected a muffled yawn from her. Out of the blue, An was lifted off the ground and into his hands like a baby. She was surprised by his action. Before she could speak, Lee stated as he flew forward-

    "If I make my dear walk without enough rest, I am not fit to be called your husband!"

    His words carried his truest intention of caring from the bottom of his heart. A few drops of tears rolled down her cheek as she coiled her arms around his neck. Using his Air element affinity and Flight skill, he flew towards the rocky hills.

    The progress of the Air element went up step by step and the distance kept reducing. The airborne Lee slowed down as he felt the distance is apt for controlled descending. As he descended, he apuded this hidden formation''s vastness. On the surface, they are nothing more than a series of lithic hills. Upon a closer inspection, Lee found a strange fact about these hills.

    These two rows of short hills that make a valley between them was actually a shallow canyon. The valley between them inclines downward so as to let anything go in ande out of it. But theck of vegetation made it hard for any species to survive there. The presence of such a lifeless barren formation inside a forest piqued Lee''s interest. The canyon had many big and small caves that were toondark for starlight to reach. Lee did not probe further as he found a cave at the first hills itself.

    Letting An on the ground, Lee scouted the area with his Map. There was no sign of life anywhere near. The cave Lee found surprisingly had a few skeletons in high quality armours and swords at a corner. The essories looked pretty new while the remains were all bones. D scanned the area and found that the area had no hidden hostilities. Lee entered the cave and daylight departed from them. As Lee scanned, the cave was very long and is interconnected with innumerous other caves at different points. Thergework wasplex and immense, but D assured Lee that it is devoid of any danger.

    Lee and An came closer to the skeletons and inspected them. The bones were crumbled beyond recognition, but the weapons and armours that scattered on the floor were in good shape. D sounded out a warning as Lee extended his right hand to grab one of the swords lying on the ground.

    [LEE, DON''T TOUCH IT! THEY ARE CURSED!]

    Lee jolted and took a step back the very moment as his de came out in his left hand. An frowned at his action and unsheathed her sword. Lee tapped her hand and nodded to sheath it back. She was reluctant, but did not want to disobey Lee.

    ''D, are you sure it is a curse?!''

    [Yes, it definitely is a curse. The one who put the curse on the sword made sure that it''s user did not live long. Not only the sword, but the armours, shields and spears around the withered bones are cursed. Anyone who touches the object will be the next bearer of the curse.]

    Hearing this, Lee stored his de and was not in guard anymore. He recalled his ''Curse Remover'' ability and asked D-

    ''How does the skill work?''

    [With an Essence cost. The cost varies ording to the curse strength. Use ''View'' to see the properties of the object and the curse type. The Essence count needed to expel it will be seen adjacent to it.]

    Lee turned his head around to spot all the weapons on the floor. There were a total of 12 swords, 8 shields, 4 spears and 8 sets of Steel Silver armour. The highest grade among weapons was Higher Iron grade. But the armours were all of Higher Mortal grade.

    =====

    Curse: Necginhawa.

    Description: A 4th order curse that can only be applied to inanimate objects. Needs an immense amount of resentment to activate beside chanting. After activation, the curse binds to the first person thates in contact with the object. The breath of death starts to flow and the person is subjected to extremely unfortunate events. After the target dies, the curse stays dormant to be awakened by another person. Protects the bound object from wear and tear.

    State: extremely weak.

    Cost: 97 Essence.

    =====

    All the essories shared amon curse. The description of the curse was short and concise. Lee went through the details once again and saw a few unfamiliar terms in it. Before he asked any, D replied-

    [There are 5 categories in curses. They determine the longevity of the curse.

    The 1st order curses are the weakest of all. Their maximum span does not exceed a year. The curse stays in its peak potential to 8 months. Then it slowly began to weaken and fade awaypletely by the one year limit.

    The 2nd order curses are umon to be seen. They are used by professional battle wizards or higher order sorcerers. It can keep its peak power to about 7 years and then begins to fade and vanish to the end of the decade.

    The 3rd order curses are the same as before, but their total span is 5 decades. They start to weaken by the beginning of the 40th year and disappear by the end of the limit. This is the highest order of curse one can ever cast without any backsh or demand. But only a very few have ever seeded in it.

    The 4th order curses are something that takes blood and life as fuel. These curses are two-edged swords as it usually drains the life energy of the invoker and tortures the victim. A slight mishap can take the life of the invoker itself. The ck Mages of Chaos are only known to invoke such curses. It stays unfazed for over 85 years and deteriorates by the end of the limit of century.

    The umted life force of the entire kingdom of Venus cannot quench the demand of the 5th order curses. The terrain itself bes barren by the immense sinister pressure. The Great Devil had to sacrifice over 180 crore lives including demonoids, humanoids and legendary beasts with or without their consent to crack open the continent of Exiriado. The curse rippled over all 4 continents and ripped them in half to create 8 smaller continents. It is said that the Great Devil is still hibernating from the overload of the curse. Spanning over 5 centuries, the weakening starts by stepping into thest 100 years. ording to my calctions, we are only a few decades away from another extinction level event.

    The 4th and 5th order curses have an additional ability to make itself dormant and propagate itself like a chain reaction. This is the reason for its extremely high demand in the resources.]

    ------------------------------------

    (A.N. from here on, the ability ''Curse Remover'' will be renamed to ''De-Spell''.)

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2015

    Essence: 2800 (1 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Death Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    De-Spell

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 56: Danger From Darkness

    Chapter 56: Danger From Darkness

    =====

    2 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    An was puzzled as she scanned Lee who stood like a tree stump. His eyes were fixed at the wall before him. He did not move an inch from where he remained. An guessed that Lee was having a conversation with the Sovereign cultivator. She did not dare to touch the weapons as she had an instinct inside her telling not to. She unsheathed her sword and turned around to guard any iing threats. As the remains were found in a cave and were promptly ced in a corner, she suspected that this cave was once their of a ferocious beasts. She went on high alert as she circted Qi around her body and into her sword. It was ready to cut down anything!

    --------------------------

    [The curse is of 4th order. If such a curse is in such an extremely weakened state, then it probably only has a few more years to vanishpletely. We can store the Steel Silver armour sets and weapons in the Inventory. The suspended state inside will not halt the corrosion of curse as it was a predetermined process. The time axis of the curses run in harmony with that of the dimension. Wait a few years and you will get some good weapons. Spend a few Essence and get it de-spelled instantly. Your choice!]

    Without a second thought, Lee raised his hand and absorbed the weapons and armours into the Inventory. A panel came up notifying that the stored objects are cursed and needs cleansing. Lee disagreed with the panel as he chosed the reject button. The panel vanished and nothing happened.

    An noticed Lee moving and nced at him. What she saw invoked doubt in her heart. To her surprise, the objects seemed to be disappearing right into Lee rather than to his left hand.

    Finishing the process, Lee turned to see An putting her sword back in its scabbard. The in and generic look of the sword caught his attention. The scabbard itself was old and showed signs ofbat. An felt his sight falling on her sword, so she held it half-sheathed. Lee came near her and took the sword from her grasp.

    "This one looks old."

    Leemented as his eyes observed the de and handle. He carefully inspected it and found faint cracks on the de. His keen eyesight caught a series of wear and tear on her sword. Lee unconsciously expressed his discontent on his face. For someone who has well experienced the world, his frowned brows were enough for her to understand his evaluation.

    "It was given to me by my father."

    Lee raised his brows as he noticed the seriousness in her eyes and her voice. He immediately felt guilty for making such ament on the sword. He regretted and did not know what to say, hence he ced the sword back in its cradle.

    "I can tell your attachment to this sword. It has travelled with you through many hardships. It helped you survive in troubles. So..."

    Lee took a pause and this pause made her tilt her head slightly with a frown. Lee found this reaction very amusing, but held back his smile.

    "So, if I can reconstruct and make it new, will you let me do it?!"

    The offer of a new sword was in the range of her expectation, but to reforge it was something she never expected. She was surprised as her brows rose up. Her left hand fidgeted over the hilt of the sword and it conveyed her reluctance to his proposal.

    "I am not saying that the sword will.."

    Before Lee could finish, An took the sword by its scabbard and held it in front of him. Since it was Lee who was asking, she had herplete trust in him. She believed that he would not hurt her in any way.

    Lee gripped on the scabbard and the sword in it as he did not have any other choice to make. A smile bloomed up his face as he returned it back. An could not make out anything from his action.

    "Your consent is enough for me. I will reconstruct it once we find a ce to anchor."

    An took it back and hung by her side. Lee pulled out his de from the Spatial ring and walked out of the cave. He expressed his intention of scouting the area, to which she dly nodded and followed.

    ''D, I can sleep on the floor but I will not let her share the same trouble. Suggest a way.''

    D was silent for a few seconds as Lee tried to figure out a way by himself. Walking past the short rock mounds, An watched her surroundings as her ears picked up any unusual noises. She followed Lee with great precision.

    The Shop panel came up without any prompt. Lee did not feel surprised by it as he was expecting D to do something. In front of his eyes, the Shop began to move on its own. The Skill section came opening up and the Lifestyle skills were selected. The window started to scroll and came to a halt when a certain skill was visible. The selection was confirmed and the skill description popped up.

    =====

    Name: Home nning.

    Description: A lifestyle skill that helps you make anywhere your home. This skill enables you to n,yout and install home features wherever possible. Neatness and order are the additional perk of the skill. It takes 320 Essence to continuously run it for an hour.

    Cost: 560 Essence.

    =====

    [Buy this skill. Couple it with the Remodel feature to make anywhere your home!]

    Lee recognised what D wasing into. Stacking with the Home nning skill, Remodel can be used very effectively to create afy ce to rest. Lee had a smile on his face as he bought the skill. His Essence count decreased again.

    =====

    3 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The duo walked around for quite a time. Other than a few isted rogue rodents, no other lifeforms came across them. One peculiar feature they noticed was the clear cut terrain division of the stones with the soil and vegetation. The mounds are clearly separated from any greenery, and the forest surrounds them and creates a stealthful appearance. It looked too good to be a natural formation, and this finding made An frown at the first nce.

    "Lee, I feel something missing about it. This formation....they are not some ordinary ones. Something is definitely strange!"

    Without turning his head, Lee slightly nodded as she glimpsed at his response. After walking through the border of stone mounds, they finally came across the inclined wide path that lets one move to the inside of the canyon. Lee was brave and courageous as he stepped forward. But An caught his arm and shook her head as he nced at her with surprise. She felt a tinge of hostility from the obscurity.

    Lee was brave and resolute that he did not notice the eerieness of the darkening slope. His blind courage almost pulled him into the pitch ck canyon, in which nothing is visible. Lee smiled as he understood his foolishness. He nodded and turned around to walk away.

    *zing*

    A pale shrilly noise that was barely audible came from the darkness followed by a metallic dart. Lee instantly took out his de and turned around as he pushed An behind him. The de moved with precision and struck the thin, short needle-like dart that came at his neck.

    *ting*

    The metallic collision died out after resonating for a second. The silver needle fell on the ground after losing momentum. Lee held his de horizontally in front of his neck as he peered onto the darkness. The obscurity was greater than his night vision. Even D was unable to make out what was happening!

    "An, slowly move backward. Watch your surroundings."

    Lee whispered as he was on high alert. D activated Sand, Sound and Death affinities on Lee''smand. Steadily and slowly, they came out of the path. As daylight began to intensify on them, the hostility inside the darkness shone like three green gems for a moment. Lee was puzzled by this scene, but what came next was totally unanticipated.

    *zing zing zi-zing zing zing*

    Volley of darts began to aim at Lee as they stepped backward. Contrary to the pitch ck opaque, the darts were clearly visible. The daylight reflected on them was enough to make one blind. Those silver darts approached as Foresight took effect.

    *ting ting ti-ti-ti-ting ti-ti-ting ting ti-ting...*

    The needles were approaching as if they were aimlessly fired. But their sheer number was rmingly high. An did not poke her head out to enjoy the view. She can evaluate the situation from Lee''s intense battle. His de flowed with greater uracy that it connected each approaching darts and deflected them.

    Time was derailed. Lee or An tried not to think of anything else at the moment as they do not know how long they have been going on like this. Whenever arrows slow down, Lee would grab onto An''s waist as he leaped out of the arrows'' trajectory.

    That did not mean he was unharmed. After a very long time, his skin was scraped and bled by these needles. Lee was uninformed of this information as he was putting his own life to protect An. At a steady pace, they finally reached the surface. The very moment, the darts stopped iing.

    Lee and An moved out of the treacherous path. Lee leaned onto the nearest stone mound as he gasped. An covered her mouth and tears welled up her eyes as she saw his situation. Lee had a needle piercing his stomach and another one right below his left knee, avoiding the bones while piercing the flesh. She quickly supported him andid him down. She was trembling and confused as she could not do anything at the moment.

    "Can you pull them out?"

    Lee asked An who was at the verge of forlornness. She pulled her mind and heart together as she nodded. At his nod, she gripped on the needle piercing his stomach and pulled it out. To her surprise, it came out very easily. Also, she did not notice any expression of pain of his face. An did not dy to pull out the one below his left knee.

    Leeid down like an obedient child as she pulled out the second one. As soon as An pulled it out, he gasped for air and indicated that this process was actually painful. She froze like a statue as she saw him smiling while hiding the pain. Her heart ached like like it was pierced by an arrow.

    =====

    4 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee took out a few low quality healing pills from his storage. These pills were his trophy when he terminated the bandit scums. At that time, he did not know whether they will be of any help, so he stored them rather than throwing away. Now, it came in handy.

    3 healing pills went down his mouth as the wounds began to close up. His brows rose as felt the injuries tingling. He understood that the pills are taking effect as he saw surprise in her eyes.

    -------------------------------------

 Chapter 57: Refuge at Alls

    Chapter 57: Refuge at Alls

    [The Poison Immunity has gone up by a good number.]

    Leeid on the floor and his wife was next to him, kneeling on the ground. As the pain went away like fleeting clouds, Lee got up using An''s shoulder as a support. The blood stains were the only remaining evidence for his injuries.

    "It''s okay. Youy down. It''s not good to strain yourself."

    Lee stretched his limbs and beamed at An. He freed himself from support and stood up tall. He sighed deeply as he glimpsed around. The needles pulled out of his body were on the ground. Upon D''s instruction, Lee took the needle into his hand. They were almost weightless and shone bright in light. Lee had to apply all of his strength to slightly bend it. The sturdiness of this little prick ignited a burning curiosity in his mind.

    ''View.''

    A panel popped up instantly and exposed the underlying secrets of this dart.

    =====

    Weapon: Cold Silver Nyx needle.

    Grade: Medium Silver grade.

    Description: A unidirectional projectile with poisonous property. Extremely light-weight. Produced by Cold Silver Nyx beast as an offensive measure.

    =====

    [Lee, I suggest we get out of here. These Nyx beasts are a 3 eyed unholybination of scorpion, porcupine and meerkat. Since it''s a Cold Nyx and a silver-needled, we have enough time to escape before it gets irritated. But make sure you collect all the needles on the ground. They can significantly reduce the Essence cost of remodelling An''s sword.]

    Lee nodded in agreement and conveyed the information to An. She gasped as she nodded. Together, they collected more than four hundred needles. An and Lee stared at each other''s face in amazement. They could not imagine how old and big the beast would have to be to produce so many needles in one go!

    =====

    5 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    When the notification appeared, Lee and An were inspecting the inside of the cave where they found the skeletons. Even though the skeletons were beyond recognition of race or creed, An expressed her wish to bury them properly. Lee was delighted as he was thinking of the same for some time. When they were moving the skeletal remains to a pit they dug, they noticed a neatly folded g beneath one of the piles of bones.

    The g was not cursed or damaged in any way. When they unfolded it, its shape resembled that of a banner. The turquoise blue colour gave off a wave of emotional bnce and spiritual grounding at the first nce. On the g, a lemon yellow coloured eagle beak was embedded on a deep green pentagon. This twoyered design was surrounded by many tiny handwritten scripts around the sides of the pentagon. At a first nce, they can confirm that it belonged to a kingdom.

    ''D, have you seen this g before?''

    [I have not seen this g when I was alive. Maybe it is because I lived on the continent of Intellus. It is best to keep the g in the Inventory instead of shucking off.]

    Lee turned at An and repeated the same question. Her answer was not any different from D. Thus, Lee stored it in his Spatial ring. After burying the crumbling bones, the couple climbed the nearest mound and sat on top of it. The sky was turning orange and indicated the approaching end of the day. An used this opportunity to ask her doubts regarding the things she saw till the moment. Lee happily exined the existence of ''the magical space'' gifted to him by the Sovereign! He added the information regarding the order of curses and its role in the history.

    An sudden and intense trembling pulled theirfortable chat to an abrupt end. They sprang up on their feet and noticed that this is another big earthquake. D exined that the weakening of the curse is acting again. He updated that the city of Crogh has lost a portion of its city walls due to the tremor. Lee turned to An and ryed the current urrences as he carefully scanned their surroundings.

    "We cannot go back to Lorin. We can only hope that those we know are alive and safe. ording to the Sovereign, the seismic activity will note to a halt until the ancient continents reform. What should we do?"

    Lee posed a question at An who was bbergasted by the report on the ongoing events. She quickly analysed the situation as her fists clenched.

    "Bing the strongest is our primary objective. We have to formte our strategy as soon as possible. The matters regarding the ancient continents and Amortals are unknown to the present world."

    "So."

    "Let us depart now and reach the nearest city. It is not safe to rest with a ruthless beast in the vicinity."

    Lee nodded and turned in the direction of Alls. They proceeded along the way D suggested and marked in the Map. As they walked side by side, Lee extended his hand and held An''s soft palm. A faint blush slipped on her face as they leisurely walked against the setting sun.

    =====

    6 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The reminder appeared the moment they reached the outskirts of the forest. The thinning treelines indicated that they are nearing Alls. Approximately 10 minutester, the southern gate of the city was visible to them. The burning torches illuminated the gate and it''s perimeter.

    The guards on the wall spotted Lee and An walking out of the forest and moving closer to the gate. They informed the guard on the ground about approaching individuals. As Lee and An came near the southern gate, soldiers stopped them.

    "Who are you? What are your intentions?"

    A guard gripped his spear as his loud voice came out. Two spearmen near him held their spears in a raised manner and pointed at the duo.

    "My name is Lee and this is my partner, An. We are survivors of Lorin city. We ran into the forest in a hurry to escape the disaster."

    Lee spoke as he pulled out his guild ID. An followed his lead and showed them her ID too. The information on the ID puzzled the guards. His cultivation level was abnormal for his age. The guard to the ID to the gate and their superior checked the legitimacy of the ID. It was only after his approval, that they let both of them inside.

    Alls was a fortunate city as the tragedy avoided it by a distance of one and half kilometres. Compared with Lorin, Alls was slightlyrger. But the overall development of the city was lower than that of other cities in the kingdom. The lives of themonfolk were not pleasant. The corrupt mayor and the sects situated in the city performed against the kingdom''s motto.

    A fountain weed them as they walked into the city streets. The gushing water suddenly invoked an intense thirst in An. Lee noticed An slowly pacing towards the fountain with an unfed face. It did not take him more than an instant toprehend the situation.

    "Dear, drink this."

    Lee stepped forward and hindered her from jumping into the fountain. He quickly took out the bottle of Horned-Mow milk from his Inventory. It was almost full as Lee had only taken a sip since he bought it.

    The bottle of milk in front of her diverted her attention. She smiled wide as she took the bottle and gulped down it in one go. She was in a hurry that a lot of milk spilled on the ground. The fair scent of the special milk spread in the atmosphere.

    A deep sigh of satisfaction was visible on An''s face as she wiped the milk trails with her palm. Her naive actions nourished Lee with a sense of happiness.

    "Hey you!"

    Their happy moment was ruined by an impolite voice. Lee turned to his right and saw a beautiful carriage. The coach driver was the one who shouted. His abrupt and unpleasant voice caught the attention of the passersby. It was unnecessary to say that Lee was itching to beat this man to pulp.

    --------------------------

    STATUS:

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2015

    Essence: 11340 (6 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    De-Spell

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 58: Wind Jade Sect

    Chapter 58: Wind Jade Sect

    "What is that white fragrant stuff? Speak up!"

    The tall and muscr elf in a cultivator robe shouted with displease. His coarse voice felt irritating to passersby.

    Lee kept hisposure as he led An away from there. Seeing them walking away just like that, the elf was raged. He jumped out of the coachman''s seat and rushed towards Lee. His hand was extending at Lee''s neck. The arrogance and confidence of his own strength was visible like a smug.

    "STOP!"

    A thunderous voice originated from the carriage and the coachman stopped in his tracks. He turned around and rushed to open the carriage door. Lee turned around to see who the big shot was. An elf in his early 30''s wearing a purple coloured robe and a seductive busty catwoman of around 27 years dressed in skimpy attire descended from the carriage. The man stepped forward showing an egoistic smile. He caressed his long beard as the coachman bowed in front of him. The catwoman was alluring and the passersby froze at her voluptuous figure. Her eyes scanned An and Lee as it muttered - ''peasants''.

    Lee observed the surroundings bing empty. He had guessed that this elf is a cultivator and an arrogant one at that. Only Lee, An and the arrogant gang remained on the streets. Burning torches illuminated the street with abundant lighting.

    The arrogant smug of elf vanished as he saw Lee standing with an unyielding heart. The elf immediately released his aura of 7th stage Soul Manifestation realm as he came walking forward. A wave originated from him and was transmitted in all directions. He was expecting Lee to shudder in fear from the pressure.

    D warned Lee that the wave has sinister meanings. Promptly, he pushed An behind him and safeguarded her from the aura. The aura hit Lee with hostility. But, the impassive face of Lee was an unforeseen result for the elf. A fake smile crept up the elf''s face. He can deduce Lee''s approximate age. Thus he was aware that Lee can in no way hinder the aura suppression. His guess fell on talismans and artifacts. The elf considered him as a stupid boy with wealth and pride.

    "My name is Xiu Fai. I am an elder of the Wind Jade sect. You are the child of a very special destiny. It is the fate that has brought you here. Worship me as your teacher and I will teach you great skills."

    D had already informed Lee of this man''s crookedness. The microexpressions on his face could not escape D''s keen observation. The deadpan face of Lee gave off hardly any expression as he turned to walk away. Turning down Xiu Fai''s proposal like a scam enraged him to the peak.

    ''Since he would not yield, I will take away all the treasures over his dead body!''

    The elder of Wind Jade sect took out his sword from his spatial ring and charged at Lee. His sword was pointed at the back of his neck. As a Soul Manifestation realm cultivator, his speed was beyondmoner''s range.

    Eyes went wide as An saw the tip of the swording at Lee, but he calmed her. As the sword nearly touched him, Lee spinned to his left on his left leg as his right leg rose and drew a horizontal arc in the air. As he turned around, Lee''s right leg came from the side and made contact with Xiu Fai.

    *BAM*

    The plot twisted in an instant. The unconscious arrogant elder was halted as he got lodged to a nearby building. The coachman and the catwoman had cold sweat as they saw Xiu Fai flying like an arrow. The sound was loud and clear as the spectators hiding inside the stores poked their heads out. On the street, a young man with beautiful hair stood in a side-kick stance. After a second, he slowly lowered his leg as he breathed out. To maximize the dramatic effect, Lee slowly opened his eyes and nced at the shaking henchman and pale gone prostitute.

    "There shall be no warning!"

    Lee spoke as he turned around to walk away. His words resonated throughout the silent street and none dared to breath. Many covered their mouths as they saw the elder of Wind Jade sect unconscious and stuck on a wall. They could only admire the slowly vanishing figure of Lee and An next to him.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    As soon as Lee left the scene, the coachman came running to help the elder up. The elf was unable to see the events too clearly, but he can swear that the kick was otherworldly. The coachman elf immediately picked up the elder and ran to the carriage and ced him on the seat. The catwoman was ignored by the elf as she was indeed a prostitute. The coachman drove the carriage towards the sect manor with no regard of who is one the streets.

    Lee and An were peacefully strolling through the streets. The streets were bright with stores and the streetmps. An enjoyed the visual vibrancy of the surroundings while Lee was looking for somewhere to eat. As he struggled to hold his hunger back, the stomach growled out and An instantly turned to Lee with a surprise. Her stomach growled as an echo of his. Lee delightedly shook his head at An as they entered the nearest restaurant.

    The door was opened and a traditional medieval interior was exposed in front of him. Except for two or three tables, all others were empty. Lee waited for An to pick a suitable ce to sit while An stood anxiously to see where he wanted to sit. When no response came, both stared at each other and understood each other''s motive. They chuckled as they walked towards a table next to a window.

    As soon as they sat, an old man in his 70''s came walking towards them. He had a long beard and his eyes emitted a sense of tranquility. Wearing a scarlet coloured suit with mandarin cor and knot made button, he had a traditional chinese cap over his head. He approached the duo and smiled as he spoke-

    "Good afternoon, lovely couple. What would you like to have?!"

    The old man''s voice was appropriate for his age. His warm greetings spread a smile on Lee''s face. He nced at An to hear her suggestion of taste. She in return beamed at him and conveyed that his choice was her choice!

    "We are new to the city. So we will take your most delicious one."

    Lee replied in a happy tone and the old man slightly bowed and went to the kitchen. As the man left, Lee and An stared at each other''s eyes passionately. A faint smile bloomed on An''s lips as her left hand crawled towards him. He responded back with his right hand. As they were about to touch each other, a loud shout came from the kitchen.

    "GRANDPA.HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE TOLD YOU NOT TO TAKE ORDERS? YOU NEED TO TAKE REST!"

    The feminine voice carried an air ofmanding care. Lee and An was stunned to hear the sound. As they tried to stand up from their seats, the dwarves sitting on another table waved them to sit down and exined what was happening.

    "Old man Li has two grandchildren. The elder one is Li Fenfang and the younger one is Li Aiguo. Their parents died when they were 5 and 4 years old. Since then, old man Li takes care or the children. He''s over 70 and still cares for the restaurant which is his life''s word. He loves to wait the tables whenever he gets a chance! He is a man that everyone must meet once in their lives!"

    The group of 3 dwarves made a toast for the old man''s wellbeing. Then they returned to their casual talks. Lee and An felt immense respect to that man. As they were nurturing their reverance in their hearts, a girl of about 26 years old barged in from the kitchen. With her frowned eyes, she scanned the tables and saw only one upied and with no tes. She immediately came near An.

    "I am sorry. Grandpa told me that you are new to the city. Please forgive for the loud nuisance. I will bring the food now."

    --------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2015

    Essence: 13160 (7 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    De-Spell

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 59: Old man Li & Delicacy

    Chapter 59: Old man Li & Delicacy

    Wind Jade sect.

    The assembly hall.

    A qintern illuminated the hall as it hung from the roof. The pale green walls and grey floor with designer tiles filling it was a beautiful sight. A wide red carpet ran along the middle of the hall as many jade dragons were carved onto the walls. The spacious hall was upied by 6 chairs on either side of the carpet. Persons in distinguished robes are sitting on them and their faces reflect no emotions. One of the chairs were empty and the one supposed to sit there was kneeling on the carpet along with the coachman elf. Their fear was easily shown by their sweaty face.

    The room was silent and no one dared to speak. Some had closed their eyes and were inwardly anxious to hear the words of the grand elder.

    "So....that man kicked you, and you fell unconscious?!"

    The carpet leads to a wide, raised tform with 3 steps to descend. A beautifully carved armchair made of Red Copper Wood stood proudly on top of the tform. A woman in herte 40''s sat with a deadpan expression as she stared at Xiu Fai. Her pink ssical hanfu attire was elegant to behold. The dark circles under her eyes and slightly wrinkled face emitted a serious aura. With her right hand at her chin, she leaned onto her right as she supported the elbow on the armrest. Her eyes rose and thoroughly scanned through the faces before her.

    "Answer me!"

    The anger filled in her voice jolted the seated elders. It was very rare to see the grand elder raise her voice in displease.

    "Grand elder...that man..was..very strong.. He....did not..bat an eye...when I....mentioned...the name...of the sect."

    Grand elder''s eyes paused for a moment before focusing back onto Xiu Fai. Her eyebrows slightly twitched as one of the elders addressed the man who knocked him unconscious in one kick as ''very strong''. Her head rose from the support of her hand as she sat straight. The remaining 11 elders peered at the grand elder as they could tell that she is about to dere her final say.

    "The Wind Jade sect has been one of the three most powerful sects in Alls, other than the Golden Pheasant sect and the Phoenix w sect. Our strength is only slightly better than them as the annual tournaments rarely end up in our victory. We cannot afford to have one more opponent."

    A breeze of happiness blew inside Xiu Fai as anyone trying to tamper with the pride of the sect was ruthlessly eliminated. These operations are done behind the veil of darkness and have been the custom for centuries. Due to this reason, the disciples of different sects usually do not disy their hatred and repulsion in the public. They used to resort to challenging their opponents to decide the victor. For this reason, arenas were amon sight in Alls.

    "If what Xiu Fai said is true..."

    The grand elder''s voice paused as her eyes slowly rose up and met with the burningntern. The 12 eldersughed inwardly in pity for the young man''s misfortune. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement even before the grand elder finished her sentence.

    "Then we must have him as our sect disciple immediately!"

    *BADHUM*

    The words were clear and sound. For a moment, there was no movement in the hall as everyone slowlyprehended what was just said by the grand elder. The sympathetic smirk of the 11 elders were reced by intense surprise as their eyes went wide. With disbelief, their heads turned immediately at the grand elder.

    Xiu Fai was the most devastated one. He wanted to seek justice from the grand elder, but his appeal went south. With pale face and dry throat, he submitted his reason.

    "Grand elder, he is very dangerous... He is very powerful.and young.His attire was also weird..Could he not be a spy from other sects? Shouldn''t we eliminate him?"

    The cry of a bullied child to seek justice was evident in the elder''s voice. Hearing him, three more elders stood up and let the grand elder know of their agreement with Xiu Fai.

    "Are you really the revered elders of my Wind Jade sect?! Are you the ones that teach hundreds of disciples about Art of War?!"

    The annoyed voice of the grand elder unfolded a tease against the elders. Everyone including Xiu Fai was well aware of the grim ways she implements. The delightful smile that decorated her face covered toxicity beneath it. They scolded themselves for forgetting her true self.

    "Elder Xiu Fai, describe that man."

    The elder got up on his feet and illustrated Lee in detail. The poker-face, abnormal attire and hispanion were all well presented.

    The hall was silent as he finished his narration. The elders and the grand elder were now greatly interested in the person. The grand elder, especially, was more eager to cut him open and study his anatomy. Her inauspicious thoughts and hopes awoke a menacing smile which gave a shiver up the spines of the elders. After taking a moment to enjoy the blood-red fantasies, the grand elder stood up while suppressing her ominous pan.

    "Bring that man to our sect before other sects snatch him away. He will soon be our puppet. Depart and find him!"

    The grand elder shouted and the elders stood up and took a bow. Without wasting a second, their figures shed to the outside and into the darkness. They alerted their respective squads and gave them a description of Lee''s strange attire. When over three hundred disciples scattered into the city to find one man, the other two sects were also informed of today''s incident by various means. When the powerhouses were exploring the city, the man they were looking for was having a silent and peaceful dinner with his love!

    ------------------------------------

    Restaurant.

    Before An and Lee, two of each dish were ced. The two bowls of Saffron Cauliflower soup with piping steam and alluring scent had a strange beauty. Two tes of tender and visibly delicious mutton diced into pieces and sprinkled with pepper along with a mouthwatering blend of spices yelled ''eat me!''. The te filled with thin slices of cooked Silk Rooster meat decorated among long strips of smoked One-eyed Salmon surrounded by exquisite vegetables was a feast to the eyes. Lee and An stared at the delicacies in front of them for a whole 3 minutes while gulping down saliva crazily.

    The dwarves were drunk with wine and the drooling faces of the duo made themugh hysterically. The loudughter pulled them out of their trance. Li Fenfang was amused by their nativity, and was happy to see that they are enjoying the food from the nce itself. Her grown-up etiquette matched her voice as she wished them a Happy meal before disappearing into the kitchen. Without any further ado, the chopsticks were lifted off the table and proceeded to perform their duties.

    The chopsticks squeezed the mutton as they were lifted to the mouths. A puddle of saliva weed the tender pieces as it entered the mouth. The moment it touched the taste buds, a violent explosion went off in the minds of the couple as their eyes went wide with the enticing beauty in their mouths. Slowly and steadily, each piece of mutton was churned with abundant saliva while Lee and An savoured its taste by every bit.

    The trance was disrupted as the mutton pieces were all gone inside their mouths. Like a pre-recorded action, they pulled the te of Silk Rooster meat and One-eyed Salmonbo in front of them. The circr arrangement of ovepping meat textures and the thick viscous curry flowing over them was enough to bring out the glutton inside anyone.

    It only took a few minutes to empty the te. The taste was different from the previous spice-loaded cannon. This dish entirely depended upon the grace of meat and it''s intricacy. The apudable purity of meat and it''s optimum condition that enabled it to release maximum potential was awe-inspiring. As the meat faded into abyss, a sense of satisfaction crept up the hearts of Lee and An.

    Yet, their hands went towards the steamy bowl of soup. Its warmth was perfect for melting the soul and mind away. As the scent swept into the nose, Lee felt a chaotic release of memories inside him. He became rmed, but D reminded him that it was just another unlocked fragment of his memories.

    The chopsticks were reced with spoons. These shallow and wide ones were appropriate for savouring the deliciousness of soup. When the steam was blown away, drool woulde out along with them. Impatience took over An as she gulped down the steam rising spoon full of soup. She immediately regretted the decision. But the taste, HEAVENLY! Never in their wildest dreams might have they thought that a soup only made of Saffron Cauliflower and some spices can shoot you into the sky!

    Lee felt something strange as he saw her face getting bright and relieved. The spoon in her mouth did not move an inch as she was one with the soup. Lee nced at the spoon and took a mouthful of it.

    *BOOM*

    An avnche of warmth and tenderness broke out in his mind. His resolute mind became squishy as a sponge in the process. The wonder taste of the soup made them ignore the rising steam as they drank it down with enthusiasm. The track of time and space was lost for them. No notification could pull Lee back to reality. No sense of hostility disturbed An''s serene dinner.

    The soup level in the bowl hit the bottom as the spoon made a ng noise with the bowl. At the very instant, their stomachs let out a long thanksgiving song. Looking around, they realised istion around them. While the soup gave them a heavenly vision, all the other customers had left.

    Hearing the thanksgiving song, Li Aiguo came to collect the te. Visibly older than Li Fenfang, he had a cute and adorable appearance with a tall and lean physique. He smiled as he bowed and offered to take the tes. Lee smiled and nodded as he took the tes away. Old man Li approached them as Li Aiguo left for the kitchen.

    "I hope the food was to your liking. We are not very famous when ites to delicacy. If you like the food, pleasee and visit us again."

    The feeble voice of Old man Li was greeted by a warm and broad smile. Old man Li inquired further-

    "Have you found a ce to stay in the city?!"

    An shook her head in disagreement as Lee replied-

    "Can elder Li suggest us a ce to stay?"

    ------------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2120

    Essence: 16800 (9 PM)

    Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    De-Spell

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 60: A Temporary Stay

    Chapter 60: A Temporary Stay

    =====

    9 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification was a shock to Lee. He can be in a killing spree or battle frenzy for more than an hour, but food?! The numbness of realising that food is so addictive that one will not know he/she is killed while savouring, gave goosebumps to his spirit. His consciousness quivered in this revtion, but his poker-face kept this ripple inside him.

    "The inns are very crowded these days. Thus it might be impossible to get a room tonight. But.."

    The short pause by Old man Li made Lee lean on the table on his elbow with curious eyes. An also was anxious as to what suggestion this old man might put forward.

    "We used to run an inn above the diner. It was taken down by the order of the mayor. The beds are moved to our house where they pick up dust ever since. I can help you with tonight''s stay."

    The reply was inside D''s assumption. From his keen observation, Lee was informed that the man was beingpletely truthful and honest. The attitude to help, even a stranger who had not met before, was the most purest civil duty Lee had ever witnessed. He stood up and bowed with admiration as he replied-

    "We thank you for your kindness."

    An felt proud of Lee for some strange reason. She felt proud like a mother watching her child being respectful and respected by the society.

    The old man patted Lee''s shoulder and was about to say something, when Li Fenfang came running towards them.

    "I''m sorry sir. I apologise for the inconveniences my grandfather has made."

    Lee raised his head as he stood at ease.

    "You are mistaken. Your grandfather is a very good man. He has not brought any troubles."

    *sigh*

    Li Fenfang sighed as she misunderstood the situation. She exined the reason why she had thought that his father had troubled the customers.

    Though aged, old man Li took care of the restaurant as his own soul and body. Before anyone, the old man would wake up and clean the tables early in the morning. His old age would often hesitate toply and he would fall sick or get injured. Once, he tripped and fell over a waiter who was distributing the food to the table. The tray fell from his hands and the customer was furious. He did not hit the old Li just because he''s of old age. Old Li knew that his time to manage the restaurant was over, but he still tries to be of a helping hand!

    The time had gone past 9.30 and Li Aiguo went to close the door beforeing towards them. He was surprised to see two customers still inside, so hurried to the door. Old man saw this and called him by his name. He exined the situation in which Lee and An are in.

    "Sure. If grandpa decides, we agree with it."

    Li Aiguo sounded his utmost belief in his grandpa''s decision. Li Fenfang was cautious of them, especially Lee, as his attire was strange and unseen before.

    Lee and An followed old man Li, Li Fenfang and Li Aiguo as they exited the diner through the kitchen door. The kitchen was spacious enough for performing culinary skills and old Li told them that Aiguo is actually in-charge of cooking and preparing meals while Fenfang is the one who oversees the finance management. Lee suddenly remembered that he hadn''t paid for the food.

    "It''s okay. You can pa-"

    "200 bronze coins!"

    Before old Li finished his sentence, Li Fenfang had replied in an instant. Lee did not mind the ovepping statements as he pulled out a gold coin and gave it to Li Fenfang. Seeing the coin, her eyes went wide.

    "I felt that the food is worth more than that. I can assure you that it is the best food we have eaten till now."

    Fenfang did not reply anything as she took the coin from Lee''s hand. She pressed and scratched it to make sure that it is not fake. Her suspicion woke up amusement in An and Lee. Together, they stepped out of the kitchen and old man Li locked the door of the kitchen from the outside.

    A small house was situated behind the restaurant. It was 4 meters tall and barely two storeyed. The shed right next to it housed 13 Sand Goats. Though small, their meat was greatly delicious. A fenced coop can be seen in front of the house and Silk Roosters sat inside it silently.

    The door was opened and the interior of the home was exposed to Lee''s night vision eyes. Li Fenfang stepped inside the darkness and reaches for an oilmp. Her hands that were well ustomed with every nook and corner of the house lit a match and ignited the wick of themp. Under the slowly brightening light, An saw the simplicity of their home.

    The house measured 6 meters long and almost 5 meters wide. Only one door existed to enter and exit. A four paned square window facing the eastern direction allowed morning light to enter easily. The walls were made of mudrocks with wooden logs supporting the chasis. Thebination might not have been perfect, but the sheer durability tost without any external damage was interesting. A double bed and a small single bed were arranged in a corner and indicated their sleeping beds.

    A rectangr table made of simple wood and it''s 6 apanying chairs were in the middle of the room. There were three more tables inside the room, but at different corners. The kitchen and its chimney was small. Since lunch and dinner are eaten from the restaurant''s kitchen, they only need to prepare something for the morning.

    A series of vertically arranged wide steps led to the attic. By old man''s suggestion, Lee climbed the steps and saw 7 single cot wooden beds piled there in a corner. He scanned and found two beds in better state. He picked them up and dusted off the surface as An climbed up. She helped him to setup the beds near to one another. When Lee descended and conveyed that the have found a pair of good beds, old man Li had a smile of his face that resonated delightfulness.

    Without further ado, Lee climbed up as the oilmp''s me was extinguished. Total darkness enveloped the house as the lovebirds cuddled in each other''s arms. A few minutester, the faint snoring of old man Li was heard An couldn''t help abut chuckle as Lee held her tightly.

    =====

    10 P.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee had stored his jacket and An''s outer robe in his spatial ring as they sleptfortably. Sleep did not greet them as they silentlyy down in the darkness.

    *pitter patter pitter patter*

    A faint pitter patter sound could be heard from the outside. Secondster, the noise increased exponentially and gave birth to a heavy rainfall. An felt the atmosphere getting cold and she snuggled against Lee. Lee caressed her hair as he stared at the roof above him.

    ''D, how do you evaluate the day?!''

    [The day was pretty good. We narrowly escaped the disaster and roamed and met with some cursed objects. We sessfully reached Alls and pissed of a sect''s elder. But the main highlight was food. As someone bound to you, I enjoyed the delicacy just like you. The only thing that concerns you now is visible on the Map. Take a look.]

    An slept like a baby his arms. He took a peek at the Map as his arms coiled around her. The Map was zoomed on where they are and Lee noticed the sleeping figures of old man and the siblings. He was astonished to see many green dots running around the streets of the city. When the Map was zoomed out enough to see the city of Alls as a whole, the names and position of sect manors of each sect werebelled. More than 800 disciples can be seen mobilised as they filled each intersection and road. D promptly reported that these disciples had the insignia of three different sects. The situation was somehow clear to Lee as he expected him to be hunted down quickly. But he never forsaw such arge number disciples after his life.

    *sigh*

    ''Let them search for me everywhere. For now, Status.''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2120

    Essence: 18620 (10 PM)

    Money: 952 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 320

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)

    Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    De-Spell

    Flight

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    RE-MODEL:-

    ==========

 Chapter 61: Quest & Bath

    Chapter 61: Quest & Bath

    =====

    Quest generated!

    ''Defeat a total of 450 disciples in a day.''

    Reward: 2500 Essence, 5 Attribute points, 1 Skill Token, 1 Outfit Token.

    Progress: 0/450.

    Duration: 24 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds.

    Activation: Anytime.

    =====

    April 16th of Earth calendar. 15 days have passed since Lee reached this dimension. A recap of these days was a sweet reminder to Lee that he can survive anywhere if he had the system. His gratitude to D was slightly shaken when he saw the notification in front of his eyes as soon as he woke up.

    Quest was something that the Will of the Dimension consciously conveyed to D. Thus, it can be said that the Will itself is the person who demands thepletion of the quest. As D informed earlier, each quest has a meaning and is meant to help Lee achieve his objectives.

    The displeasing and unexpected appearance of the quest panel made Lee frown. He was a little surprised to see a quest after a long time!

    ''D, I got the overall quest description. But exin the rewards, duration and activation.''

    [You are aware what an Attribute point is. So let''s skip that. The Skill Token is a one-time token to buy a skill you like. The skill can be anything. The Outfit Token is another one-time use token to buy an outfit of your liking. If Shop has it, you can have it.

    The Duration only appears with time limited quests. Here, the quest has a maximum time limit of one day. If you fail toplete the quest in one day.....even I don''t know what will happen next!

    The Activation is the cue to start the quest. For this quest, it is given as ''Anytime''. That means the quest activates on its own when necessary conditions are fulfilled. I guess the condition might be to have a sect disciple in the vicinity or visual range.]

    Lee heard the exnation and was in a dreamy abstraction. He took a few minutes to think and again asked several minute doubts. After going for around 30 minutes, An twitched and yawned as she woke up. Her face bloomed as she saw herself in Lee''s arms. Her arms went around his neck as he greeted her.

    "You seem distressed. Is there something worrying you?!"

    An asked as she noticed a frown which was inappropriate for the asion. Lee repeated the words of the quest in a different way that it felt like the Sovereign hadmanded to do so. An was surprised to hear about the outsidemotions of yesterday. She got up and sat on the bed. Lee followed her lead and sat up.

    "Was there any specificmand on defeating them all by your own?"

    An probed as she did not hear any use that conveyed ''Lee must defeat them himself''. Lee can tell her intentions even before the question wasplete.

    "Yes. I have to do it myself. If I don''t, then I cannot grow further."

    Lee gave an indirect answer that meant he must do it himself. An did not feel gloomy as his answer contained the need of doing so.

    Some noises from downstairs confirmed that the old man and his grandchildren are awake. Since they run a restaurant, it was important to wake up early so as to prepare the ingredients for cooking.

    Lee took out his jacket and An''s outer robe and sword from his ring. He held the sword as he told her that he will reforge it as soon as possible. She smiled in delightment as a reply.

    Old man Li was sitting on a chair near the table when they descended the steps. He greeted them and they greeted back. An nced around and saw Li Fenfang and Li Aiguo feeding the roosters, through the window. She was excited at once and went outside. Lee did not follow her, but gave the old man apany.

    =====

    7 A.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The reminder went off and the old man rose up on his feet. As someone living for more than six decades, old man Li was very cautious about time. He was so precise that he and the system''s clock were in harmony!

    Old man walked outside and saw his grandchildren and An feeding the roosters and goats. As they caught the nce of him, they hurriedly halted their activities and came at him. An walked and stood next to Lee, who was right behind the old man. When the grandchildren joined them, the old man took the lead and walked to the kitchen of the restaurant.

    Within 10 minutes, the kitchen was prepared and the vegetables and ingredients needed for the morning food was readied to proceed. Li Aiguo wore his chef''s attire while Li Fenfang went to open the door. As soon as the door was opened, a few dwarves and young orcs came and dly greeted her. From the greetings, it is evident that they were regr customers.

    "I cannot thank you enough for your help."

    Lee turned to old man Li before going out of the kitchen door and into the diner area. Old man Li patted his shoulder and replied-

    "You are a good man, son. Take care of your wife well."

    The voice was faint and the statements were true. An was surprised to hear this, but Lee was not. From his old age and interaction with so many people, it is agreeable to say that he can read people like a paper. Lee nodded with ardency. Lee and An entered the diner and slipped to the outside. Luckily, the customers were having a hearty conversation and they did not notice them going out.

    The streets were gradually getting bright with the light from the horizon. Lee searched for the nearest inn and found one about 100 meters west from where they were. He let An know of the inn and they walked towards it together.

    It was morning and the number of disciples were very low. They were searching for Lee the whole night. Thus they became tired by the morning. Lee thanked fate for making them search in a hastest night. Without a single disciple in the vicinity, they strolled while enjoying the early warmth of the starlights.

    "Heavenly Zither Inn"

    The four storeyed tall and wide building stood basking in starlight as Lee stood in front of it and read out its name. The brick red coloured walls and gorgeous golden murals of people ying zithers filled the sight. Stepping forward, Lee and An went up the set of steps and reached the door. The closed door reflected the bright daylight with a golden elegance. As Lee inspected the door, it was opened from the inside.

    A goblin girl appeared as the door was pulled inside. The girl was surprised to see customers the moment she opened the door. She froze in her tracks, but the door swung open. Her hands were retracted to her chest at the first nce of Lee and An.

    The girl was hardly the height of Lee''s shoulder. Her face and figure was that of a 17 year old. She wore a blue kimono and her hair was wellbed and braided. She felt helpless as Lee peered at her from top to bottom.

    "Ha...hai! Hello! Wee to the Heavenly Zither Inn."

    Despite the surprise, she held herposure and tried to greet the strangers. She politely moved out of the way and weed the duo. Lee and An were impressed by her etiquette as they nodded and entered.

    The reception weed them with a wonderful painting hanging behind the desk. It depicted a man with his zither fighting a hideous creature. The art was apudable as only experts could decipher it.

    The girl that received them hurriedly reached the reception desk as the couple scanned around the inside of the room. The girl wore a delighted smile as she spoke up-

    "Wee to Heavenly Zither Inn. How may I help you?"

    An was impressed in her manners and speech, even though it was all part of her job. She stepped forward and replied.

    "We are travellers from another city. We need to rent a room."

    The goblin girl nodded as she dly conveyed that only one room was vacant. She politely added-

    "The room rent for a day is 35 silver coins. The three meals a day costs 45 silver coins. We have bath facilities for each gender separately. The bath cost 50 silver coins."

    The professional side of the girl was evident. Her fluent exnation was short and precise. An looked over her shoulder and Lee came forward.

    "We need a room for two. But before that, we need a bath. Meals are not necessary. It is difficult to tell how long we will stay. Let''s say for a week."

    The girl was delighted to hear Lee''s response. She quickly took out a key from the drawer and handed it over to An. The key had the number ''12'' etched on its bow.

    "The room rent for the week will be 245 bronze coins and the bath will be 100 bronze. Its 345 bronze coins in total."

    Lee nced at his Inventory and saw only 31 bronze coins. But his gold coin count was very high. So he had no choice but to pull out one and ask for change. The girl''s eyes went wide as she saw a gold coin appearing in Lee''s hand. She was surprised to see a gold coin, but was more surprised to see iting out of thin air!

    "Sir, we do not have a change as it is still early for the stores to open. I suggest you pay after converting it to silver or bronze coins."

    Lee nodded and asked where the bath was. The girl pointed to the long corridor left to the desk as she told that the baths are at the end of the corridor. She added that the baths are clearlybelled to not have any mishaps.

    After taking 10 or 13 steps into the corridor, they saw doors on the right and left sides. The door to the right wasbelled ''Female'' while the left one was ''Male''. They separated and entered the baths. Both of the baths were empty. There was arge tub of warm and bubbling water. It was partitioned by the wall as it extended to both baths uniformly. Without wasting a moment, they entered the water. A rushing sensation offort greeted them as they felt their fatigue floating away.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee woke up from the serene fantasy by the popped up panel. He nced at the Map and confirmed they An is safe and secure in the bath next door. Lee turned his attention to his affinity panel. Fire, Water, Ice and Light was still to be improved. Remembering something, he raised his doubts at D.

 Chapter 62: The Sword Of Memory Is The Best In Armoury

    Chapter 62: The Sword Of Memory Is The Best In Armoury

    ''D, can you exin the Essence to elemental progress conversion briefly.''

    [*sigh* Okay, listen carefully. I won''t tell this again. The Essence to elemental progress conversion is only avable for the affinities. The immunities must be created and increased with exposure to the respective ones.

    The conversion rate of Essence to progress varies with each stage. The ''Lesser'' stage has a rate of 1:4. That means, for every one point of progress, you have to spend four Essence points. The ''Medium'' stage has the rate of 1:16 and the ''Greater'' stage has 1:256 ratio. The rate is set to such a height so that you don''t be azy bum!]

    ''If that is the case, then use 1600 Essence to upgrade the Lesser ones to Medium stage.''

    [Done.]

    Lee slowly stood up and walked to the side. He got out of the tub and dried himself. A tingling sensation of happiness swept across him as he stretched his limbs. He nced over his dress and felt reluctant to wear it. The jeans and the inner tee was not a high quality item that has self cleaning property. The enhanced eyesight could not unsee the dirt patches and his nose detected displeasing scents. At once, he summoned D.

    ''Is there a lifestyle skill to clean and purify physical objects?''

    [Yes, there is one. It is called ''Cleanse''. It is used to remove dirt and impurities from objects. It is the perfect skill to clean your clothes.]

    ''Show it, D.''

    =====

    Name: Cleanse.

    Description: A lifestyle skill with diverse uses. The skill is very useful in cleaning surfaces and purifying objects. The cleansinges at a cost, and this cost is proportional to the cleansing done. Deeper and tougher stains consume more Essence to remove.

    Cost: 1100 Essence.

    =====

    ''Buy it.''

    [Hehe...brought it!]

    =====

    The skills ''De-Spell'' and ''Cleanse'' can be merged. Proceed?

    =====

    The unexpected dialogue box caused Lee to frown as he demanded an exnation from D.

    [When two skills of the same properties are acquired, those skills can be merged to create a new one. This can rarely result in obtaining cool and powerful skills. Sometimes, the result might be a skill already existing in another category.]

    Lee did not think on it for long as he uttered-

    ''Merge.''

    The panel disappeared and was nowhere seen. D prompted that the skill merging can take some time. As Lee extended his hands to take up the clothes, the new skill was formed. It''s information came up on a panel.

    =====

    Name: Spotless.

    Description: The resultant skill of merging De-Spell and Cleanse. This spell can remove mundane and magical restrictions and impurities. The proficiency of the skill is entirely based on the host''s willpower and resolve. No Essence cost discount.

    =====

    Lee grinned as he acquired the skill. Checking the existence of the skill in the Skills tab, he stared at his clothes and extended his hands as the skill was activated. The dirt and unpleasantness on the dresspletely vanished as 125 Essence vanished from his bnce.

    An endless happiness roared inside Lee as he wore his dress in a hurry. As he opened the door, An was seen standing at the corridor, anxiously waiting for him. An''s dress also had a few patches of dirt that were almost visible to the naked eye. Lee extended his hand at her as he walked towards her. 30 Essence was reduced this time. The extended hand gave her a frown.

    The process onlysted a second and Lee rxed his hand. Walking side by side with her, they exited the corridor and saw the goblin girl beaming at them from the reception desk.

    "Room 12 is on the first floor. You can see it''s position from this outline."

    As An and Lee approached the desk, the girl spoke as she ced the floor outline of the first floor in front of them. From the first nce, they saw the cement of room 12 at the far end of the floor. The duo nodded delightedly and moved towards the stairs which was right to the reception.

    The winding stairs were decorated with innumerous carvings of musicians ying musical instruments. A lot of humanoid and demonoid figures can be seen dancing to the tune. The mesmerizing melody on the carvings made their ascend quicker.

    The room was unlocked as An inserted the key into the keyhole and the door was opened. The floor was made out of a light brown texture wood. The wide window on the wall straight ahead gave ess to daylight. The bed wasrge enough for two people. The round wooden table beneath the beautifulntern had two chairs near it. 4 paintings of men and women ying musical instruments were hung on the walls. The oilmps on all four walls gave off an aesthetic beauty. These features in a room of 5 meter length and 4 meter width was pleasing to the eye.

    An went straight to the bed and fell like a log onto it. The bubbling bath was so refreshing, her body felt the effect of a sedative. As Lee slowly drew closer to the bed, An was at the verge of falling asleep. He nced out through the window next to the bed and saw a few disciples roaming on the streets. His figure sat at the edge of the bed, deep in thought.

    *poke poke*

    Something poked Lee from the behind and he looked over his shoulder. It was An who poked him with her sword''s scabbard. She wanted to ask something, but her heavy eyes closed shut before she could speak. Her cid mind slipped deep into a tireless slumber.

    Lee took the scabbard and the sword from her hands. His mind raised a number of questions at its first nce.

    [I know what you are thinking. ''Spotless'' can only remove the impurities from an object. It cannot restore the object.]

    Lee was not disheartened by thement. He summoned his Inventory and shuttled his sight between the Cold Nyx Silver needles and An''s sword.

    ''D, if I remember correctly, you said that providing the necessary materials for reshaping can decrease the Essence usage, right?''

    [The change is not significantlyrge. The cost reduced is the Essence used to convert the existing material into the desired material. So, if you provide the material, less Essence spent!]

    ''Open Re-Model.''

    The disy appeared and the ck and white representation of An''s traditional Jian sword came into view. Lee leaned forward as he analysed the sword through thorough scanning. He was absolutely ready to alter the sword design, but An''s words resonated in his mind. He felt partially reluctant to proceed as his final product will be different from what it is now.

    ''Screw the design! I want her to be safe, and I want a sword that can keep her safe. I want to reform the sword into one that looks cool and is visibly overpowering!''

    The mind was made and hands moved in unison. The design slowly took shape as his eyes observed every aspect of the forting sword. The track was lost, again!

    =====

    9 A.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification came up, only to be instantly muted by Lee. Hands swiftly moved over the screen which only he can see. Unbeknownst to him, An was wide awake from her short nap. She stretched her limbs as she nced around. The back of Lee was visible to her. She saw his hands moving vigorously and guessed that he was upied with something of great importance. As she crawled over to his side, she could not see anything in front of him as his hands nimbly moved in the air. She consoled herself that Lee had not gone crazy!

    Couple of minutester, his hands came to a halt as he looked very delighted. His wide smile only brought frown to An as she did not know what he was doing in the air. Lee heaved a sigh as he nodded in achievement. His smile turned to visible surprise as he was expecting An to be asleep, and not by his side. His raised brows conveyed the fact that he did not see her all this time.

    "If you are going crazy, just tell me. I will knock you unconscious and call a doctor."

    An stated with a frowned seriousness. She was yet to see the fruit of Lee''s hardwork and imagination. Lee chuckled as he asked-

    "Where is your sword?"

    An was alert by his question as she searched the bed for her sword, but in vain. Her distraught countenance felt painful for him to bear, so he calmed her troubled heart.

    "You don''t have to worry. I took it to remodel it, and I just finished the job. I cannot say whether it looks good or bad than it used to. Decide it yourselves!"

    Lee proceeded to pay and 360 Essence was deducted from his reserve. Before An''s eyes, a dim light shone and faded away to reveal a sword in his hand!

 Chapter 63: The Exquisite Longsword

    Chapter 63: The Exquisite Longsword

    The overall length was 118.5 centimetres. The de alone was exactly 92 centimetres while the divided grip was 18 and a half long. The 19 centimetres wide guard was apanied with a uniform 4.5 centimetres wide de.

    Navy blue leather wrapped the grip clockwise with elegance. The 3 centimetre long guard on either sides literally resembled an asphalt grey coloured raven spreading its wings. The body of the raven was reced by a trilliant diamond on either side. The 4 centimetres long pommel with metallic luster was the extension of a long, thin needle housed inside the grip. The slightlyrger radius of the pommel acted as a fulcrum to elerate the swings.

    The hexagonal cross-sectioned de of ink ck colour was the best thing about this longsword. The 12 centimetres at the tip of the de converged to a needle point. The unyielding strength and featherlight property of Cold Nyx Silver kept the weight of the sword below 450 grams. The pommel and the guard were also fashioned out of the same substance.

    The swordid in Lee''s hands horizontally. No matter how hard she tried, there was no resemnce she could find between this sword and her previous one. To craft a longsword from an almost worn out traditional chinese jian sword can only be considered as a lie. Her hands refused to take a hold of the sword.

    Lee noticed her clenched fist and unwilling face. Lee stepped forward and took An''s right hand and ced it over the sword''s grip. An understood his intention. Since she did not want him to be disheartened, she held the grip gently.

    The moment she held it, a wave of familiarity passed into her hand and travelled through her body. Her eyes went wide as she felt the same feeling of holding the memorial sword. Her surprise skyrocketed as she effortlessly lifted the longsword. D chuckled at An''s innocent expression.

    "How..how did you make this? Was it really made from the old sword?"

    Her words had a difficult timeing out of her throat. Her attention was entirely on the sword.

    "The de, guard and pommel are all made out of Cold Nyx Silver we collected before. As for the diamond and other parts..it''s a secret!"

    Lee smirked as he spoke and added to pull the pommel out. As An pulled it downward, it came detached and the thin needle connected to it was exposed. Lee warned that the needle is coated with poison, and An ced it back in its ce. Lee assured that it will note loose unless she willfully pull it out.

    An raised the sword and felt it''s featherlight in her palm. The wings and the ck de gave of an overbearing aura, which she liked. As she was getting familiarised with the longsword, Lee asked her to inject her qi into it.

    *zzzz........*

    A short and muffled buzz was heard as she injected her qi into it. Now, a pink hue can be seen along the edges of the de. She was astonished to see the sharp edges of the de taking up a pink colour. Her hands felt uneasy for some reason unknown to her.

    "The uneasiness you feel is the special property of the sword. When injected your qi into it, the de begins to vibrate at a very high rate. The initial agitation is the sword getting familiarised with your qi. When the uneasiness dies out, the sword would have recognised you as it''s master. It will only bring its maximum potency when in your hands."

    As Lee described, the trembling stopped after a few minutes. An was more happy to see that the entire de edges were of the bright pink colour. Lee detailed that a continuous supply of qi is not needed. The sword can feel her mind as she holds it.

    "There are a few things you have to be cautious of. The sword is lightweight, so it is essential that youpletely adjust with the sword. Since it is very easy to swing and is a longsword, you have to be aware of its range.

    The sharpness of the Cold Nyx Silver is otherworldly. This longsword can easily be graded as a Higher Silver category. The umon lightness and superior sharpness can injure anyone.

    Finally, whenever the pink hue appears, the sharpness of the edges takes a dramatic increase. If not careful, you might end up killing innocent lives."

    Lee turned to the screen as he finished advising. He instantly modified the scabbard of the sword to fit the present one. After paying 23 Essence, the scabbard appeared in his arms. Lee passed it to An as he exined that the inside is lined with the left-over materials.

    *yawn*

    The tiredness took effect as he felt sluggish. He fell on the bed and told An to wake him up after an hour. An vigorously nodded as her eyes were carefully scanning the wondersword''s exterior. Lee saw her bncing the sword horizontally at her fingertip beforepletely nodding off.

    ----------------------

    =====

    10 A.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ----------------------

    "Lee.Lee.wake up.wake up!"

    Just like he asked, An waited for an hour and then rocked him until he sat up on the bed. The longsword was ced in its scabbard and was right next to her. He rubbed his eyes and yawned again for no reason. He peeked at the Map to see a good number of disciples roaming the streets of the city.

    "Looks like the time is perfect for making a grand entrance. Do you want toe with me or stay here?!"

    Lee probed at An, though he knew her answer would not be theter. As he expected, An replied that she wants toe with him. Both of them quickly had a bottle of Horned-Mow milk and a few loaves of Honey Bread before going out.

    Descending the flight of stairs, the concerned goblin girl standing at the desk was the first thing An noticed. A full-fledged damphir standing next to her had her hand supporting her chin. As the duo''s footsteps attracted the girl''s attention, she quickly approached them.

    "Sir, a few Wind Jade sect disciples were here asking for you about half an hour ago."

    The words of the girl had a tinge of concern. Lee nodded as a response while An probed-

    "How can you tell that they were looking for him?"

    "They described his clothes in detail. At a nce, the outfit strangely stands out!"

    The damphir stepped forward as she answered. She took a light bow to show respect to her customers.

    "Thank you for the information. I''ll bring the change when Ie back."

    Lee said as he turned to the door. An followed him as her sword''s scabbard caught the attention of the receptionists. Their eyes were in awe by catching sight of the beautiful and battle-spirited scabbard and the guard and grip of the longsword. The wings of raven and the trilliant diamond surprised the goblin girl as she did not see such an essory on An before.

    The doors were opened and the duo entered the streets. D reminded Lee that the sparring arenas were a great ce to fight with sect disciples. The nearest arena was marked on the Map and Lee paced towards it.

    "Hey you..you are the one who defeated our elder, eh?!"

    A shout from the behind paused Lee''s track. He turned his torso to see three Wind Jade sect disciples. The two males carried a spear and a mace respectively while the female had a jian sword unsheathed in her hand. The man with the mace stepped forward as the mace rested on his shoulder.

    "Follow us obediently and you shall not be hurt. Resist and you will suffer."

    Lee noticed his surroundings as he became a beacon of attention. His extraordinary perception picked up someone informing his fellow disciples of Lee''s position from a faraway distance.

    "I don''t think it is that easy. I will only follow one who defeats me."

    Lee shook his head in disagreement and turned to walk away. The man was enraged as heprehended Lee''s answer as a rejection. He gripped his mace with rage and stepped forward, but the girl stopped him.

    "Then I challenge you!"

    The feminine shout made An turn her head instantly. Seeing an arrogant smug in the 19 year old girl''s face, she inwardly felt sympathy for this hotblooded child.

    "Towards the arena."

    Lee walked towards the arena as he dered without batting an eye. The very moment, a panel opened up and notified him that the quest is now active.

    Step by step, he drew closer to the arena. The disciples from the three sects recognised him from his outfit and tailed him. They all came to know that Lee would only follow the one who defeats him. Their eyes glistened as they picturised themselves overpowering him and being gifted with cultivation scrolls and precious pills! Some of the disciples noticed An''s premium weapon. They knitted their bows as the woman in cultivator robe was apanied by a longsword!

    Arenas were the tforms raised from ground by the height of an adult''s chest and measured 13 meters in length and breadth. The firm and smooth surface along with umon toughness was the signature property of Gigian rocks.

    Lee reached on the tform with a single leap. As his feet came in contact with the rock, Lee felt a restraining force nullifying a portion of his strength.

    [Do not worry. This is a hidden property of the Gigian rock. It limits the released potential of anything ites into contact. This keeps any potentially destructive power from going rampant. Only a very few can sessfully create cracks on this rock in a single hit!]

    Lee listened to D''s description as the opponent came up on the tform. Though only 19 year old, this girl exhibited steadiness and proficiency as she pulled out the sword.

 Chapter 64: Inner & Outer Disciples

    Chapter 64: Inner & Outer Disciples

    "Where is your weapon?"

    The girl had a sense of chivalry. She hesitated to attack Lee who was standing barehanded. Lee smirked yfully.

    "I don''t use a sledgehammer to kill a cockroach!"

    *boom*

    The aura of a peak Foundation Building realm cultivator swept across the arena. The enragingment hit the bullseye. It was exactly what Lee intended. He wanted them to attack him as he stepped on their pride. The mastermind behind this crooked n to bait his opponents was D.

    "DIE!!"

    A furious roar came out as the girl leaped forward. Her eyes burned with rage as Lee rted her to a cockroach. Her speed was good, but nowhere near Lee. As her sword neared him, Lee evaded the strike by stepping into his right. As the female figure was right beside him, his left hand rose up and came down with a thud. The hit behind her neck knocked the girl unconscious as she fell on the floor.

    Herpanions and the disciples of Wind Jade sect felt humiliated by this act. The humiliation multiplied as someone shouted-

    "Wind Jade, eh? More like fleeting clouds!"

    Lee chuckled at thement as he took the unconscious girl into his arms. He walked to the edge of the arena and threw her at herpanions. They caught her in the mid-air and brought her to the ground.

    "One could not do anything. Can you two even touch me?!"

    Those with the mace and spear sprang up onto the arena. They shouted as they charged at Lee.

    "Seven Phantom Spear Technique!"

    "Twisting Mace ughter"

    Lee slipped his hands inside the jean''s pockets. Seeing this, the guy with the mace slowed down as the spearman thrusted his spear at Lee''s neck, chest and forehead with near perfect precision. It was so fast that it produced phantom trails. Lee evaded as he jumped to his left.

    =====

    11 A.M.

    1820 Essence harvested.

    =====

    D cried out in caution as an unseen danger descended down on him. Before getting a firm footing, Lee jumped up into the air with all of his strength, and a mace came down and touched where he just stood.

    *thack*

    The hit did not put a scratch on the tform, but created a gasp among the Wind Jade sect disciples. They cursed Lee''s luck as he evaded thebined attacks of the Chen twins. Even Xiu Fai had a slight difficulty in dealing with these twins.

    Anger welled up inside Lee as he did not expect a sneak attack by calcting where he mightnd. D stated that they are now standing in an arena and must be ready for all kinds of attacks.

    Lee came down and nted his leg firm on the tform. He stared at the spear guy and dashed at him. The spear came at him with vigour. Inches away from the spear, Lee jumped and did a screwdriver flip. As he descended his leg came down at the spear guy''s face like a brick.

    *thud*

    In less than 2 seconds, the spear had fallen. Lee caught the man by his leg and was getting dragged out of the arena. The mace guy was furious as his twin brother was being treated like a sack of potatoes.

    Lee picked up the spear from the floor by its spearhead. The mace came down on Lee''s head, but missed its target as he had flipped to his right. Using the momentum, the body of the spear came swinging at the man''s face.

    *pak*

    The short noise was apanied with the sound of a hammer falling. The wooden body of the spear created a thick bruise on his face as he stumbled on his knees disoriented. The man could not open his left eyes as it stung with great pain at each attempt.

    Lee threw the spear on the floor as he nced at the quest window.

    =====

    Quest:-

    Progress: 3/450

    Time: 23 hours 27 minutes 35 seconds

    =====

    ncing at the crouching man who groaned in pain, Lee teased all the disciples around him.

    "Did you insects think that you could take me down? Or are you all a bunch of retarded sect disciples?!"

    For once, the sect disciples got amon enemy. Their enmity was forgotten as they jumped onto the arena and attacked Lee ruthlessly. Their individual strengths were no match to Lee, but their sheer number posed a difficulty.

    Lee could be seen dashing and jumping through the menacing hostile crowd. For a long time, he evaded the strikes as the uncoordinated attacks were full of escape routes. It took almost an hour for the disciples of three sects to conclude that teamwork is essential to take down the enemy.

    Once the attacks were organised, the efficiency and strength of the strikes took up quality. Lee found himself in an omnidirectional battle. His defense was able to block hits, but he was very careful as to those that aimed at his eyes and neck. Lee danced through the horde as his legs delivered kicks and hands presented blows. Both Lee and the surrounding crowd lost their sense of time!

    When the crowd dwindled to one digit counts, Lee felt a shiver down his spine with premonition. Without a second thought, he jumped backward and where he stood a second before exploded. The Foresight helped him see an arrow hitting the ground as soon as he lept backward.

    *BOOM*

    Dust and smoke rose as the miniature explosive went off. Lee retreated to the edge of the arena as D informed him that the smoke contained sedative chemicals. His mental resilience fought against the sedative''s effect. Lee peeped at the Map and saw 16 red dots over the surrounding buildings. The sect disciples were all coloured grey as they were knocked unconscious either by Lee or by the sedative explosion. An was struggling to stay awake, but Lee whispered at her toy down and stay immobile. An sensed some greater danger outside the veil of smoke.

    Lee did not know who they were, but he decided to consider them as his enemies as they intentionally aimed at him. He nced at the quest window and was delighted to see the progress at 188. The time left to finish the quest was 22 hours and 39 minutes.

    The vision obscuring smoke veil was beginning to disperse when Lee pulled out his bow and fired Ex-Ho arrows. The arrows shed out of the bow as his focus shifted from each red dot in the Map. The first three shots marked it''s victory with double take-out. The assants became alert as they scanned their surroundings. They did not see any arrows exiting the smoke veil, nor did they expect one to.

    Five more explosions and the next five fell unconscious. By the time they figured out the arrows'' trajectory, they became confused. The smoke veil faded away as Lee stored the bow back in his Inventory. The newly acquired immunity to sedatives grew visible confusion on their faces.

    "We do not know who you are, but you tried to trample over the pride of our Phoenix w sect. me your own foolishness for today ends your journey!"

    D quickly scanned the 3 men and 2 women at the top of the buildings. As D expected, they were the inner court disciples of the three sects. And 11 of them got taken out as soon as they annoyed Lee.

    "Chicken w sect? Since when did people begin to name their sects after chicken ws and mutton limbs?!"

    Leeughed aloud and his voice resonated in the ears of the inner disciples. The man who talked just now furiously nced at his fellow female disciple. She immediately shot an arrow at Lee.

    Lee took out his de from his spatial ring. D warned that this arrow also contains a small explosive pouch. Lee inwardly nodded as he jumped backward.

    *poof*

    There was no explosion, but a rising cloud of pista green colour. It dispersed to the surroundings and enveloped Lee and the arena.

    [Hahahaha....it''s poison! Lee..these idiots used poison!! Then, why don''t we give them the taste of their own medicine?!]

    ''You mean, Poison arrows?!''

    [Yes, but twice the power. Fire a Poison arrow attributed with your Poison affinity. Don''t forget the default Explosive Homingbo!]

    As D instructed, Lee took out his bow and a Poison Explosive Homing arrow materialised as the string was pulled backward. Lee applied his own Poison attribute and the arrow literally became soaked in poison. The smoke screen was translucent and made Lee''s actions obscure. Those that stood on the building top guessed that he''s struggling against the poison.

    *whish*

    Before the group could react, an arrow originated from the smoke cloud and raced towards them. The arrow had reached in front of the group even before they could raise their guard.

    The arrow silently exploded and a thick dark mucus sttered towards them. The archer female who had a poison attribute recognised it, but the others could not. The other 3 males and one female became struck with paralysing poison!

    "It is poison! Shook it off!"

    The archer''s remark skipped their beat. With horror filled eyes, they nced at the receding poison cloud and saw Lee unharmed!

 Chapter 65: Quest After Quest

    Chapter 65: Quest After Quest

    With all the previous fights and chaos, the intersection where the arena was situated had very less number of civilians. The inflow of sect disciples gradually pushed the civilianspletely out of the intersection.

    The explosion on the arena made thest bunch of bravemonfolk to scatter into winds. Those that saw the inner sect disciples retreated to their crib. The arena and its surroundings were empty of any conscious being.

    The archer girl tried to keep her femalepanion awake, but poison soon knocked out her. She came here with 15 of her fellow inner disciples, but she is now left to fight this monster alone. Her eyes focussed on Lee as she shouted at him-

    "Okay, you are stronger. We admit defeat. But you will soon feel the wrath of our sect elders."

    Lee did not like thest sentence and he pulled the bowstring. The female archer was dumbstruck to see him materialising the arrow from the thin air. Her senses were frozen and her limbs went numb as the arrow left the bow. The arrow shed forward and approached her swiftly. Like a remote controlled toy, the arrow exploded when it reached right in front of her. She made a desperate retreat backward, but was alreadyte to do so. The explosion threw her backward and onto the ground.

    *thud*

    Lee propelled himself at the t roof of the building using Flight. With his enormous hindlimb strength, it looked like he was jumping onto the top of the building in one go. The bruised archer went pale as she saw him jumping onto the roof with a light thud. She tried to stand up, but witnessing Leeing up on the roof of the building shook her mind and trembled the limbs.

    "Then go and tell your elders that their dear disciples are under my custody."

    Lee spoke as he walked towards the unconscious and paralysed disciples. He activated EsGen and absorbed disciples on the floor. The female archer say this and wanted to cry, but no voice came from her mouth. Her eyes almost fell off their sockets as she noticed the spatial ring on his finger.

    "You might want to hurry. cing living things in a spatial ring can be deadly as they can die after a short period of time!"

    The same information came up in her mind even before Lee spoke it out. She mustered all of her strength to get away and reach the sect as fast as she could.

    What Lee said about the Spatial ring was true, but he actually absorbed the disciples into his EsGen storage. There, living things can stay suspended for a very, very long period or time. The suspension inside EsGen is a special case as it allows the beings to age and perish while they cannot perceive hunger, thirst or the surroundings. Their physical activities are halted, but the indispensable passage of the time axis of the dimension is reflected here.

    Lee went around leaping and collected the other 11 locked out disciples. When he descended from the buildings and neared the unconscious An, he asked D to show the most relevant current information.

    =====

    Time: 14 minutes to 2 P.M.

    Quest progress: 204/450.

    Time left: 21 hours 59 minutes.

    =====

    ''Hmm.... D, how much Essence can be generated from the 11 disciples I just caught?!''

    [Two of them are 1st stage Nascent Soul realm cultivators and four others are in Elemental Binding realm. The left five range between peak stage Qi umtion realm to middle stage of Core Formation realm. So, a maximum of 2010 Essence can be harvested from them.]

    *internal gasping*

    ''Really?!?! Then I look forward to the next hourly reminder!''

    Lee picked An into his arms and dashed towards the inn. He quickly reached his destination and went inside at once. The reception was empty and he thanked fate for so. His hind limbs took him up the stairs. He could easily reach his room as there was no one in the corridor.

    Lee locked the door behind his back as soon as he entered inside. He paced to the bed and ced An gently on it. Lee used ''Spotless'' on her clothes as she was knocked out by the sedative previously. As he checked her health and had a discussion with D, the notification he looked forward to, came up!

    =====

    2 P.M.

    3870 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee summoned the quest tab again to see the progress.

    =====

    Quest progress: 204/450

    Time left: 21 hours 45 minutes

    =====

    [Lee, I have got a surprise for you. Take a look at the Map.]

    Lee was curious as he heard D in his head. He peeked at the Map and was astonished.

    ''D..I regret leaving her alive!''

    In the Map, more than 50 red dots of varying sizes appeared. Some were normal sized ones while the radius and intensity of the dots slowly increased. There was a deep red dot bigger than anyone near it. Lee guessed that to be the Sect Leader. As his eyes scanned the aerial view, two more groups with almost simr dot patterns came to the site.

    Lee was d that he had escaped from there rather than waiting for them. It would have ended up as a suicide mission, if he kept on his arrogant self. Whenever Lee seemed to be at the verge of flipping the switch, D would give him a smack or a suggestion.

    [The deep red dots are Sect Leaders for sure. Looks like the outer disciples are being mobilised to treat the wounded warriors in battle. The sect elders grouped near the leader seems to be calcting something. They are crooked fellows, I tell you!]

    ''If I don''t fight these people now, they will make it hard for me to stay here. It will also affect An. So....I am going to face them!''

    Lee affirmed his decision as An began to squirm. It looked like the sedative had lost its effects. An slowly sat up as she recognised the room. She smiled wryly.

    "Did you win?"

    Lee leaned close to her.

    "Well...''we'' survived!"

    An nodded at his statement and slowly leaned onto the pillow as she yawned out loud. Lee can guess that this is one of the after-effects of the sedative explosion. He pulled the nket over her as she closed her eyes and slept.

    Lee stood up and walked towards the window. He opened it and peered at the direction of the arena. The bow came out in his hand and he held it vertically as he pulled the string backward.

    ''For the ambush!''

    He uttered inward as he let the string loose. The homing arrow flew up in the sky and drew a tall and enormous arc before descending. Seven more arrows were shot and they followed the first one''s trajectory. A lot of people were about to cry out in pain secondster!

    The arena and its surroundings were filled with outer sect disciples of the three sects. The less bruised treated the more wounded. The inner disciples watched over the operation as they guarded the surroundings. The elders and leaders of the sect that were cooking up a n to catch Lee nced upward as they heard a faint and short whistling sound.

    *whish whish...*

    Before they could realise what came in like a meteor, the arrows struck the ground and intense lightning strikes spreaded out like arge web. Those that were treating and were being treated spasmed and cried as they fell down on the floor with numbness. The intense lightning strikes created a momentary tempest of about 2 seconds before vanishing into thin air. As the sight cleared, the object thatnded and unleashed intense lightning was nowhere to be seen.

    Two or three elders who thoughtlessly jumped to the ground as soon as the lightning dispersed got caught in the residual shock. They fell on their knees, but soon sprang up with vigor. They reached the spots where the objects were assumed to bended, but could not find anything as they scanned the area. The confusion on the elders'' faces as they were encountered by a strange event rose into troubled countenance as they saw their disciples all numb and down like a log.

    Lee reaped an unforeseen benefit from this action. As per the quest, he needed to defeat 450 sect disciples in total. They quest did not specify that one disciple cannot be defeated again. Lee overlooked this loophole and came to realise it now. His happiness broke all sorts of restrains as the progress of the quest reached 452, which was 2 more than what was needed!

    =====

    Questpleted!

    Rewards stored in the Inventory.

    =====

    The existence of the system and its associated abilities helped Lee to survive in this world of invisible threats. His contemtion on his achievements was disrupted by another unexpected quest tab.

    =====

    Quest generated!

    ''Destroy the underground ve trade center and free the ves.''

    Rewards: 2700 Essence, ''Taming'' skill.

    =====

 Chapter 66: Another One Before Me?

    Chapter 66: Another One Before Me?

    ''What?? There is a ve trade system here?! I thought the kingdom of Venus banned such unnatural organisations!''

    [Alls seems to have an independent ve trade system hidden from the eyes of kingdom''s investigators. This underground trade center could be anywhere. I think you might need to take a stroll around the city.]

    ''I will do something about itter. Now, ce the Attribute points in Resolve.''

    [Done.]

    ''Pull up the Status panel.''

    Leemanded and hisplete status came in front of him.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 2789

    Essence: 48558 (2 P.M.)

    Money: 952 Gold, 00 Silver, 31 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11885/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12393/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (793/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Innate Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

    ''I still have not paid for the room. Do you have any idea on getting some change, D?''

    [Would you like to spend 2 Essence to break down a gold into 100 silver coins?]

    ''If you can, please do!''

    [Done. But the bronze coins will not be enough to pay for the rent. Are you ready to spend 1 Essence to break down a silver to 100 copper coins?]

    ''Looks cheap. So, yes!''

    [Done. You currently have 951 Gold, 99 Silver, 131 Copper coins.]

    (A.N. I mistakenly used ''bronze'' instead of ''copper'' in a previous chapter. I hope you guys can forgive me.)

    ''Use the Skill Token.''

    =====

    Offense

    Defense

    Agility

    Auxiliary

    Mastery

    Perception

    Deception

    Non-Combat

    Lifestyle

    Mental

    Spiritual

    =====

    The Skill section of Shop opened up and the categories appeared. The 11th subdivision knitted his brows as he asked what it was.

    [This skill was unlocked as you became aware of the existence of Amortals and the ancient continents. Spiritual skills are offensive or defensive skills that target''s one''s soul itself. No matter how strong your body is or how resolute your mind is, if your soul is damaged, you are a cripple!]

    Lee went into ''thinker'' mode as he could not pinpoint a skill he needs at the moment. He had many things to weigh and evaluate before selecting one.

    Lee''s filial love, An, was his primary concern. Even though she has the longsword, her cultivation had stagnated at 7th stage Core Formation realm. D remembered him about the pendant. He assured that the pendant will help her grow much faster in cultivation.

    [I suggest you select a Mental skill. Be it offense or defense, your mind is vulnerable to mental attacks.]

    ''What about a Spiritual skill? Am I not susceptible to a spiritual attack?!''

    [The possibility of a Soul attack is very narrow. But, a mental fight must always be anticipated.]

    This revtion made Lee nod in agreement as he selected Mental skill. A series of Mental skills came up like a waterfall.

    =====

    Name: Psy Scream

    Description: A skill that can produce a high pitched scream inside the target''s mind. Can cause intense pain and disorientation. Weak ones get knocked out.

    Cost: 5400 Essence.

    =====

    Name: Banshee

    Description: An AOE version of Psy Scream. Can indiscriminately attack hostile and friendly units. Victims lose their physical bnce.

    Cost: 6210 Essence.

    =====

    Name: Radar Shield

    Description: A skill that can resist mind reading, disable mental beacons and nullify hypnotism.

    Cost: 17085 Essence.

    =====

    Name: Mentempest

    Description: An AOE skill that can scramble any mental probing inside a range. Useful for protectingpanions and tamed beasts.

    Cost: 13509 Essence

    =====

    Name: Map Stamp

    Description: A skill to put a beacon on anyone''s mind. The beacon can be observed through the Map. If the person allows, his/her auditory and optical reception can be shared over a long range with very less interference.

    Cost: 29000 Essence.

    =====

    ----

    ---

    --

    -

    An elongated list of Mental skills came appearing in a panel. Lee reluctantly scrolled down through the list. Some skills had ovepping properties. Some were stackable with other skills. Some skills had weird names and bizarre effects. For his surprise, even Calculus and Parallel thinking were present. Lee had a whole ocean of expressions on his face as he scrolled further.

    The name ''Information Transfer'' paused his marathon. Till now, Lee was searching for a skill whose name is unknown and its properties verbally unexinable. Even D inside Lee''s consciousness was looking at a suspended blob of interlinked symbols and extremelyplex diagrams, with his hand rubbing his chin!

    =====

    Name: Information Transfer

    Description: A skill for transferring information between the user''s mind and another person''s memorypletely silent and unnoticed, within a range. Memory extraction is also possible with an unconscious victim at very close range.

    Cost: 31080 Essence.

    =====

    Lee felt an unknown urge to buy it. When D enquired for a reason, Lee sounded reasonable.

    ''The Map can only view the things above the surface. We are talking about the underground ve trade. Since this trade center does not exist outside this city, their entrance may be found anywhere and anytime. People associated with the trade deals could be in the streets in city resident''s disguise. This skill can help me to continuously probe into the minds of the passersby, and I''ll knock out and extract information if Ie across any.''

    [Still..why this skill? Isn''t Memoread enough?!]

    ''Yes, Memoread can help me read minds. But it cannot transfer the entire information cluster into me. Plus, it is on the Skill Token. I do not have to spend a single Essence!''

    Without giving ears to D''s opinions, Lee paid and acquired the 31080 Essence worth skill named ''Information Transfer''.

    Lee stood up and took An''s longsword in his hand. He held it in front of it vertically and scanned it top to bottom. He walked towards the table and chairs and moved it away from the center of the room. Lee slowly swung and waved the longsword with great caution. He was very careful as the Cold Nyx Silver can cut through walls like butter, because D reminded him.

    =====

    3 P.M.

    3870 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was in a familiar trance until the panel popped up. Contrary to his continuous motion, his breath was normal and did not show any signs of eleration. Lee ran his fingers over the de of the sword and felt it''s texture, as he turned around.

    An was wide awake and was observing Lee moving with slow and graceful movements. His ''ck'' was shorter than the longsword, hence he had to retract his hands before continuing flow. His careful mind was so absorbed in the process, that he did not see her awake and sitting up.

    An gave a wide grin as his eyes met hers. He scratched his head as he gave back her sword.

    "I think I have seen your moves on an old parchment at an auction. It is very clear that those moves are not for a jian sword, but for a dao sword, like yours!"

    An spoke as she stood up and took the sword from his hand. The unexpectedment twitched Lee''s brows. The sword moves he just exhibited were taught by his grandfather, who was a Shaolin master! To see a parchment of the moves from the Earth.....even D had his jaws dropped.

    "Are you sure that they both are the same?"

    Lee asked his doubt without a second thought. He was curious as to how something of Earth''s origin can be here. The answer was known to him. He simply was not ready to believe it, yet!

    "The parchment was very old and brown, and the ink had already diminished to a great extent. But the drawings on it are unmistakably the same. If I remember correctly, the auction took ce in the capital city about 2 years ago. I was escorting a young mistress to the auction."

    An spoke as her eyes aimed at the ceiling and her hand at her chin. From her expression, Lee confirmed that her ount was true.

    [If Shaolin art is here, then you are not the first earthling. But that person could not have entered here without the Dimension Sovereign''s notice or immense power.]

    ''Maybe the third dimesions''s Sovereign?!''

    [Possible.]

    "Anything wrong?"

    An asked Lee as he had his hands crossed in front of him. Lee raised his head and replied that there is nothing to worry about. He additionally informed her of the Sovereign''s ''gift'', Information Transfer. As D instructed, Lee extended his hand and pressed the thumb on her forehead. The very instant, the information and memories regarding his nameless sword technique was transferred into her brain. Lee retracted his hand as it only took a second to transfer. Before Lee''s eyes, An brightened up as she nearly screamed-

    "It is the same technique. I can affirm it!"

    [Then I really hope it touches the depth of the fissure!]

    Lee listened to both of thements and gave a single nod as a response. Lee guessed that D had his own reasons to wish so!

 Chapter 67: Bastards Should Suffer Before Death!

    Chapter 67: Bastards Should Suffer Before Death!

    "......"

    "......"

    "......"

    ".....is anything wrong?"

    Lee and An can be seen sitting on the bed. She shook her solemn face as her fist clenched in rage. Lee knew that it was a bad idea to tell her that there is a ve trading centre in the city. The one who suggested this idea, D, was dead silent. An''s grave expression suggested Lee to shut up until she replies anything verbally.

    "The Mo family''s arrogant brat was very happy when I was defeated. She demanded me to kneel in front of her. I had to do it because facing one''s arrogance with pride in return, only worsens the problem."

    There was a scar inside An. She was sharing that locked chapter of her life which only reminded pain and suffering. Lee felt a piercing pain in his heart as hermenting voice fell in his ear. An struggled as she held her weep back. Lee and D were intrigued by this unprecedented show of emotion.

    "But.the troubles did not end there. Soon after, she saw me walking on the street with my elder brother and hispanions. That day was my brother''s birthday. I was happy, but she wasn''t. She nned to put an end to my life and those dear to me.

    My father was soon wrongfully used with treason. His old age did not hold long as he was found dead in the prison cell a weekter. Me and my brother were hunted by the bounty hunters. Thus.one day, we were ambushed at our hideout.

    My brother was an inner disciple of the Dream Flower sect. His achievements had brought him many rivals and enemies inside the sect itself. These fellow inner disciples knocked down and tied us. In front of my eyes, they pierced their sword through my brother''s chest. They eliminated him as he might be a threat to their glory.

    The arrogant brat appeared as I cried out loud. My screams in pain was joy to her ears. As I saw, she gave the disciples a pouch of gold coins and they went away pleased.

    I was blindfolded as something struck me unconscious. When I awoke, I was inside a cage with many other girls. From them, I came to know that it was a ve trading ce. Like me, they too did not know where the ce was. My hands were only tied with rope as I was unconscious. As I undid them, some goons came in and saw me almost breaking out.

    I fought them with all I had. When I asked the girls to follow me, they were reluctant as they were already spoiled and were waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. Reluctantly, I had to escape out of there.

    I was in a forest when I came out after locking the entrance hatch behind me. I ran straight ahead as I did not know where I was. Luckily, I met Freya. I told her that I was lost in the woods. When asked where I was currently standing, she told me that they were going towards the capital city. I joined them and reached Yeuvis.

    Only a pile of ash remained where my house once stood. The sadistic bitch of the Mo family had bribed local officials to burn down my house. Later I came to realise that the locals looted my house before lighting it up. Fortunately, no one came across the underground chamber. In that room barely enough for three people to fit, that sword remained. I took the sword and vowed to end the Mo family once and for all.

    I know I cannot fight Mo family. So I began to look for the ve trading ce. I went through almost all forests. It was then I was poisoned with the barnacle fruit. All these years, I could not find any clues regarding the ve trade. And now....you are given the task to destroy that hell!"

    Tears rolled down An''s cheek as she produced a smile to cover up her exploding heart. Lee could not help but hug her as his eyes welled up.

    "Don''t hold it back. Cry it out."

    For the second time, Lee said these words. An''s muffled cry filled the air as she embedded her face into his bosom. As she cried her pain out, a thunderstorm brewed inside Lee.

    [After she is done crying, release the Mo family bastard in front of her.]

    Lee nodded as his hug tightened in anger. An felt a slight suffocation as his grip hardened. She squirmed in his hands and he released her.

    "What would you do, if the Mo family head was to appear here?!"

    An did not understand the question as she wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. She did not reply, but looked at him with curious eyes. Lee waved his hand and a body appeared out of thin air and fell on the ground.

    *thud*

    The man was unconscious and immobile as the EsGen storage provides no freedom of movement. Lee turned him over with his leg and his face was revealed.

    *gasp*

    An gasped and the next second, her sword came out of its sheath. With a swift blow, he chopped the head of the man. No blood spilled as the body and its severed head remained on the ground. Secondster, the body and the head evaporated into the air leaving nothing. Lee and D had their jaws fallen to the ground.

    "I learned a lot about the Mo family in the past years. The most important thing is their family head. He has cultivated a technique that creates picture perfect copy of himself. These phantoms go around and stay in public while the real head is cultivating somewhere. These doppelgangers act as scouts to acquire information."

    Lee was shocked to see and hear the shocking truth. All this time, he was keeping a phantom inside his EaGen storage. He felt a slight sadness and this phantom was a good source of Essence.

    "I don''t know how or where you stored him, but it was a good idea to pull him out now. He is one among the many scouts of the treacherous Mo family head."

    Lee nodded in agreement and waved his hand again, saying-

    "Are these fake too?!"

    *thud*

    The Mo family elders came out of thin air. They fell with a slightly louder noise. Lee noticed An''s grip tightening with hatred.

    *kick*

    Mo Liwei was kicked so hard at his groin that he writhed in pain. Mo Chao''s hands were stamped and his finger bones broke. A long time in the EsGen storage punished them with disordered vocal chords. This was a shock to the Dimension Sovereign, who constructed the EsGen. Lee asked doubts regarding this mysterious feature of his EsGen.

    [I swear, I did not know it had such an additional property. But I am happy it turned out to be a silencing one.]

    Lee stepped forward and calmed the raging An. She stopped her kicks and turned at Lee in a vigorous way.

    "My mother slit her own throat when she was chased by these two rascals. These bastards soiled my father''s name by associating him with street prostitutes. Those sluts gave away these two swine''s names at a single strike. If I don''t torture them to death, my father and those who died unreasonably by the hands of the Mo family will not forgive me!"

    Lee was silent as he could only see Mo Chao and Mo Liwei getting thrashed and turned inside out by An''s sword and legs. Their muffled moans and An''s often loud kicks can bring out dirty imaginations in the minds of those hearing them from the outside.

    =====

    4 P.M.

    3250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification popped up as Lee was sitting on a chair at the corner of the room. He could no longer hear the moans or kickings. With wonder of what had happened, Lee turned his head and what he saw was utterly pitiful.

    Two hideously disfigured, but alive bodiesy on the floor in a puddle of blood. The proud Mo family elders ended up bing a punching bag of their own wrong deeds. The faint expansion and contraction of the two bloodied chests signified that could die at any given moment.

    "I have left a bit of life in them both. Can you extract their memories?"

    An sensed Lee walking towards her and asked, as her piercing gaze was over the blood red floor. She stood tall with her sword in her hand, and blood dripped from its de tip. The Mo elders were pathetically turned into a bundle of meat.

    Their bodies covered innumerous shallow cuts. Their eyes were gouged out. Their sexual organs were beyond recognition and resembled spaghetti, and their limbs folded and twisted like a maze!

    Lee stepped near the two and touched their heads with his index fingers. All it took was a few seconds to probe and extract almost all information and memories, except fornicating and raping. Those excluded memories made Lee angry so much that he just punched their heads and it sttered the brains out. Those two were at theirstp of suffering.

    "Memory is extracted. Don''t give them a peaceful death!"

    Lee whispered as he walked past An. She saw his actions and can guess what he had seen inside these misbegotten sons'' heads. Lee turned around and saw An driving her sword through their hearts slowly. Their final wriggle almost died down as their souls nearly departed the bodies.

    [Lee, use your Sense and utmost focus to capture their souls the moment they escape the bodies. Since they were of the Soul Condensation realm, you can exploit their souls too!]

    Lee spread his sense inside the room. Secondster, the Map faintly spotted two wisp like souls leaving the bodies. At once, Lee activated his EsGen and the wisps were sucked into it. Other than D, An did not know why he suddenly extended his hands and retracted them back.

    "Let''s store the bodies for now andter dump them at an arena. There will be a few who will be happy to know that these two are Mo family''s elders!"

    Lee did not wait to listen to An''s opinion as he had absorbed the hideous figures into the spatial ring. Lee immediately used Spotless to remove the blood stains and stench filled in the room. After spending 60 Essence, the room was restored to its previous form.

 Chapter 68: A Faint Clue

    Chapter 68: A Faint Clue

    A cultivator couple can be seen walking on the street while the evening light smiled on their faces. The prime demeanor was standing out in the streets. The man, who can be assumed of an age 25 or 26 walked beside a woman who was also of the same age group.

    The young man''s face was like a carefully sculpted masterpiece. His 6 inches long ck hair seemedbed and ced well. A single lock of hair was on his face, and it gave off a matured aura. His robust and courageous face had a seriously serene expression. His towering height of 184 centimetres and his well-build of only 74 kilograms was an unimaginable feat for many males.

    The sharp and envious gazes of passing by men fell on his ck robe which had a few small grey daisy flower designs. At the back of his robe was a fully-developed white lotus standing proudly. It stood as a symbol of purity and enlightenment. The envious gazes turned to awe when they witnessed such skilful handiwork. The ripe aged females could not take their eyes away from his firm frame and iparable outfit. Though the outfit was that of a cultivator, nobody noticed the absence of a weapon on him.

    The young female was like a wingless incarnation of angel. Her almond eyes with fine hazel colour pupil had a maic pull. The wless cheeks with dimples as she smiled, stole the hearts of men. Her small nose and pink colored thin lips were charmingly beautiful. The long ck wavy hair danced in the gentle breeze as they almost touched her waist. Her perfect bosom with a foxy physique of 170 centimetres can even make the hearts of women pound wild. She barely was over 66 kilograms.

    Her tempting figure was veiled by a stunning purple robe. It sheltered her torso from the neck and extended downward almost upto her heel. That full sleeve garment had many white tulips embedded on it. They were arranged in a way that it added more aesthetic beauty. Every woman had their heads turned by this fascinating sight. The innovative presence of an exemry longsword hanging from her waist was the most unexpected feast to eyes. The greyish spreading wings of raven and the glistening trilliant diamond attracted greedy eyes. The young woman sensed unholy intentions falling on her sword and she kept her hand onto it''s pommel. Many took this action as a cue to stay away as their eyes nced through the corner at the heavenly pair.

    ------------------------

    =====

    6 P.M.

    3600 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The sect disciples did not recognise Lee and An as they walked past them. The male disciples drooled at An while the female disciples'' heart skipped a beat when they saw Lee. 2700 Essence was enough for aplete makeover!

    An had found a secluded alley after they exited the inn. Prior to that, they told the goblin girl that they will be gone for a long time, and thus, their elder siblings woulde to have the room. It was only after entering and making sure that nobody is in the visible range, did Lee use ''Alter'' on himself and An.

    D had marked an extensive route map for Lee an An to walk through. The course covered all the streets and most of the alleyways in the city. 98% of the city can be explored using this path. Unfortunately, not a single person rted to the ve trading could be spotted. A dejected feeling crept up the faces of the husband and wife as they surveyed through the streets for about two and a half hours.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    3600 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The Essence rate for probing into other''s minds were meager, but the cost for extracting the information wasparativelyrge and depended on the amount of information. A total of 118 Essence was spent by probing into information clusters. Though he did not extract any information, he was slowly able to draw an outline over many informations and events going on secretly and publically. Lee would regrly transfer the information to An. If she could find a sliver of clue, that would be a great help. But till now, they have note across any such information.

    As they sluggishly walked down a street of very little people and sparse lighting, about 15 people surrounded them. Lee saw four archers hiding on the terrace of the nearby buildings, through the Map. He retracted his probing as An unsheathed her sword. 9 of them were captivated by the charm of the diamond. Using this tounch an attack, she charged forward. Her sword skills and experiences coupled with Lee''s transferred memory greatly increased her battle proficiency. Those who thought that the longsword was a decorative one repented for their opinions.

    The longsword''s de shone with pink hue and the opponent''s swords were cut like butter. The cuts were so smooth that none felt pain or difort. They came to realise that they were cut when their limbs and torsos fell onto the ground.

    Lee wasn''t doing anything great with his thin de. Those around him could not even force him to use both of his hands. Sometimes, rather than using the de, he would knock them unconscious with his hand. His hands were his weapon until the archers released a volley of arrows.

    The arrows flew with almost no sound. The sparse avability of lighting covered its arrival from the building tops. But Lee was above their calctions. His de began to dance as he skillfully deflected the arrows to his surroundings and some back at the archers. His heart felt proud when one archer turned grey and immobile.

    When they found Lee a tough opponent, the archers focused their aim onto An. Lee skillfully moved her out of the arrows'' trajectories and towards the nearest alley. As she panted at a pace, he pulled out his bow to punish the pesky archers.

    Three arrows rose high up into the sky. The arrows used the veil of darkness to rise up and be falling meteors. The three simultaneous explosions on the terraces turned the archers to grey. The explosion distracted the 6 remaining as they understood the fate of theirpanions. Before they could turn and run away, the nunchuck hit their face so hard they lost the consciousness.

    Within a few tens of minutes, the bugs were taken care of. Lee took the 6 unconscious people into his EsGen storage. Before anyone came tracing the sound of explosion, An and Lee climbed over the buildings and saw the archers locked out. Leaving the dead, the other three were absorbed into his EsGen storage. Lee and An quickly fled the scene as they sensed a group of 4 or 5 people heading towards where they were.

    --------------------------

    =====

    8 P.M.

    3980 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The pair was still depressed as they could not find any clue on ve trades. They hadpletely covered the path marked on the Map, and was yet to get a single information. Their hopes were notpletely lost as they expected to get something out of the goons who attacked them. The organised attack was too difficult tobel as an attack of greed. The notification conveyed Lee to return back to the inn.

    The goblin girl was wonderstruck by witnessing the pair''s gorgeousness. An and Lee introduced themselves as the elder siblings of their previous versions. The goblin girl was caught by the beauty of An and serenity of Lee. She clumsily handed over the room 12 key as her heart pounded fiercely. An extended her hand and patted the girl''s shoulder to calm her troubled mind. After a smile bloomed on the goblin girl''s face, An asked her name and other simple information.

    After a short and simple introduction, Lee and An left for the room. They quickly entered inside and locked the door behind them. After making sure that the ce is devoid of any tracking or spying, Lee let the six goons out one after the other. An properly tied their limbs and covered their mouths and eyes with great strength.

    Lee used memory probing on these brainless stupid thugs and realised that they were sent after by someone who was captived by An''s beauty and her sword. Their mission was to eliminate Lee and bring An to a certain building. The exterior features of the building were old and worn out. But that building stood as a hideout for thugs and thieves in in sight.

    One of the archers surprisingly had a memory of ve trading. In it, he caught and brought a wandering beastfolk boy to an alleyway in the city. The alleyway was away from them by a kilometre. There was an inconspicuous door on the wall of one of the buildings. He knocked on the door in a pattern and slowly muttered a password. The next second, the door was opened and the archer and the boy was pulled inside before the door closed behind their backs.

    ---------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3124

    Essence: 64350 (8 P.M.)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11885/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12393/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (796/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 69: Clue That Came To Them

    Chapter 69: Clue That Came To Them

    "We have to give it a try..the pattern and password, you remember it, right?!"

    Lee nodded at An as she drank a bottle of Horned-Mow milk. She was sitting on the chair. Lee was chewing down a loaf of Honey Bread as he stood near the window.

    Lee had been noticing some red dots on his Map for thest 10 minutes. He nced out to see a pair of women, when the dots came near. They did not look suspicious in any way. But the women were ncing at the first floor regrly. Lee understood that they are under observation. As he peeked at the Map, the building across the street had a man with a telescope. Lee quickly moved out of the way and the man only saw a window and the floor through it.

    "An, we are being watched. I think that man wants you so badly."

    An stood up as her hand was ced over the pommel of the sword.

    "Then..let hime!"

    Lee smirked and peeked through the window. The man on the building was not there. The women came back walking while ncing at the window where Lee stood. From their lower elevation, they could not see Lee. He nced at the Map and saw the red dot moving away.

    "Let''s go out and have dinner!"

    Lee walked towards An and took her hand before walking outside. She gripped his hand firmly as they descended the stairs.

    -----------------------

    =====

    9 P.M.

    3980 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The reminder popped up as the pair reached the Old man Li''s restaurant. An was walking in the front as Lee followed her close behind. The burningmps illuminated An''s cute dimples as she wore a smile. Lee nced at the Map and confirmed 3 red dots following them in a distance.

    Except for two tables, the diner was full. One of the two waspletely empty while the other had an olddy sitting with her legs crossed. An merrily walked towards the empty one and sat. Lee obediently followed her like a.....puppy?

    "That table''s not for kids. Get out!"

    The olddy scoffed at Lee as she nced at An. Lee did not mind those words as he began to converse with An. The old woman became enraged as she stood up with a powerful stamp to the ground. The discussions and talks going on became silent. She strided at the pair and smacked the table where An and Lee sat. Her strength uneven for her age paused their merry chat.

    "I SAID.GET OUT!!!"

    The loud yell at close quarters irritated both as they red at the old female in a cultivator outfit. An clenched her fist, but it was Lee''s knuckles that produced faint cracking sound that heard throughout the room.

    "You think you can scare me, kid? Get out! This table is reserved."

    *smack*

    A loud p resonated through the air as An''s right hand came down to the table.

    "Go away."

    The olddy was stunned by the p. Her eyes went wide as she took a step backward. She felt pain, not from the p, but from humiliation. Her face became red with anger. She almost pulled her short sword, but the restaurant''s door opened wide.

    A pot-bellied and luxuriously clothed middle aged dwarf entered with a few hobgoblins in tow. The dwarf''s appearance brought a relief to the olddy''s embarrassment. The olddy quickly reached the dwarf''s side and whispered what had happened in his ears. Lee noticed the ragged outfit and the ck cor on the necks of the hobgoblins. He can guess what they were!

    The dwarf''s eyes caught An''s stunning physique. A desire to snatch her sprouted in his mind. He signalled at his guards to throw Lee out.

    The hobgoblins wererger than an ordinary human, but Lee threatened their stature. The hobgoblin paced towards Lee and got hold of his shoulder. The guard applied his arm strength, and expected Lee to writhe in pain. Unfortunately, Lee sat unfazed. He let the hideous humanoid have a moment of surprise before Lee grabbed his wrist.

    *crack*

    The cracking of bones fell in the ears of the dwarf as the hobgoblin fell on his knees as Lee released his grip. Everyone saw the disabled wrist which poked out its white bones. A gasp rose as Lee stood up from his seat.

    "If you think you can corner me with strength.....then you have written your death will!"

    The nunchuck appeared in Lee''s hand and one of his handle hung free. The strange weapon and Lee''s imposing manner intimidated others. Hobgoblin guards could not help, but charge at Lee as their master yelled. One of the hobgoblin hesitated, and the cor on his neck began to burn and hurt him. With pain, he charged ahead blindly. Lee confirmed his guess as that was a ve cor!

    Lee stepped forward and his nunchuck shed at the reluctant hobgoblins. The nunchuck precisely hit the thighs, hind-arms and stomachs of the hobgoblins. The hit was rtively soft, but visibly ruthless. Hobgoblins sensed that Lee had intentionally avoided their vital parts as the thigh, hindarm and stomach of hobgoblins were rtively dense. They acted to be in pain and kneeled down squirming.

    The dwarf''s eyes burned with rage and Lee noticed a ck coloured asymmetrical brand on the outside of the dwarf''s palm faintly shining. The very moment, hobgoblins on the floor began to twitch as they were forced to stand up.

    D informed him that the brand is the controller of the ve cors. Instantly, Lee shed forward and his right hand gripped on the dwarf''s neck and held the figure in air. The brand lost its luster as the dwarf began to choke. He gasped for breath for sometime. The olddy saw this and jumped at Lee with her short sword, but An hit her behind her neck with the scabbard. The women fell as her face hit the ground. Those around felt pity for her.

    The dwarf lost consciousness a few secondster. Lee dropped the dwarf on the floor and turned around to look at the hobgoblins. He saw gratitude in their eyes. An told them to take the dwarf and follow her. The hobgoblins obeyed her without a doubt. The left the diner and vanished into the darkness. Old man Li came out of the kitchen the very moment they left the diner. He frowned as he enquired what happened to a customer. The detail ount of the incident made him smile wryly.

    --------------------------

    A distant alleyway.

    Five hobgoblins with the dwarf''s unconscious body stood before An and Lee.

    "How did you end up as a ve?!"

    Lee asked in a voice that was only audible to those around him. The hobgoblins hesitated to answer, but gave in eventually.

    "We were a nomadic tribe of goblins. We were ambushed two days ago and our old ones were killed. Our females and children were sold to the ve trading tform along with us."

    "Are your females still in the town?"

    "They are being kept for the auction tomorrow. They would be unharmed till then."

    Lee knelt near the dwarf''s body and probed for information regarding ve trade. Lee instantly turned his head at An as he hit the jackpot. This dwarf was one of the elite in the trade circle. His memories contained exclusive information regarding the trades, and its trade routes, which are only known to a few. The information cluster also contained many contacts of ve hunters of all mainstream races.

    "We can help you rescue yourpanions. But can you help us topletely eradicate this unnatural organisation?"

    =====

    10 P.M.

    3980 Essence harvested.

    =====

    An stepped in front of Lee and asked the hobgoblins. These well-built and robust beings began to tear up like little children. They had already lost all the hope of escaping this fate. And here are two angels from heaven offering help! They kneeled in front of her with tears raining down from their eyes, as they said-

    "Please..please help us. We promise to help you with all we have!"

    The deration from their hearts woke up the dwarf. When he saw the hobgoblins kneeling to the pair, he furiously stared at the brand. D warned Lee before he could activate it. Lee caught the dwarf by his colour again and lifted into the air. The dwarf began to gasp as the activation failed. When the living mass of fat almost passed out, Lee stored him into the EsGen storage after using the ''De-Spell''on the brand. Fortunately, the brand vanished and the cors came loose. D happily epted Lee''s decision to increase the Essence production.

    When the dwarf disappeared, hobgoblins were stunned as their cors fell to the ground. Their spirit rejoiced as they visibly confirmed the might of the young man. The hobgoblins offered to show the way, but Lee stopped them and informed that the facility has more than one entrance. He made up a story that he had been investigating the mysterious ve trading agency. Lee imparted the information regarding the two entrances in the town and one that opened up deep in the jungle. Lee spent 550 Essence to buy 5 short swords of good quality. The additionally brought 5 water pouches from the Shop, which he filled with poison to the brim. The hobgoblins were terrified to see Lee produce such massive amounts of poison, but An calmed them as she exined lee as a cultivator with poison attribute.

    ------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3150

    Essence: 72310 (10 P.M.)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11885/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12393/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (796/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 70: Were Goin In

    Chapter 70: We''re Goin'' In

    "The two entrances in the city are difficult for you five to ess. One of them is situated in the basement of a well guarded store near the merchant''s guild. The second one is exclusive for the city mayor and is situated in the basement of the mayor''s manor. The manor is also well guarded, but no one seems to be aware of the entrance. So, we will enter the ce through the store basement.

    The ess in the jungle is very inconspicuous. No one guards that narrow passage from the outside, but there are traps once you go in. You will need to trigger those traps with something and pour the poison in the passage before exiting and hiding behind some bush. The poison paralyses it''s victim. Take care not to kill them. I must bring them to justice! Defend at all cost, kill if necessary."

    Lee gave necessary instructions and transferred the information as to where the disguised passage is. He did not let them walk in rags as he brought 5 ordinary clothings and full body leather armours from the Shop. When the teary eyes shifted their sight between the armours and him repeatedly, Lee conveyed that it is a gift of cooperation. They held their tears of gratitude as they received them from Lee.

    Using the darkness as a cover, Lee navigated the 5 warriors towards a portion of wall that seemed to be at the verge of copse. After sessfully making them cross across, Lee and An separated from the hobgoblins as they proceeded towards their respective exits.

    "An, I want you to stay here for a minute. Let me go and ce a present on the arena."

    An nodded as an arena came into their sight, about 100 meters west to them. She remained in the shadows as Lee dashed at the arena. He hurriedly reached near and threw the disfigured corpses of Mo family elders. As they fell on the center of the arena, Lee had already ran halfway back. With a smile of satisfaction, they paced towards their destination.

    --------------------------

    =====

    11 P.M.

    3980 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Vicinity of the closed store, their destination.

    Lee waited for the notification to pop up as the store guards change on an hourly basis, day and night. To change the shift, the guards go and report at the merchant''s guild. Then the next pair of guardses immediately and secures the storefront. Lee whispered to An that they only have a window of a few seconds to enter the store unnoticed. An did not respond in any manner.

    Almost a minuteter, the two guards moved towards the guild building. Lee and An swiftly moved to the storefront without making a noise. Lee immediately levitated himself as he supported An. Their eyes were set on the luxuriouslyrge venttion in the shape of a circle, above the door. The ss window covering it opened with a slight creak, but it was hardly audible. As they inserted themself into the venttionpletely, the next set of guards approached. The ss closed silently and a secondter, one of the guards nced up at the venttion.

    Inside the store.

    An can hardly see anything, while Lee saw the entire interior like daylight. The 11 metres long and 9 metres wide store sold potions and pills. Almost all kinds of consumables were stacked on the racks of this mini-warehouse sized shop. The beautifully crafted wooden reception desk was a masterpiece. Lee stood frozen and said An to be still, until Lee thoroughly scouts the entire area.

    Looking on the floor, there were numerous tripwires and trap settingsid in the darkness. If a normal thief was to enter, he might have been subjected to poison tipped arrows. Lee nodded as heprehended the apparatus working. He slowly disabled the tripwire, but the existence of further hidden traps rmed D. Lee was told not to step on the floor tiles, as they might trigger a trap. Lee understood D''s point and took An into his hand.

    Lee levitated above the floor with an inch or two separation. He nced around and saw that all the products in view were connected to one massive trap apparatus. He scanned the room and saw a partially concealed door at the right most end of the northern wall. Lee floated towards the half disguised door. With a tap, it opened and exposed a 4 metre long dark and narrow passage barely enough to fit two people at once. Lee changed the position of An as he shifted her to his shoulder. He warned her about the narrow passage in front of them and it''s potential dangers. She tucked her limbs and head at once.

    Lee was very cautious, but the passage did not have any traps or sort. Unbeknownst to him, Lee just passed a miniature hell with guillotines and acid pool!

    The passage ended with another dark room that had winding stairs going down. As D guessed, that stairs led to the basement where the guarded entry point was situated.

    D did not feel brave enough to let Lee walk down the stairs, so he insisted on continuing levitation. The winding stairs took Lee and his party more than 12 meters deep down the surface, when a faint light appeared and gave away its presence. Lee ced An on the stairs after making sure that the stairs were safe to stand on. Lee floated upside down and peeked downward.

    Arge wooden door was guarded by 2 dark elves. Fournterns that illuminated the area exposed their scarred face and muscr frame. Their eyes were heavy with sleep and fatigue as they leaned onto the nearby wall. After analysing the space, Lee raised himself and uprighted his position.

    "Two dark elves...sleepy...4 torches."

    Lee whispered these words in An''s ears. She immediately understood what he conveyed. She nodded in agreement.

    Lee again went upside down and peeked at them. He confirmed that they were barely hanging onto theirst bit of consciousness.

    ''D, now what?''

    [Wait, you are asking me? Why would you even ask me? You are the one who nned this infiltration. You should have thought of all possible contingencies!]

    ''Then I guess I will have to wait!''

    Lee waited for 2 more minutes and the dark elves leaned onto the wall and fell asleep. Lee analysed the dark elves'' micro expression and confirmed that they are in deep slumber. Lee lowered himself like a skilled hummingbird and floated towards them silently. He carefully neared the elves and sucked them into his EsGen storage.

    [That was a creative way to solve the problem! Congrats!]

    ''I don''t need your appreciation. Just watch from the sidelines.''

    Lee stepped down on the floor and confirmed that there are no hidden traps. An came down as he signalled that it is safe to descend.

    =====

    12 Midnight.

    4180 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "Now what? How do we open the door?"

    An asked in a whispering manner as her eyes scanned the 2 and half metres tall and almost 2 metres wide wooden door with no carvings.

    "ording to the fat dwarf''s memories, the door opens to a short passage when you pull this torch. There will be 3 guards inside. They will verify our identity. Intruders are killed on the spot!"

    Lee spoke as he pointed at one of the torches on the wall.

    "The passage takes you to the underground facility where ves are sold off. It has two floors. The upper floor is the financial area where the ves are traded. We might see many corrupted officials there. The lower floor is where the ves are kept under lock and keys.

    We either have to kill all those who are participating in the trades and then rescue the ves, or sneak in, release the ves and then kill all the others while escaping."

    Lee took a pause and nced at An for an answer. She smirked as her reply came in boldly-

    "Why don''t we kill our way in, free the ves and then kill the rest our way out? We can create a pool of poison here, after we step in. It will be enough to knock them out!"

    --------------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3169

    Essence: 82780 (12 Midnight)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (11885/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12393/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (796/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 71: Slicing Down Slavery

    Chapter 71: Slicing Down very

    Lee glimpsed at An as he reached out to pull the torch. Without any further ado, he pulled the torch and the door slightly trembled. Lee took out his bow as he came back to his position, behind An, and the door slowly parted to its sides. An asked Lee''s permission to charge up ahead while he covers for her with his bow. Lee also wanted so, as he wished the trading facility to burn by her hands.

    Foresight activated at the first nce of the guards standing on the other side. The unprecedented opening of this door alerted the nearby 8 guards. Even before the door was open to a quarter, Lee showered the guards with poison attributed arrows. Lee intentionally did not use the homing arrows as he wanted to increase his proficiency. He considered this ce as a gold mine for his affinities'' progresses!

    *thuck.thuck.thuck.thuck.thuck*

    When the door waspletely open, five guards had already fallen numb. The stackable properties of Poison, Lightning and Dark hit them like a nightmare. First, the lightning would make them numb and fall down. The Dark will sever their sensory reception simultaneously. By the time lightning and blindness fades, the paralysing poison should have taken effect!

    The longsword''s de made pink coloured arcs as it sliced through the bodies of the remaining three. The five that had fallen numb were so terrified that two among them peed in their pants. An''s gracefully dancing hair gave them an intimidating presence. Her elegant robe and nimble moves apanied by a cold blooded heart was a dauntingbination. Lee didn''t mind her countenance as he expanded his Essence production.

    Lee and An silently stepped towards the end of the passage. The path opened up to a raised tform which had steps to descend. The steps take you straight to a mini auditorium setup. The tform ended at the southern end of the 19 metres long and 11 metres wide hall. There was a circr raised tform on the stage, which is presumably for cing the ve. More than 30 chairs were in front of the stage, each one visibly sturdy. 2 workers of the agency in leather armours were walking around guarding the auction ce.

    The wide open door to the right of the stage, leads to the office where money and traded objects are verified and stored. 9 goblins were working on sorting and validating the things as 5 orcs stood guard for them.

    One the wall behind the stage, a metal door was closing the passage to reach the ves. The three decorated doors on the left of the stage, led to a ve fight arena, pleasure ce and torture grounds respectively. These doors acted as extra ie for the agency. Therge words that dictated its nature werebelled on the door.

    The entry point from the mayor''s manor opened up in the office. The entrance in the jungle leads one directly to the stairs behind the metal door. As Lee observed the surroundings with the pre-obtained information from the dwarf, the door that led to the ve fight arena opened up.

    "Those barbarian bitches are fiery! I wonder when they are auctioned!"

    "Nah, my bet is on the tailed vampire girl. she is hot! Her assets man!! They''re huge."

    An elf and an orc came out of the door as they shared their views on different ves. Lee was intending to shoot them down, but the door opened again and a few dark-humans came out.

    An was shocked to see dark-humans here. They were the devilish mutation of humans. Their heightened senses and innate craving for pleasure, strength and adventure made them more outstanding. Except for their plus shaped pupil and dark skin, all other features reflected humans. The presence of Lee and An was sensed by one of them and they took out their daggers in guard.

    *poke poke*

    *nod*

    Lee poked An to take action and she leaped out of the passage. One by one, the arrows flew out and pierced the flesh of the dark-humans. The orcs in the office were alerted and they red a horn.

    The cultivation and strength of An was not greater than the orcs or dark-humans. She had a hard time fighting these opponents. But the arrows shing forward disabled the charging opponents. The red horn caused steel armoured beastfolk to pop out of nowhere.

    An descended the stairs and wreaked havoc among the opposers. Lee shot at a rate of 2 arrows per second. The beastfolk did attack him at close quarters and Lee kicked them all unconscious.

    The orcs in the office stepped out. They carriedrge axes as their imposing figures emerged. After witnessing Lee showering arrows over the agency''s men, the orc at the front threw his axe at him. The axe closed within an instant. Lee moved out of the trajectory as the axe brushed past him. With his firm footing, Lee grabbed onto the axe handle and gave the momentum a U-turn. The orc froze in this turn of events as the axe came back to his chest.

    The remaining 4 orcs shouted with rage and stepped forward. Lee was sizing up the pesky soldier reserve of the agency while An actively chopped them down. One of the orc''s greatsword came in contact with An''s longsword and hoped to stop it''s advancements. An frowned as she felt some resistance from it. She pulled her sword from the half-cut axe de and thrusted it into the orc''s chest. She chopped it''s chest as her sword exited through its shoulder.

    A few saw that they do not stand a chance against them. They ran towards the raised tform and stepped outside the door. The sshing sound of poison and its immediate numbness made their vocal chords disable. The paralysis kicked in as they fell face first into the puddle.

    The ess point of the mayor''s manor was sealed shut from the other side. The downtrodden morale scattered the remaining ones in different directions. Before they could escape into the doors, arrows electrocuted them all, except a few slippery ones. They closed the doors behind them and sighed in sessful escape!

    *bam*

    The door shattered as Lee punched it. The power-packed hit threw the guards behind it away and unconscious. The same way, Lee cracked open the other two doors too. The ves that were kept in darkness and in despair heard the bang and nced at the door with hope. The doors shattered and the figure of Lee went inside one while An chose another.

    Lee went inside the door of the ve fight arena. There were quite a lot of people enjoying the deathmatch, without any idea of what was happening outside. The unexpected bam shifted their sight onto Lee.

    In a 6 x 6 metres square room, the ves fought inside the 4 x 4 iron cage. The cage was lower than the surrounding portion and had a door on one of its sides. It was through this door, the ves were brought to fight in matches. Lee analysed the features quickly and pulled out his bow again. Without their consent, all except the ves were electrocuted. The man who was in-charge of moving ves in and out was choked unconscious by Lee.

    The barbarian ves in the cage were delighted and confused at the same time. They could only watch Lee collecting the fallen bodies of very supporters. Before stepping out of the room, Lee nced at them over his shoulder.

    "Go back and inform others. Rescue is on the way!"

    The ves quickly vanished from the cage and ran towards their group. Simultaneously, Lee had stepped into the third door, the torture ground. He nced inside the 2nd door and saw An performing castration on many men. She would hit their face whenever they cried out loud. After a few rounds of treatment, the cries and moans were silenced by utter fear. To his surprise, 4 cultivators were also present among the castrated. Their robes dyed red as An supported the poor souls on the ground, up. The ravaging desire for pleasure gifted them nightmares. Girl child,dies and old aged women were among them. The treatment they underwent was understandable from their scars and wounds. Lee saw tears rolling down An''s cheeks as she hugged and gentled the screaming pain in them. All she could do was givefort and care!

    The torture ground had an inhumane setup in it. Many men and women were hung upside down and naked in chains, and their limbs were stretched to the sides with agonizing pain. They were pale with intense bloodlose andck of nutrition. Their pulses were so weak. Lee saw aplex mechanism at a corner of the room, but he decided to cut the chains by brute force. One by one, Lee brought down the tortured. Their untreated wounds had worms wiggling inside them. Disregard of gender, both men and women were subjected to mental and physical torture. A man had his penis peeled off and pierced with needles like a porcupine, while two women had their vaginas covered with sword cuts. D shed tears in their misfortune while Lee was burning inside like an inferno. The teaching of his grandfather to consider and care for others as your siblings yearned to justice, in the most violent way.

    As he brought down 4 women and 6 men from the chains, a naked girl lying on the dark corner of the room caught his sight. She was a little girl, with under-grown assets. Her skin had many cuts through which blood trailed. Her bulged out eyes and motionless body burdened Lee with grief. As he carefully took her body in his arms, the cold skin gave off a deathly stillness. The pain of losing a sibling coiled around his heart.

    =====

    1 A.M.

    5702 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3235

    Essence: 86874 (12 Midnight)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12591/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 72: Unexpected Findings

    Chapter 72: Unexpected Findings

    Lee painlessly and effortlessly transported the wounded and tortured out to the open space. Since Lee had absorbed his arrows'' victims into the EsGen storage, the room was rtively less messy. Lee sold the dismembered torsos and limbs to the Shop for 1075 Essence, and used 220 Essence for Spotless to remove the blood stains and repulsive scent.

    An brought the tortured and vited ves to the hall after a few minutes. She was relieved as Lee took care of the bloody mess. The scars, wounds and pathetic state of the ves forced her to stare at Lee for a solution. Lee skimmed through the Shop and saw healing pills and potions.

    =====

    Name: Healing Pill

    Description: A pill exclusively used by cultivators and Qi users. When ingested, the pill releases abined potential of many medicinal herbs and elerates the healing process. The extent of healing is dependent on the quality of the pill.

    Cost: 12 for Low grade, 23 for Medium grade, 34 for High grade, 67 for Prime grade.

    =====

    Name: Healing Potion

    Description: Most widely used healing supplement. Suitable for Mana users andmon people. Made with Alchemy. The extent of healing is dependent on the quality of the potion.

    Cost: 9 for Low grade, 15 for Medium grade, 28 for High grade, 52 for Prime grade.

    =====

    ''D, why are the pills more expensive than potions?''

    [How the hell did you miss the word ''exclusively'' when you read it?!]

    ''Oh...sorry.''

    Lee took a quick count and confirmed that there are 19 ves. He immediately brought 20 High grade Healing potions and handed 10 of the bottles to An.

    "We don''t know whether there are any cultivators among them. So, help me feed these potions!"

    Even before An could sound her agreement, Lee had walked towards the tortured people. He opened each bottle of potion and slowly poured it into their mouths. Lee was delighted to know that the potions are working fine. Because, some of them squirmed and opened their mouths voluntarily.

    Lee finished his bottles and turned to An. Her smooth and gentle arms soothed their agony. Lee remembered his mission and nced around. He brought out his de as he realised that the goblin females and their children were not among them.

    "These people will be in your care. These nkets will help them cover their nakedness. I will go and check out who and what are behind that metal door."

    Lee ced 19 woolen nkets near her. They were wless as they were from the Shop. An turned around as she was kneeling on the ground with a feeble woman in herp. She nodded as it was her desire to nurse these disturbed and uneasy minds. As she nced, Lee jumped onto the stage and kicked the metal door with his strength and momentum.

    *BAM*

    The door dented in and Lee peeled it off the wall with his sheer strength. The 19 who were saved and awake were dumbfounded to see a young and robust man tear off a metal door, from a wall! Their eyes were fixed on Lee as he went into the darkness. An older woman among the group peered at An with a question.

    "That is my husband."

    No questions! They had no more questions, as they can deduce how strong An is, if she has a man of such strength! Their respect to the duo increased as they brought light to their hopeless life. They took the nket An had distributed and tried to recuperate.

    Inside the room.

    Lee walked down the pair of steps and saw another door. From the dwarf''s memories, this path leads to the entrance in the jungle. Lee tapped the door slightly and there was no reply. He guessed that the hobgoblin fellows had pulled off the trick. With a sigh, Lee nced at the extinguished torch on the wall. It was warm, hence Lee deduced that somebody deliberately put them out to ambush. His findings were proven to be right as his ears picked up muffled rapid breathings.

    The nunchuck came out as the de went inside the Inventory. Lee walked through the darkness and towards those who hid in the dark. Lee intentionally made more noise as he stepped forth. Their evil smirks suddenly vanished as Lee''s footsteps made no sound anymore.

    *pak pak*

    *pak*

    *pak*

    A series of muffled hits by some blunt object filled the rtively wider path. The ambushers that were ready to attack Lee were knocked senseless as he floated in the air. An urge to expand his hourly Essence production kicked in and Lee did what he used to do!

    Exiting the 10 metres long passage, arge room with abundant lighting greeted Lee. There were many big and small cages arranged like in a pet shop. Manyid, sat and walked in those cages. Their faces reflected a single expression - despair. Luckily, there were no armoured men in the vicinity.

    Lee walked towards the nearest cage and tapped on its iron bar. The men inside the cage sprang up as they saw a stranger near the cage. But they could tell that this man was different from those that roamed here.

    "Are there any guards roaming around?"

    Lee enquired in a muffled voice. The young man in the front barely heard the question. Lee repeated again and the man nodded his head, as he pointed at the back of his cage. Lee nodded in return and slowly walked towards the end of the room. His index finger was held in front of his lips, signifying not to make noise. The caged people kept quiet as Lee advanced towards a pair of talking elves in cultivator robes. They were facing the wall, and subsequently did not see Lee approaching.

    "Yet.why would they pay us to enve the people? I cannot deduce why the Illians would want to eliminate the poor?"

    If he had not heard of the term ''Illians'', Lee would have chopped their heads off. He ced the de back in the Inventory and knocked these two guards unconscious. He immediately stored them in EsGen and decided to finish the task at hand.

    Lee used his superhuman strength to break the cage locks. These ves were no different than the previous 19 as they stared at him with dropped jaws. He went on and broke all the cage locks. He was delighted to see the goblin females and their children in arge cage along with females from other races.

    After releasing the ves, he gave them directions to reach the stage. Since the ambushers put off the torches in the path, Lee borrowed the burning torches on the walls of therge room. After the ves left, Lee swept through the room and sold the cages to the Shop for 7690 Essence. He nced through the papers on the table near the guards and absorbed them into the Inventory as a whole.

    =====

    2 A.M.

    5990 Essence harvested.

    =====

    As Lee walked all around the room, he found 2 strange things. One was the hollowness of certain walls at certain ces. Lee can assure that he is standing more than 15 meters beneath the soil. His doubt arose as he saw some pale coloration at the corner of a wall. It was scarcely lighted as the torches were given to the ves to illuminate the path. But darkness was same as day to Lee. He confirmed that the hollowness of the wall was artificially created as the corner was smeared with rtively pale coloured mud.

    Lee went on knocking on the walls and found that almost all of them had an artificial coating over it. Out of curiosity, Lee poked the stered corner with his finger. He was surprised to see lighting from the other side.

    [It''s 2 at night. Did wee all the way across the globe?!]

    A strong scent assaulted Lee''s olfactory senses. His mouth drooled instantly.

    ''I can see people walkimg. They seem to be wearing robes. cultivator robes.Why would people live deep down here?''

    [LeeI think we have met an unexpected enemy!]

    Lee frowned at his remark. He couldn''t help but ask the reason.

    [Can you see anyone in an attire other than robes?]

    ''No.''

    [Other than cultivators, who wears such robes?]

    ''None.''

    [Are there anyone who does not have a weapon with them?]

    Lee took a peek again and confirmed his answer.

    ''No.''

    [What kind of armed cultivatormunity would hide from others and live in exile?!]

    The answer struck Lee like a lightning. He never expected to see the Illianmunity here in Alls.

    [Do not do anything foolish. Your strength might be greater, but they can beat you in number. Retreat for now.]

    Lee slowly backed off. As he was walking towards the exit, his footsteps made a different voice at a certain point. He froze at once.

    ''D, tell me that they are not living beneath us.''

    [They are not. Look where you are standing. There is something special about the ground.]

    Lee took a step back and looked down. The floor was smooth and dustless. He knelt and tapped the floor. The hollowness made a familiar sound.

    [It looks like the portion below us is either naturally hollow or produced by the recent earthquakes. Either way, it is dangerous. Move out immediately!]

    --------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3420

    Essence: 106275 (2 A.M.)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12591/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 73: Too Many Mysteries

    Chapter 73: Too Many Mysteries

    A total of 142 ves were rescued by An and Lee. Most of them stood up with respect as Lee shot himself out of the darkness andnded on the stage with minimum voice.

    "What made you take so long?"

    An approached him with concern and asked. He nced at the crowd and brought his sight back at An.

    "I found an Illianmunity."

    Lee replied in a low voice. Her eyes went wide for a second by this surprise information, but came back to its normal state. Lee transferred his visual sensory reception to An using Information Transfer.

    "How are they doing?!"

    Lee asked as his eyes scanned through the faces of men, women and children. An notified that the tortured ones are all alive and awake. She added that those who drink the potion are physically healed.

    "Anyone injured or wounded among those I sent?!"

    Lee walked towards the crowd as bottles of Horned-Mow milk appeared in his hands. As he passed each bottle to them, another bottle would appear in its ce. The fragrant smell of milk slowly filled the room. Lee also gave a bottle to An. She did not drink it, but fed it to someone who stared at her bottle helplessly.

    Five minutester, D sounded his suggestion.

    [Lee, you need to find a way to take these people outside.]

    ''Forget the way we came in. The mayor''s manor is closed from the other side. The entrance to the jungle is probably filled with traps. We don''t know whether the hobgoblins took the guards down or not.''

    [Try searching the office.]

    Lee nced at the office room. He walked towards it and entered inside. There were 4rge desks inside. One had a lot of gold and silver coins piled up on it. Another one had many objects ced on it. D promptly enlightened Lee that those objects are actually relics and artifacts.

    A beautiful table carved out of mahogany had a lot of papers and scrolls over it. Lee took a glimpse of those papers and was stunned. Those were the records of all the underhand deals taken ce inside the city. Lee did not pry much as he immediately stored the whole table into his Inventory. He did not forget about the previous tables.

    The fourth table was at a dark corner of the room and was smaller in size. It was ced over a mat which covered the whole corner. Both Lee and D felt suspicious about its cement and arrangement. Only a bundle of parchments that were knitted together to look like a book, was over it. Lee dusted off it and read its name.

    "Codex Fero."

    [Wait.how can you read them?]

    ''What do you mean how ca-''

    Lee froze like a statue. His lungs did not breathe. His heartbeats were almost non-existent. His hand began to tremble like a hopeless little deer. He took the book into his continuously sweating palm. For reasons unknown, he was having an avnche of emotions inside him.

    ''This.this is anguage of earth...Yes, it is from earth...but.how???''

    [Store it for now. We will discuss itter.]

    D disrupted his daze to reality. Lee quickly stored the book in his Inventory and opened the drawers of the table. There were innumerous parchments bound into books in it. But none had a name in the earthlynguage. Lee ced the books back inside and closed the drawer. Without a moment''s dy, the table disappeared into thin air.

    [Wait...don''t forget the mat. It looks old, but beautiful!]

    As Lee was about to turn and walk away, D reminded him of the mat at the corner. Lee expected to see a hidden door beneath the mat, but his expectations were fruitless. He stamped on the floor and made sure that there really is nothing. But, Lee had acquired a beige and ck designed maroon colour mat to his collection.

    As soon as he stepped out, An let Lee know that the rescued are all healed and ready to move. D suggested to believe in the hobgoblins and proceed to the jungle entrance. Lee gently rejected his opinion. He had thought of an alternative route. It''s just that he does not have any prior experience using it as a safe transportation method.

    By leaving D and An to wonder, Lee walked onto the stage. All 143 pairs of eyes were fixated on Lee.

    "Everyone..our rescue method is a little unusual. It may feel like an instant or a millennium, but when you open your eyes, you will be outside. So...can I have your trust?"

    The words ''unusual'' or ''millennium'' did note into the rescued one''s attention. Their ears rejoiced when they heard ''outside''. They rose up and bowed in agreement. Only An could guess what method he might use, while D could not help but facepalm!

    Lee was thrilled by their response. He could not wait to use EsGen on them. Hee was aware that the 3 A.M. notification had not popped up. Thus, this was also for measuring the possible Essence output he could get.

    Lee took all the milk bottles from them and sold it to the Shop prior tomencing the journey. As Lee instructed, they all came and stood around Lee in a circr manner. An stood apart from the crowd, as he told her to do.

    *.....*

    The silence was not disrupted when Lee absorbed them all into his EsGen. As An saw all 142 people disappearing, she asked for the safety of the method.

    "To be honest, I have not used this method for safe transportation. That day, the Mo family head''s phantom and elders were brought out by this method."

    "Then take me too!"

    An sounded her opinion in an obstinate manner. Lee tried not to reason with her, but gave her a solid hug. He whispered in her ears that she will be outside before she can know. An blushed and kissed him, and was taken into the EsGen the very moment.

    [Why did you use EsGen as a means of transportation? You know that the Essence is not generated from thin air, don''t you?!]

    ''D, first thing,prehend the bloody situation. The way to the manor is closed. The passage to the jungle is riddled with traps. I may survive, but they cannot. We don''t know what kind of dangers exist there. Then thest option is the store.

    Yes, we all cannot walk out through the storefront. But I can. If I am alone and have no one else to be bothered about, I can easily sneak in and out of the store undetected. So, I had to take this step.

    Plus, there is a more pressing reason. The existence of ve trade is shocking. When it is done by the support of elites of the society and is run under the protection of the merchant''s guild, it is more shocking. The reason for the mysterious appearance of Illians in Alls will only surprise us more.

    If this store houses such an underground secret, then it must have something rted above the ground. Anything I leave behind today without investigating will be lost forever. So I must sweep the ce clean and tidy. Then, there is this book with an earthennguage. I need to know how that book got here and why! Perhaps, it could be rted to the origin of the parchment An spoke about.''

    =====

    3 A.M.

    7250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification popped up as Lee spat out hisst word. D stared at the panel for sometime, before saying-

    [Then why are you standing like a tree? Come on! We have a store to turn inside out.]

    D''s words felt encouraging to Lee. He sprinted towards the raised tform and to the door. As his figure vanished out of sight, a creature with metallic grey colour came out of its disguise. It was staying immobile at the top right corner to the stage. Neither D nor Lee sensed such an existence. It was following Lee with itsrge downward-pointed triangr blue eye. It slowly climbed down and stood on its hind-limbs. It had the stature of a thin gori, but with four arms and an extendable tail. It stared at the passage entrance through which Lee went, for a few minutes.

    "@+/$#@!=&%"

    A loud unintelligible voice echoed through the room as it raised its head and stared at the ceiling. For a normal being, this sounded like crazy bbering. But for the race called ''Ensifers'', this was their racial dialect. When the creature turned its head around and saw nothing in the vicinity, itsrge eye began to transform into a circle. When it almost became a perfect circle, it slightly jumped and instantly disintegrated into thin smoke. It''s presencepletely disappeared from Zaxaluke. Not even the Dimension Sovereign could sense it''s departure!

    ------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3420

    Essence: 112988 (3 A.M.)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12591/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 74: Quest Completed!

    Chapter 74: Quest Completed!

    Ground floor of the store.

    A pile of tripwires and hooks were on the floor. The shelves on the walls were empty. Even the decorated reception desk had vanished.

    Lee was going through the files and records kept in the strongroom adjacent to the manager''s cabin. All the files were about mundane transactions. Lee could not find anything particrly mysterious. He had swept through the floor without leaving a nook and corner.

    [Looks like they have nothing as you expect. Then why are you searching?!]

    ''Yes..maybe I am overthinking.''

    Lee closed the file and ced it over the table. He heaved a sigh as he walked out of the room. Lee took a nce at the status and it was almost 4 in the morning. Lee can tell that his cue to escape is nearing.

    [Only a few minutes and the shift will change.]

    Lee nodded and levitated himself. He flew up to the circr ss window and sat right behind it. A few minutester, the notification he anticipated came up.

    =====

    4 A.M.

    7250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Within a minute, Lee saw the two walking towards the guild. Lee immediately crept out of the ss window and closed it before flying away. Lee immediately fled the area and headed outside the city, towards the hobgoblins.

    With the help of the Map, Lee saw that the hobgoblins were sessful in luring and disabling the guards. But, they had exhausted the poison reserve. The hobgoblins had used all the poison in the pouches and the surrounding trees were showing signs of difort.

    Lee moved towards those tired men. They unexpectedly had a lot of opponents. But, their superior strength enabled them to knock them all down without being injured. Poison yed its role indiscriminately. Thus one or two among them were partially numb. Upon noticing the approaching figure of Lee, they merrily sprang up. The hobgoblins'' fair face became frowned as they saw him alone.

    Lee sensed their concern and released the 142 ves from the EsGen. The warriors saw a crowd of people appearing from thin air. The hobgoblins were awestruck as they realised that these people were rescued ves. Their eyes began to wet as they caught sight of their females and children.

    "Do you feel any kind of difort or-"

    Lee walked to An, but he could notplete his sentence. She jumped on him and coiled her arms around his neck. Her strength did not hurt Lee. He did not know why she jumped on him, so he too went with the flow. A minute or twoter, she loosened her hands and her cheerful face was revealed.

    "I felt a slight dizziness. Nothing more."

    Her answer was well within Lee''s expectation. He turned to observe the others as his hand was over her shoulders. She clung onto his ck robe like a child.

    "Are everyone alright?! Does anyone have any difficulties?"

    Lee asked aloud as he levitated himself a metre above the ground. His feat made the crowd go silent. They recognised his question and gave short disordered replies. Lee casted ''Spotless'' on them for a second. Any speck of dirt or contamination were immediately removed. Lee scanned the faces in a sweep before speaking-

    "From here on, you are free beings. You will decide where and how you live. Whom you live with is now your right to choose. What you eat and what you wear are entirely up to you. You are independent henceforth!"

    Lee came down to the ground after delivering his speech. His face gave off a reassuring aura. The words were filled with heartening honesty. He expected them to depart in peace, but the crowd was having a second thought.

    "Young saviour, we don''t have a ce to go. Will we be a burden if we ask to take us with you?"

    The oldest woman among the crowd asked raised her doubt. All the females joined her side. The men were reluctant to ask for shelter, but soon gave in. An peered at Lee for an answer she was expecting. Even D did not let him speak the other way.

    "There are no burdens in this world, but only people who cannot tolerate the responsibility over them. I travel with my wife and look after her. I do so because I am confident in keeping her safe. Likewise, I am confident in keeping you all safe!"

    An had a proud smug on her. She felt immensely proud to have Lee as her soulmate. Her heart felt rich with joy and happiness. Her mind heaved a sigh, as she was worried that Lee might answer unfavourably. She lifted her left palm from the pommel and let it hang down rxed.

    "But travelling with everyone like a tribe is troublesome, especially now!"

    Lee sounded his honest opinion. He further added the current situation of the continent. He did not forget to introduce Eturt vige as a destination.

    "So...we will depart to the vige. It will be rough, so I''ll have to use the unusual method again. Any objections?!"

    The crowd was silent. After a few seconds, they looked at him with eyes agreeing with him. Lee nced at An and got her consent too. She came near him and told to give them a satisfying description regarding the ability. D, the mastermind of deception, had a story baked and ready to serve. Lee brought their attention again and exined the skill he received through a ''fortunate event''.

    "I will now use the method. Come closer to me!"

    Lee instructed and the crowd came and surrounded him. Within a second, all of them vanished from the sight and appeared in the EsGen storage. He did not exclude An as she understood the need of freedom for him.

    =====

    Questpleted!

    Rewards stored in the storage

    =====

    5 A.M.

    7250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ---------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3420

    Essence: 130188 (5 A.M.)

    Money: 951 Gold, 96 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12591/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 75: Taming!

    Chapter 75: Taming!

    Street of Alls.

    Lee was walking through the street after sneakily crossing the wall. He used that portion of wall which was almost at the verge of copse. Since that part is near to the stinky slum, the mayor denied to repair it. Mayor added that those who are trying to enter through that portion must be desperate to get inside the city.

    Lee wandered through the streets for more than two hours. He woke up from his daydream when he heard a feminine scream from a distance. Lee peeked at the Map and Dmented-

    [Mo family elders have been rescued!]

    Lee entered the inn and went up the stairs. The goblin girl tried to keep herself resolute, but her eyes eventually followed Lee. His physique was a drug to females.

    The door was closed behind him as he entered the door. He went straight to the table with a serious face. He sat at the table with his mind lost in thoughts. The right hand moved itself and supported his chin while the left hand''s fingers rhythmically tapped on the table. He soon heaved a sigh and probed D.

    ''D, anything to buy with Essence?''

    [You can either buy the Gravity element beast crystal of Netherworld Leviathan for 62000 Essence, or the Space element beast crystal of the 17-headed Hydra for 80000 Essence.]

    ''I retract my question.''

    Lee hesitated for a second, then took out the ''Codex Fero''. Lee felt his heart racing to open it in an instant, but D ordered him to keep his resolve unwavering. The abnormal beat calmed down in his chest.

    "Codex Fero"

    Lee read it once again to make sure that he can read it clearly, and it is not his mind ying games with him. He ced the book on the table to inspect it. D advised him to use ''View'' on it, in case of any unknown or unnoticed dangers. Lee stood up and took a step backward, and used ''View''.

    =====

    Name: Codex Fero.

    Author: -----

    Description: The name ''Codex Fero'' stands for ''Book of the Wild''. The urate information regarding thenguage is not avable, but it does have simrities with the Latin of Earth. Any information about the origin or the author of the book is obscured permanently. The book contains detailed information about the wild creatures of Utopia. The information contains anatomy and psychology of the beasts. The writtennguage is undecipherable.

    =====

    [You know Lee, I am doubting my own existence as the Dimension Sovereign. So many mysterious objects have entered into this dimension without my knowledge.]

    ''Rx D. You are the strongest in this dimension. But there might be beings on a whole new scale of strength in other ones. Be d that they did not barge in here.''

    Lee slowly opened the bundle of parchments. He did it with utmost care, as they are at least a century old. The inner pages were greyish brown in colour. In those pages lie the detailed drawings of wild animals. The first page contained the smallest insect and theter pages hadrger ones. Though he could not read, he scanned the anatomy and drawings of each beasts with keen interest. He tried to decode thenguage when he saw the pages of Spikehog, Cold Nyx Silver beast, Cold Wild Wolf and Horned-Mow. His attempt ended up in a failure as he realised that thenguage has at least 45 alphabets. The book instantly disappeared into the Inventory upon this revtion.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    7250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    *sigh*

    ''Buy the Space element crystal and Gravity element crystal.''

    [.....sure?!]

    ''Just buy it!''

    [Okay....and done.]

    ''Directly absorb them.''

    [Acquired Space element affinity and Gravity element affinity. Only two more to go!]

    ''And that two will take a lot of time!''

    [Noments. By the way, you have looted a lot of things from the underground facility. Sort them now, or it will be a burden even to look at.]

    Lee nodded and bought out things one by one. He started with the three big tables. With his consent, the gold and silver coins were added to his Money.

    The relics and artifacts came out of the Inventory. When Lee was inspecting them, D gave an approximate oral ount of the object''s origin, affiliation and use. Except for eight, all were expensive visual decoratives, made of gold and silver. Lee kept them in the storage ring so that he could present them to others.

    The eight lithic objects that caught D''s attention had power imbued in them. They were of distinct and different colours, but were in fact the pieces of a single relic. When arranged, it revealed itself to be the fragments of some circr stone block. The different colours were due to its multi coloured rings on it. As Lee put them in its approximate ces, the rock pieces began to tremble faintly. Before Lee''s eyes, two pieces that were touching each other merged and became one big piece. They merged so perfectly that one cannot believe that they were two different pieces a second before. The trembling faded away instantly.

    Neither one of them had any idea of what had happened. Lee carefully tapped the pieces a few times to confirm that they are inactive. He didn''t wait to store them in his Inventory.

    [Lee, I assume that those stone fragments belong to an object which is definitely in or above the Force grade. Only such overriding objects have the property of restoration. But from its performance, it is more than 3 centuries old.]

    ''Hmm..Force grade, eh?! Looks like we hit the jackpot!''

    [Not really. We only have a few fragments with us. That too is less than 12% of the total volume. We can only hope toe across more fragments.]

    Lee nodded and brought out the third table. It had its drawers filled with papers and documents. While a good portion of it was rted to the ve trading transactions, the leftover papers were incriminating evidence against all corrupt officials in the city of Alls. If the great king Aizil ever came to know about this, he would personally escort these corrupt and greedy men to the doors of hell!

    There was nothing interesting, so it was stored back in the Inventory rather quickly. Lee nced at the Map and saw that the store they infiltrated yesterday was yet to be opened. He snickered as he imagined the magnitude of unrest the news can produce.

    Upon remembering something, Lee immediately opened up the status panel. He told D to use 800 Essence to upgrade the recently acquired affinities. His eyes did not stop until it reached thest skill obtained.

    "Taming!"

    The name itself presented an approximate understanding. Lee was more focused on the letter ''O'' and the nk spaces in the brackets. He guessed that it might be the level of progress.

    [Yes. It is the level of progress. As you can see, your progress is at O grade. Every grade has a necessary amount of progress to acquire before upgrading. This is the lowest grade of all. To have an O grade is literally equivalent to not having the skill.

    Above O grade lies the G grade and above it is the F grade. You can understand it more easily if you take a look at this chart.]

    A panel appeared with some information on it.

    =====

    G grade - Sess rate 5%.

    Progress: 1 point.

    F grade - Sess rate 8%.

    Progress: 5 points.

    E grade - Sess rate 20%.

    Progress: 30 points.

    D grade - Sess rate 32%.

    Progress: 210 points.

    C grade - Sess rate 46%.

    Progress: 1,890 points.

    B grade - Sess rate 62%.

    Progress: 20,790 points.

    A grade - Sess rate 80%.

    Progress: 270,270 points.

    S grade - Sess rate 100%.

    No further progress.

    =====

    [The lowest grade O, can be upgraded to G if you catch a wild animal appropriate for you, without taking any injuries.

    Each animal you sessfully tame contributes one progress point. Thus, if you tame 1 animal, you get promoted to F grade. Then, Tame 5 animals to reach E grade from there.

    Failure to tame an animal must always be expected. The animal that had been failed to tame has a 50% chance to be aggressive.

    The sess rate is an approximate value. The rate can increase for animals weaker than you while it can plummet for anything even slightly powerful than you. The rate is also dependent on the mental and physical state of the animal. The peaceful the beast is , the easier it is to tame.]

    ''Then what about Flight?''

    [Each hour of sessful flight contributes you one point. You have flown for a total of 3 hours. Thus you have 2 points in F grade.]

    ---------------------------

    (A.N. I forgot to add grading to skills, my bad. I have rectified it.)

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3420

    Essence: 9138 (8 A.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (12591/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (0/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen

    EsConv

    Flight - F (2/5)

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - O (-/-)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 76: Against Illians, Alone

    Chapter 76: Against Illians, Alone

    =====

    Quest generated!

    ''Find and release the caged beasts at Mayor''s manor.''

    Reward: 4900 Essence.

    Duration: 02 hour 00 minutes 00 seconds.

    =====

    ''.....D, was this quest triggered by the Taming skill?!''

    [No, this was triggered for some other reasons. Take a look at the Map.]

    Lee leaned onto the table on his elbows, as he peeked at his Map. Themotion near the Merchant''s guild was amplified than he had thought. The quest was it''s after-effect. Like the storefront and ve trade, mayor actively participated in smuggling beasts. The mayor''s manor had a lot of cultivators guarding it.

    ''D, whatever happens, you''re with me, right?!''

    [Where do you think I can go from you?! I am unfortunately bound to your soul!]

    Lee stood up and walked towards the window. He saw armed cultivators walking on the streets with sharp and serious expressions. Lee immediately backed off as a cultivator nced at his window. He might have felt the intensely observing eyes of Lee.

    ''My actions have caused unpredicted consequences. Let''s not be a coward and face it.''

    D was not able to figure out why Lee opened the window instead of opening the door and going out. Lee slided the windowpane to the left and looked up and down as his head poked out. The window was big enough for a man to sit on the edge.

    ''Taking the road is too time-consuming!''

    Before D could raise his sound, Lee had ced his right leg over the window slider. With a forward lean and inhuman thrust, Lee shot out towards the opposite building''s terrace.

    *crack*

    Lee vanished with his immense hindlimb strength powering him up. The take-off was so powerful that the window sides began to crack. The distracting cracking voice and almost noiseless and instantaneous flight of Leeplimented each other.

    The cultivators were astonished to see the wall near an open window crack for no visible reason. They suddenly remembered when the earthquakes urred. The cultivators fled the area with caution.

    [You need to learn to control your strength.]

    Lee shot off from the room with so much force that he flew over the building and reached the next one. Lee promptly activated Flight in mid-air and glided towards the city manor. Lee used the buildings as his cover to fly over.

    Secondster, Lee came in the vicinity of the manor. The surroundings were abnormally guarded. Lee could only observe the situations from afar. Hended on the possibly nearest building and knelt near the terrace railing.

    The tall and luxuriously wide manor was biege in colour with bisque borders and designs on it. It''s uncanny resemnce to Victorian era english manor was magical. The manor was at least 130 metres wide. Over its central tower were 3 cultivators watching the premises. More than 20 cultivators stood watch for the manor on the ground. From the unsettling atmosphere in the surrounding streets, Lee can tell that these cultivators were not familiar with the residents.

    As Lee observed the manor and analysed the Map simultaneously, D yelled out.

    [LEE...MOVE AWAY! AN IMMORTAL GRANDMASTER IS ON THE WAY!!]

    Lee turned around to see a figure floating in the air, far away. He nced around and saw a chimney on the terrace.

    [That''s risky. He''ll find you.]

    With no other way, Lee jumped down from the terrace. But he did not fall down. He slowly descended using Flight. Fortunately, there was an open window. Lee quickly entered inside and hid behind the wall.

    [Damnn!!!!]

    A gorgeously voluptuous naked woman was sleeping on her bed. Her clothes were scattered on the floor. Her revealing assets and private parts stunned Lee. He felt an urge.to immediately leave the room! But D hesitated.

    D wanted to raise his honest opinion, but the situation at hand was dangerous. Lee peeked out of the window and saw a man in blue and red robe. He silently and steadily flew towards the manor. As soon as he passed them, Lee crawled out of the window. He did not want to leave the window open, so he closed them. D had to bid farewell to the strange, but sweet feast to his eyes!

    [Road is better. Move fast.]

    Fortunately, the street below them was temporarily devoid of any presence. Lee quickly jumped down and ran towards the manor. He took care to not burst into his full speed as it will definitely alert the roaming cultivators.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    7250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Time left: 01 hours 15 minutes 36 seconds.

    =====

    Unknown to Lee, his beautiful robe had already attracted many cultivators'' attention. They were stupefied to see a cultivator apart from theirmunity running through the streets. A few tailed him and ended up nearing the manor.

    [Lee, we havepany.]

    ''I noticed. Let them be. I need them toe at me!''

    When the cultivators realised that Lee was heading towards the manor, they became alert and blocked him. Lee simply jumped over them and continued to run. He slightly increased his pace and went like an arrow. Shouts and roars arose from his behind.

    [Lee, the cultivators are concentrating on you. Knock them out or they will be a much bigger nuisance.]

    ''Got it.''

    Lee kept the pace and men and women in robes came blocking his path. Lee ducked, jumped and ran past them almost effortlessly. Strangely, those whom Lee went past fell on the ground numb. The little lightning balls inside Lee''s palms were beyond visual detection, but gave a lethal dose of electrocution.

    [Lee, the cages are out. They are moving towards the northern city gate. You need to hurry up.]

    Lee exploded forth with a boom. Streaks of lightning shot out to his surroundings as he shed past the feeble hindrances. Those who tailed him nearly tripped on their feet as they saw his inhuman speed. One among them took out a talisman and threw it into the sky. It shot up and created a momentary distress beacon. D saw this and notified that the cultivators are dead onto him. Lee slowly rose into the air and advanced towards the escaping convoy.

    [The beasts in the cages are a unique drake variant called ''Dretril''. They are beings with immense Qi in them. They are extremely powerful and aggressive. Cultivating near them is very beneficial to Qi users. No wonder the Illians are guarding it.]

    Lee came flying like a meteor. He shed in front of the carriage and floated in mid air. His ck robe amplified his sharp gaze at the convoy. As Lee slowly floated one metre above the path while hindering the convoy''s advance, his de came out in his hand.

    "We forgive your foolishness. Move out of the path or you will regret your decisions!"

    The Immortal Grandmaster cultivator was unfortunately leading the convoy. He stepped forward and his aura exploded. Lee took a moment to nce around. The cultivators all around the city had concentrated inside a 300 meter around Lee.

    "I am d to meet the ill-willed Illianmunity that had brought disgrace to the harmony of the kingdom."

    The brows of the grandmaster twitched as he heard this. A double-edged jian sword came out of his spatial ring. His left hand rose and pointed at Lee as the sword aimed at his neck.

    "You are strong. But you sealed your fate when you let your mouth go as it please!"

    The grandmaster spoke and nced at the building to his right. 6 cultivators jumped from the top of the building and raced towards Lee. Their hostile intentions kick started Foresight. 4 spears flew at Lee with killing intent.

    [Do as I say.]

    D stated and Lee nodded internally.

    [Raise and point your left hand at the spears. Focus lightning at the tips of your fingers and shoot out at them.]

    Lee followed D''s order. The focused lightnings shot out from his fingers and crawled over the oing spears. As D calcted, the spear''s streamlined body channeled the lightning and avoided it''s dispersion. The lightning exited from the spears and enveloped the helpless cultivators.

    *sizzle*

    Six spasming bodies fell on the ground. The surrounding cultivators gasped and unconsciously took a step back. All these happened in a span of seconds!

    Grandmaster was the only person enraged by this. His sword began to cover in bright red mes.

    "KILL HIM!!"

    The astounded cultivators could not disobey the grandmaster''s order. The crowd came down from the building tops and cautiously surrounded Lee. Those who were in Nascent Soul realm and above showcased out their elemental affinity. Lee was extremely delighted to see Fire, Water, Ice and Wind elements revolving around him. But D reminded to be on guard as affinities like Nature and Rock are not visible. He also added the presence of Soul Condensation and Manifestation realm cultivators!

 Chapter 77: Culling the Cultivators

    Chapter 77: Culling the Cultivators

    *hmph*

    "I wonder how you became cultivators, despite being gutless and fearful! d I am not an Illian! HAHAHA.."

    The pricking words of D coupled with agitating arrogance performed by Lee was otherworldly! Each and every cultivator around him felt their pride soiled and honour disfigured. Thatst bit of desire to stay cautious and uninjured flew as those eyes screamed with fury. Regardless of their race, the rage spread out like wildfire. In a nutshell, Lee had sessfully pissed them off!

    [Here ites!]

    Sharp and deadly metal pierced the air and neared Lee. But what surprised him was not their rage, but the Foresight''s trajectory predictions. At a nce, each and every point of Lee''s body was aimed. The survival instinct kicked in and metal shed metal!

    Fire scorched the sleeves, ice ciated the sides of the robe and water drops were annoying. Tiny pieces of rock scratched and shaved the robe off its beauty while wind tried to throw him off the bnce. In the end, lightning outdid all. The Damascus steel of earth showed it''s might to the Utopian cultivators!

    The cultivators were surprised to see that their swords were not able to make him bleed. Unlike his robe, his body was abnormally sturdy. That did not mean that it was painless. Everytime a spear pokes him, he would squirm with anger. When a sword draws an invisible line over his back, his grip would tighten. But D from the inside recited nonstop ''keep cool, be calm, keep cool, be calm.'' Lee had to keep calm as his robe was shredded to pieces, and his tee was exposed.

    Elves, dwarves, goblins and orcs brought their weapons on him like an avnche. The goblins were agile. The orcs packed immense strength. The dwarves were tough with their defense. The elves exhibited an unending stream of stamina.

    Every cut of Lee intentionally avoided vital parts. Each time Lee feels like the swing will be deadly, he would pull his sword in, and the shallow wound would not chop off the opponent''s limbs. While Lee had his left arm''s fingers regrly spitting lightning, the de had an unrivalled and unnoticeablebination of Gravity and Space attributes. The Gravity attribute delivers a minute and momentary esction of gravitational force on the opponent at each strike. It is so small that a cultivator can hardly feel it, but coupling it with umted fatigue can create a slow and effective power-draining method. This also helps Lee, who is in dire need of opponents to increase his elemental proficiency.

    The Space attribute isplicated in nature. Even D cannot predict what the strike can cause, but it''s rtively lesser proficiency is unharming. Lee confirmed that the Space element gives out an extremely faint spatial ripple when ites into contact with any object. That said object will have a momentary dy in its motion, though it is only for a minute fraction of seconds. D conveyed that Gravity and Space at its ''Greater'' grade is a nonsensically overpowered weapon!

    =====

    10 A.M.

    7250 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee forgot about time as he toyed with the cultivators. The notification came and he realised that he has a more pressing task at hand.

    [Mass-release the lightning!]

    With a nod, Lee jumped into the sky and did a sideflip as a fiery sword came down where he just stood. The grandmaster pulled his sword out of the ground and roared at Lee.

    ''Release.''

    As Lee flipped in mid-air, sparkles arose from his body and shot out like a firework. The fatigued and high-spirited were bbergasted alike as they witnessed the rain of white strikeing down on us.

    *zzt*

    The lightning passed through the cultivators like nothing. The intense numbness and pain gifted by the lightning came many freeze like statues. Only a few who had their legs in Immortal ss had enough strength to stand up. The grandmaster''s hand began to tremble by the sudden and unexpected amount of shock!

    "You are a cultivator. Then why are you against us?!"

    Since Lee was physically unyielding, the grandmaster cultivator tried to talk him out. D sensed the microexpressions shing on the deceitful face and promptly notified Lee.

    "Why, you are asking? Tell me, do you believe in Equality?"

    The answer came without a dy.

    "Yes."

    Lee was prepared for all contingencies.

    "Then why are these beasts caged? ording to Equality, no living creature should be restricted from its right to speak, to move, to eat and to mate."

    The cultivator nced at the caged for a moment and replied-

    "These beasts were reported to have killed many beings, including humans. We had to cage them."

    "Ohh.then I assume the ves were also criminals!"

    The statement brought surprise to those who remained conscious. The brows twitched as the grandmaster frowned.

    "Are you a stupid or what? I just said that I am the one who rescued the ves yesterday night."

    The grandmaster tightened his grip with discontent. The person or group of persons who were presumably behind the escape of the ves were standing right in front of him.

    "Then you shall be beheaded! Sky Severing Fire Sword!"

    The cultivator screamed out and his sword''s de began to elongate. The solid de became engulfed by fire and became the fire. D warned Lee about this particr phenomenon.

    [When one has a suitable element enchanted weapon with his/her soul imprint, the element can be fused with the weapon and can manifest the element in its purest form. Now, that de is in pure fire form. It is now a whip in sword form. It''s attack value is greater than your defence. Evade and avoid!]

    The movement patterns greatly changed and the whip shed at Lee. He narrowly leaned out of the way and the de that brushed past him illuminated its path. The whish came from all possible directions. Lee ignored the wounds and cuts popping up on his skin as he frantically avoided the fiery whip. Lee almost took out his de, but D reproved. He included that even his de of Higher Mortal grade will shatter in its contact.

    "How does it feel to be a monkey, jumping and avoiding each strike? Don''t be gutless and fight!"

    Lee had his brows twitch in annoyance as he heard this. His regtor of rage almost exploded, but cooled down upon remembering something.

    ''D, how is my fire immunity and affinity?!''

    [Immunity is a little over 2400 in Medium grade. Not enough to put up a fight. Affinity is 0 at Medium grade.]

    ''Then tell me.how good is my poison immunity?!''

    [Greater.]

    A sinister grin crept up the face of Lee as his speed picked up a little boost. Each leap and dash had sparkles originating from his feet. The grandmasterughed like a maniac as he saw Lee''s desperate attempt to stay alive. His swings became quicker as the fire got hotter.

    What that was not noticed by the spectating cultivators, was his open and downward facing palm. The sparkling lightning from Lee''s lower torso was not to provide a boost, but was for evaporating the poison released from his palm. The lightning''s charge pierced through the poison drops. Though a lot of poison was disintegrated by lightning, those that evaporated was enough for paralysing. Lee ran around the grandmaster realm cultivator with his poison trap. Lee regrly tried to close in, but he confirmed that the poison was not enough.

    Leepletely lost it as spheres of dark green liquids materialised in his palms. He added extra jumps and physically exhausting stunts to spill the poison actively. Time to time, he would throw lumps of poison at the cultivator.

    Finally, Lee''s effort found fruit. The slight sluggishness he felt in the fire whip''s movement confirmed that the poison was acting. The cultivator was in an ecstatic state as he thought that his strength is still at peak. When Lee took a sharp L turn, he was caught off-guard. At this moment when he turned the course of the whip, he realised his decrease in speed.

    "Be a good boy and shut up!"

    Lee''s right fist came in contact with the cultivator''s stomach. The fiery de flew above Lee''s head as he instantly ducked. The pain and force of contact coupled with Lee''s unexposed hind-limb strength was lethal to any normal human. The very instant, EsGen was activated and the cultivator vanished. The spectating cultivators were stunned by this sudden turn of events. Before they could make out a conclusion from the leader''s strange disappearance, Lee had alreadye in contact with each one of them.

    -----------------------------

    =====

    11 A.M.

    10500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee walked towards the cage with a bottle of Horned-Mow milk appearing in his hand. His dry throat screamed for the white cont as he gulped down the milk. Milk was all over his face by his clumsy action. The heart in his chest drummed wildly as he coughed twice. Without minding the keen eyes observing him, he sat on the milk spilt ground.

    *huff huff huff.*

    "Damn.those people were crazy. At least they could have ran in a single direction!"

    Lee sat up with his legs long and his upper torso supported by hands leaned backward. He panted like a tired wild dog.

    [At least we got some additions to the EsGen!]

    ''Yeah, right!''

    A relieved smile with a tinge of tiredness was on his face. He nced over his shoulders left and right, and saw the city residents peeking on him

    ''Do I look horrible or am I a criminal?''

    [Neither. These people have been observing the fight for more than an hour. They have seen you fighting the cultivators and making them vanish. What makes you think that they wille near you?!]

    Lee did not reply, but stood up as his drumming heart had calmed down.

    ''All thesemotions have happened, and not a singlew enforcer has arrived. Fishy!''

    [No, you stupid. Since you looted all the gold and silver from the underground, the mayor is at the necks of all the other guilds. What he wants is money. That''s why he gave the cages to Illians as soon as he got the money in his hand. Plus, he ordered the militia to note near this ce till noon, which is now. So expect thew enforcers anytime soon.]

    ''Right.the cage!!''

    Lee walked towards the 4 carriages abandoned at the middle of the road. His eyes scanned the Map and observed his surroundings simultaneously. He almost touched the closed extra long carriages when he heard shouts from a distance.

    "Catch him. Don''t let him escape. He''s the thief."

    Lee turned his head and saw the horses galloping towards him. D guessed that somebody might have informed the soldiers.

    [We have no time. Store these and fly away!!!]

    Lee walked to each carriage and stored them in the EsGen. His tattered robe and tee were pathetic in nature, so ripped them and put them away in the spatial ring. As the armoured horses reached within 10 metres of him, Lee turned away and dashed towards the gate as lightning sparkled along.

    After a dozen of seconds, he took off into the air. His destination was a familiar name - Eturt.

    =====

    Questpleted.

    Rewards obtained.

    =====

 Chapter 78: An & the Antelope

    Chapter 78: An & the Antelope

    [Lee, can I ask you something?]

    ''Sure!''

    [Why are you trying to look like a meteor?!]

    ''....''

    Lee was lightening up the air around him as he flew like an arrow. Half an hour had passed after the 12 midday notification popped up. Lee was startled to see a staggering spike in Essence production. This was unexpected from four carriages carrying Dretrils.

    ''D, can you exin why I got 7900 Essence from four carriages of Dretril beasts?''

    [Dretrils are greed-invoking beasts for cultivators. They are born and nurtured in Qi abundant areas, but begin to roam as soon as it matures. If you can have a Dretril as yourpanion, your cultivation would be amplified to a certain extent. There are incidents where the cultivator explodes from an immense quantity of Qi when cultivating near the beast.

    And most importantly, they are not tiny insects. They are long and elegant creatures. As far as I am concerned, don''t bring them out in the near future. They can contribute a lot of Essence.]

    Lee glimpsed at the Map and saw that they are only half an hour flight away from the vige. Hence, he decided to touch down. The faint chillness of the wind was refreshing as it brushed on his face. Lee sat on the grassy ground and leaned backward. He closed his eyes as heid down on his side.

    ''D, open outfit. My clothings are all ruined.''

    The Shop opened up and the Outfit section came to the view. Lee busily scanned through the outfits. Since there were no filtering options, Lee had to handpick them. But even after a long time, Lee couldn''t find what he was looking for.

    [Tell me what you are looking for.]

    ''A denim blue colour jeans, an off-white tee shirt and a trunk.''

    [I almost thought that you would not remember about your little brother.]

    ''Oh really?! Silly me.''

    Lee passed a sarcasticment as D brought the aforementioned objects for 490 Essence. Lee took off his pants and his brother was out of the prison after a long time. D appreciated the happiness of the dangling thing between his legs. Though there is no one in the vicinity, the sense of shame and nakedness crept up Lee. So, he immediately wore the trunk, jeans and the tee. The jeans were more rted to deep blue than denim blue. Lee took the tee in his hand, but hesitated to wear it. He nced at the Map and asked D-

    ''Any water bodies nearby?!''

    [There is a small stream running about 365 metres east to you.]

    D took a second dy to answer, but the information was urate. Lee stored the tee in his ring and walked in the direction of the stream.

    3 minutester, Lee reached the stream. It was 3 metres wide and a metre shallow stream. As he scanned around, he saw a ck Spotted Antelope. It was drinking water about 20 to 22 metres away. The stream had trees lined on its sides and it''s plentiful shade gave the lonely antelope to sleep peacefully. The burning twin stars m could not reach its heat to the ground through the foliage. Before it closed its eyes, it caught a nce of Lee. As it did not sense any killing intent, the antelope rested down and took a nap.

    Lee took off his outfits and stored them in his ring. His footwear was long lost while surviving the Cold Nyx Silver beast''s needles.

    Lee slowly inserted his body into the stream with minimal sound. Surprisingly, the antelope heard it and raised its head. It''s beautiful ears were erect. As it saw Lee sinking in the water, it slowly rose up and walked towards Lee. Each step was made with immense hesitation and a lot of thinking. Lee saw it shyly approaching and did not scare it with sudden movements. As Lee sank his bodypletely in the water, the herbivore was quite surprised because Lee did not breathe for an entire minute. But as the timer neared the one minute limit, Lee raised his face over the water surface and gasped. He did not sink his face henceforth.

    The antelope sat near the stream as Lee soaked himself in water. He rubbed his body and his limbs with his arms. After ample cleaning, Lee slowly rose from the water. The animal opened his eyes for a second and closed to again continue its nap.

    ''Maybe I am naturally beautiful.''

    [The antelope is not scared as it deem your existence non-threatening.]

    The cold water running through the stream gave great relief to Lee. The coolness spread over his body like a nket. Lee did not have any means to dry himself, so heid on the grass 3 metres apart from the antelope. Maybe it was the pent-up tiredness coupled by the cold water, or it could be the refreshing atmosphere and the silent shade, because Lee found it hard to not fall asleep. His consciousness slipped into slumber.

    -------------------------

    *yawn*

    Lee raised his upper torso with his elbow supporting it from the ground. Lee nced around with hisnguid eyes. The antelope had left. He felt like losing a golden opportunity. But he stood up and wore his garments at a steady pace. After standing tall and running his fingers through the material, he brought out the 143 people inside the EsGen storage.

    *clueless ncing*

    All 142 were in a confused state. Last time they cked out, they were outside the trade center. Now, they are in an unknown jungle. Many peered at Lee for a description of where they were.

    "We are 8 kilometres away from the Eturt vige. It''s almost noon, so it is good to eat something."

    Lee gave a brief description about the jungle as they sat on the grass ground. Lee conveyed what happened at the city of Alls in detail. He did not forget to mention a part of his ''mysterious'' ability as he trusted them.

    The fight against Illians made An pout. She stared at Lee with a cold gaze. Lee felt it prating him, so he winked at her amidst his description. She was caught off-guard as she blushed and took her sight away from him. It was then the ck Spotted Antelope came there again.

    The antelope came back to check whether the human is doing good. But a crowd of people weed it. An was sitting on the ground cross-legged as she saw the antelope. The antelope was strangely attracted to her beauty. As a female, the antelope slowly strided towards An. As it neared her, it sat near her with its head on herp. Lee was confused by its behaviour.

    [You are not even a threat, while your wife is its favourite!]

    Lee did not take thement into consideration and exined the path, as he brought out 150 bottles of Horned-Mow milk and Honey Bread. The humans were not a fan of honey-sweet bread, but goblins loved it. Though there were only 3 orcs, 9 elves and 2 dwarves, they alone consumed many times what humans ate. The dwarves neared him every 4 minutes to have a few more bread. The milk filled the air with fragrance.

    *burp*

    The elves jolted up at dwarves'' loud burp. Lee was visibly amused to see them lying on the grass like all others. Filling their tummies resulted in exhaustion and drowsiness.

    Lee stood leaning to a tree as An held his hand. She was so close to Lee and a little farther from the rest, that their conversation was only audible to them.

    "I remember you wanting to say something. What was that?"

    An stared at his face with confusion as she recollected what her question was about. At the moment of remembrance, she blushed and pinched his cheek.

    "That is a very private request. I will tell you what it is when timees."

    Saying this, An walked towards the sleeping antelope. She took it in her arms and it rubbed her head at An''s chin. Its hornless furry head gave a smooth sensation.

    =====

    2 P.M.

    13480 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Do not tame it.]

    ''Why? I need to increase my Taming skill.''

    [How the hell are you forgetting things so quickly?! I told you that you need to tame an appropriately strong beast, not some harmless fawn.]

    ''Then...are there any such beasts appropriate for me in the vicinity?''

    [Not in the vicinity, but in your EsGen storage.]

    ''Wait, Dretril? You yourself said that those beasts are aggressive.''

    [And arepatible with you, who is much faster than an Immortal Grandmaster realm cultivator.]

    ''Let us resume this conversationter! We need to move now.''

    Lee moved away from the tree and walked towards the hobgoblins sitting with their females. Upon seeing him approaching, they stood up.

    "We can walk from here. Please let everyone know that we will depart in half an hour. They will have enough time to get rid of their drowsiness."

    Lee talked politely. It has been his behaviour since childhood. Lee rarely bes angry and disrespectful. And he is a beast when at it.

    The five hobgoblin warriors separated as three groups and moved towards the crowd. They conveyed the message to those who were awake and almost awake. To those who were in deep slumber, they slightly shook them and conveyed the message in their ears. Many jumped up as they came to know the information.

    Half an hour went by.

    Lee was having a discussion with D about removing Necginhawa from the armours. He was ready to spend the Essence, but D reprovee his decision.

    [Listen to me, Lee. You don''t have to use Essence. It will wear on its own in a few years.]

    Before Lee was able to sound his opinion, a hobgoblin spoke as he neared him.

    "Saviour, we are ready to depart."

    He couldn''t hold back hisughter as he patted the hobgoblin''s shoulder.

    "My name is Lee. You can call me by my name."

    The hobgoblin nodded with a smile. He went back to the crowd and shared the information that their saviour''s name was Lee.

    "Okay everyone! Let''s move."

    Lee shouted as all turned their heads at him and sprang up on their feet. Lee scanned their faces and finally nced at An. She in her beautiful robe walked slowly towards him with the antelope next to her.

    Lee turned around and walked while signalling to follow him. The crowd departed from there and moved towards the vige. As a human vige, neither Lee nor the crowd had any idea how they would receive them. With one eye on the Map and one scanning the surroundings, Lee summoned his status screen.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator

    Fame: 3768

    Essence: 86369 (2 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Love: An

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6601/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2407/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15034/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - O (-/-)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 79: No Longer Alone.

    Chapter 79: No Longer Alone.

    Elbow came down like a hammer and-

    *thud*

    "This is how you knock down a wolf!"

    The long snouted deep brown coloured Split-jaw Hyena fell on its belly unconscious. The ck cloth wound around its mouth was almost torn. It''s thin ck legs struggled to stand up. But Lee held it up by its neck and showed its belly to the underage girls and boys. Their eyes went wide in surprise to see soft, white, furry underneath of its belly. Lee held it upside down in front of them to touch and feel it''s softness.

    Split-jaw Hyenas were vicious predators. Their name came from their splitted lower jaw. The lower jaw has muscles on its side that drag the jaw to both sides, and thus creating an almost triangr shape. When in a hurry, they tend to swallow their prey as huge chunks of meat. Their gastric juices were strong enough to melt them. Despite their short size, they can easily bring down an Orc Ox with their bite force.

    But this one unfortunately came across the travelling Lee and party. Poor Hyena! That being felt humiliated and degraded from its status of predator, as little orcs and human kids tickled it''s underbelly. It wriggled with all the tickles. Even a full-grown human will find it difficult to stand!

    The Hyena helplessly stayed in Lee''s grip as the little hands ran through its stomach. As it was a male, it was saved from further embarrassment. The kids retracted their hands after having some fun.

    All the way, Lee caught a Spikehog, an Oak Snake, a Mud Rabbit, a Dunce Snail, a Chromeleon and a Fluff Donkey. This was the only carnivorous being he caught and the children were naturally excited.

    "So remember! You must be very agile. Your enemy must think that you are confused and frozen. And when they attack, evade immediately to any side and bam! Your elbow knocks your enemy out."

    The adults were watching them as they sat or leaned to the trees. The amusing expressions of children were enough to get rid of the unfavourable fatigue. The distance between them and the vige was decreased to almost 2 kilometres.

    The evening was yet to arrive as Lee regrly took breaks for them to catch a breath. There were tortured and vited among them. So Lee was careful not to burden them with continuous walking. He was also conscious to give them enough bread and milk. Like a small tribe, Lee led the crowd towards the vige.

    The Hyena was left alive to go, but it came back with its tail between it''s legs. It''s ears were t and showed no signs of hostility. After the embarrassing incident, the Hyena lost its self-esteem. Never in its life had it thought of such an overbearing humiliation.

    Lee looked to his right and saw Hyena looking at him with an unspeakable cry. It conveyed sadness through its eyes. Lee felt something in his heart. Lee ced his right hand at his chest.

    [You can feel it, right?! That is pain, silent but overwhelming pain. It is expecting you to take it with you. Once a being loses its pride, its inner demon is shattered and will sumb to despair. Eventually, it may evenmit suicide.]

    Lee felt guilt. Though his actions were meant to be infotaining for the children and the adults, he forgot to take a nce from the hyena''s side. He never expected a fang bearing beast to go downbeat.

    ''So what you are saying is that, it has lost its reasons to survive after an embarrassment, right?!''

    [It is so with all beasts. Some try to hide, some are transparent.]

    Lee stopped in his tracks as he turned to his right. At a distance, the hyena stood with droopy eyes. When a howl from a distance suddenly emerged, it got scared and shaken. Lee saw that the mental impact the incident has caused is more than irreversible.

    Lee knelt on his left knee as his right elbow rested on his right knee. Compassion veiled his face as the hyena took a step back. The whole crowd halted and watched the scene. An was curious as to what was happening with Lee. When she saw the hyena at a distance, things were more or less clear to her. The antelope hid behind her at the hyena''s first nce. It tried to make a frightening hiss, but An held its mouth from making noise.

    =====

    4 P.M.

    13480 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The hyena slowly walked to Lee. The shattered prestige was too much for any being to handle. Lee deduced it from its slightly trembling fur. It''s head was facing downward, with a heavy feeling. Lee extended his left hand, but it got scarred as it paused for a second. But, it slowly moved towards Lee with optimism. As it reached near Lee''s arm, the hyena brought its forehead to his palm. A silent gasp arose from the breathless crowd.

    The very moment hyena''s forehead touched him, the Taking skill was upgraded to G grade. D notified Lee of this achievement, but was shushed in return. D pouted in anger as a protest.

    The soft bristles brushed against Lee''s palm. A sense of satisfaction filled Lee while the hyena made a short purr as it pushed its head against the palm. Lee caressed its head gently. A series of emotions filled the hyena''s mind and it''s face brightened. Its ears, almost as big as a fennec fox''s, stood up delighted. Both of Lee''s hands scanned the beast''s head and neck.

    The crowd was on cloud nine! They just saw someone catch a Split-jaw Hyena barehand, only to domesticate it. Infamous as a pack predator and a lonely hunter, this aggressive beast remained as untameable. Due to safety reasons, the crowd watched the scenes from a safe distance of 2 or 3 metres. Though it was like a child in Lee''s hand, their conscience screamed them not to near one step.

    After all the familiarisation, the hyena looked straight into his eyes. Lee was visibly surprised to see arge deep blue iris in its eyes. Those who had good eyesight among the crowd noticed too.

    "It is an abandoned!"

    "Oh no! Then it surely is dangerous!"

    Murmurings from the crowd fell into Lee''s ears and D spoke before a question was raised.

    [Many beasts have it''s own set of traits and features that distinguish one from its closest rtives. If a newborn is found to be defective of these traits, it is thrown out of the pack. About 99% will perish or end up as other being''s food, but that 1% which survives will be strong enough to burn the pack to ashes, only to feel its warmth. So technically, this one here is a fighter!]

    Lee grinned in delight. He was waiting for an overpowered beast to tame, but he unknowingly acquired the best fighter in the forest! He skimmed his palm through its thick fur. The feeling was not a good one, as it''s race against odds gave it many irregrities on the fur. Lee did feel the presence of almost healed bite marks at some points.

    [Create a mental link with the beast. So when you talk with it, it can understand what you mean. The link acts in both ways.]

    ''Exin how it is done.''

    [Touch your forehead with the beast''s forehead. Then picturize a link forming. If the beast is ready to be your petpanion, it willplete the process from its side.]

    Lee gently brought the hyena''s forehead to his. The beast did not resist and the contact was made. The crowd produced another gasp. Some of the adults and An was well known with the method of creating a link with apanion beast. The crowd, especially An, was eager as her heart began to drum crazily.

    Lee closed his eyes and pictured a white line in pitch ckness. His white line stood alone for a dozen of seconds in his mind. The beast felt a friendly iing sensation from his head and followed his lead. When it closed its eyes, the white line was visible to him. The line induced the hyena''s deepest inner desire to rise up. The suffocating loneliness flooded its mind as it tried to reach for the charming whiteness. The next second, a link was formed as the beast and Lee opened their eyes in deluge of an iprehensible feeling that made both trust each other with their soul.

    [Now you have formed a link with the beast. It only enables you to sense andmunicate with it. At the most, you can name it.

    But it can only be your true partner if you make a blood imprint. Just drip a drop of your blood between it''s brows.]

    Lee promptly bit his index finger and blood dripped out. Lee dripped two drops of blood between the beast''s brows and the blood disappeared. An invisible envelopebined Lee and the beast together. Both of them felt it.

    Lee stood up. The hyena''s short and bushy tail did not show any signs of distress anymore. Turning to the crowd, Lee found them standing bbergasted with the event. D briefed Lee about what had happened and Lee felt like he need to show a sign of reassurance. Lee nced at the hyena and spoke in a soft voice-

    "Lie down."

    Leaving the crowd and An frozen, the hyena folded it''s legs and lied down. Lee nced at the crowd and gave an exnation of what ured between the beast and him, added with the information about what happens to the abandoned beasts. He did not forget to mention about the uneven marks over its skin.

    "I have taken this beast under my care. I give you word that it will not hurt anyone among you. In return, it only need peace and good-natured response."

    Lee nodded the little ones toe near him. With reluctance, the adults let them go with a sliver of doubt lingering in their minds. As soon as they saw the kids hugging and cuddling with the hyena, the doubt became non-existent!

    [Give it a name. How long will you call it beast or hyena?!]

    Lee nodded with a contemting countenance. His head lowered as his hands rested on his hips. He resembled someone confused and doubtful simultaneously.

    "Fero. Your name will be Fero!"

    Lee remembered the book he acquired and now resting in his Inventory. He recalled that the word Fero from Latin meant Wild. Since this hyena has experienced the harshness of the wild, he named him so. Fero understood what Lee meant and made a giggling sound. The kids were surprised as their eyes went wide. The elf kids giggled inpany and hugged Fero, followed by other kids.

    "Shall we resume our journey?! The sky will start to darken soon. We only have a maximum of one and a half kilometres from the vige."

    Lee sounded his opinion and everybody nodded in agreement. The kids came back to their parents with satisfactory faces. Fero neared Lee and rubbed its body against Lee''s jeans. Perhaps, it was the unique material that triggered it to rub at it more vigorously.

    ''View.''

    =====

    Name: Fero.

    Age: 3 years.

    Species: Split-jaw Hyena.

    Weight: 63 kilograms.

    Height: 1.64 metres.

    Length: 0.72 metres.

    Companion: Lee.

    Description: A defective hyena abandoned by it''s pack. Hence, it has a slightly better reflexes and stats. Self-reliance and experience have gifted a more muscr physique. A trauma of being chased for over a month was pacified as a result of formingpanionship.

    Defect: Large deep blue eyes.

    =====

    Lee was merry as he read the details regarding Fero. The detailed size description was due to thepanionship between Lee and Fero. Lee walked and Fero was right beside him. An was not afraid of Fero as Lee was right next to her. But, the antelope beside her asionally showed signs of repulsion towards Fero.

    Their figures vanished at a distance as 5 P.M. in the evening showed its arrival. The journey was smooth like before. It''s just that they have an extra member now. The one who experienced the wild and whose name is wild!

 Chapter 80: Back to Eturt

    Chapter 80: Back to Eturt

    No turns or twists were needed. No rerouting was necessary. Lee reached their destination without a hitch.

    Since Lee chose the path with least discement, they did not enter via the road. The guard on the north-eastern watch tower noticed a number of obscure figures walking towards the vige and sounded the rm. Spearmen and archers of the vige became alert as they had recently repelled a bandit scout lurking their area.

    When the unfamiliar face of Lee became visible to the guards, they frowned upon noticing the crowd behind him. This small-scale wandering tribe had goblins, orcs, elves and dwarves with them. The presence of children ranging from age of 4 to 14 confirmed their guess that they are non hostile.

    Paulo came running to the wall as he heard the rm. He climbed the wall and peered at them. He saw Lee, but could not recognise that it was him. Ever since Lee used ''Alter'' on An and himself, no one could catch on their identity.

    "Who are you people? Stop right there and identify yourself!"

    As Lee and hispanions came out of the woods, Paulo shouted to halt them in their tracks. Lee raised his hand over his shoulder and gestured to halt. He took a few steps forward and spoke-

    "You may not remember my face, but you can recognise my voice!"

    Though Lee altered his appearance, his voice was unchanged. Paulo was visibly surprised as his brows rose high and then came back to a frown.

    "Your voice is familiar, but I need proof. Just because your voice mimics him, we cannot let you inside."

    Leeughed aloud and took out his de.

    "If you don''t remember this de, then your name is not Paulo!"

    In the extended right hand of Lee, lie the de with its signature molten wavy pattern. A single nce of its strangeness brought the scene of a massacre to Paulo''s brain. Under his awe and gasp, he muttered-

    "Lee, it is you!"

    The gates were open and the crowd was weed inside. The vigers were awestruck to see so many peopleing in like one big family. They had their doubts, but chose to believe in their vige head.

    Paulo was the most surprised. He can never tell that it was actually Lee who is standing in front of him. As the crowd came in, Paulo rang the bell and vigers'' attention was caught in its sound. When he conveyed that this man was in fact Lee, none could believe their eyes. A month has not passed since he departed from the vige, and now he has a group of subjects with him. The vigers almost screamed at the first nce of Fero, but found that the predator was behaving like a pet near Lee. In the eyes of the vigers, Lee had an air of mystery around him.

    --------------------------

    =====

    6 P.M.

    13480 Essence harvested.

    =====

    -------------------------

    Hours of darkness were at close as the sky wore deep shades of red. The dusk was beautiful with its vibrancy reflecting boundless through the cloudless sky. The crowd of 142, An, Lee, Paulo and the vigers were sitting on the grass patch surrounding the natural fountain at the center of the vige.

    Except for the existence and involvement of the system, Lee narrated all that had happened since the day he left Eturt. The vigers were expecting such a daring and adventurous journey from Lee, but those rescued from Alls never thought that the one who guided them was insanely overpowering!

    "....since they don''t have a ce to stay, I could only think of this vige as a refuge."

    Lee concluded his narration. Paulo did not mind what others thought, so he dered that the vige epts the neers. He also added that they could use some of the orc''s strength, goblin''s nimbleness, dwarf''s cksmith expertise and elf''s proficiency in agriculture. He indirectly stated that it was a win-win situation.

    When Lorin fell, the vige of Eturt did not receive any refugees. Due to the status of a vige, people headed straight to the neighbouring cities. But unknown to the city residents, Eturt vige was developing at a good rate.

    Paulo turned to his good vigers and asked them to take one or two to amodate in their homes. Mothers and young girls were the ones to first step forward. They came towards the female survivors and cheerily took one or two to their homes.

    Doctor was still not able to believe that he was Lee. When he heard about what happened in Alls, he dly stepped forward and stated that his home is big enough to house 12 more people apart from him and his wife. Lee felt gratified by thement as his mistress took the hands of the female goblins. She nodded at the hobgoblins to follow them. A rushing warm sensation enveloped them as they moved towards the storeyed house.

    The vigers took the doctor''s lead and the guests were taken with utmost delight. The sky darkened it''s face as Lee, An and Paulo were left near the fountain.

    "Fero, was it?"

    Paulo crouches down and skimmed his fingers through Fero''s brown fur. The spotless, stripeless fur gave the feeling of wild in his palm. Paulo straightened his back as he looked at Lee. He nced around to check if anyone is near.

    "It might be fate that sent you here. The vige is having a tough time. We-"

    "Let''s move to somewhere safe and continue."

    Lee cut Paulo off in his words. Paulo nodded and walked to his home as Lee and An followed him.

    Paulo''s home.

    Mrs. Paulo had taken great liking to the two little goblin girls as they sat on herp. Shebed their hair as the goblettes sat on the couch. The hobgoblins were inspecting the house as they were surprised to see detailed carpentry on the chairs and table. Two of them were sitting on the floor with little boys on theirps. An sat next to Mrs. Paulo and shared her experiences.

    Outside the home, in the courtyard. Paulo conveyed the recently urring distress and damages. Feroy on the ground, next to Lee''s leg.

    "We can understand why the bandits are scouting the vige. But what is happening to territorial beasts? Even a wave of Sweagles came swooping in and took a few cattles away."

    "The beasts are more sensible. Tell me about the bandits."

    Paulo exined the sightings of bandit scouts in the area. They have been more in thest three days. Lee brought a piece of paper from his study room. It marked the approximate sightings of the scouting bandits. Lee deduced that they are possibly in a south-west direction. Lee assured Paulo that he will take care of it. But in return, he only asked for the safety of the homeless men and women.

    "They are now one among us. You don''t have to worry about them."

    Lee smiled and stood up. He excused himself and notified Paulo that he is going for a walk outside the vige. Since it was Lee, he had nothing to fear about. He nodded and apanied Lee to the gate. Fero jumped up and followed Lee like an obedient pet.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    13480 Essence harvested.

    =====

    --------------------------

    ''D, what is this glowing plus sign next to Fero''s name?!''

    [Click it.]

    Lee probed at D as he walked through the woods. Fero was alert of the increasing darkness. He followed Lee closely. Fero felt like it was his duty to keep Lee safe, but darkness was Lee''s yground.

    Lee clicked the ''+'' sign he saw next to Fero''s name. A panel showing the stats of Fero opened up.

    ======

    Name: Fero.

    Age: 3 years.

    Species: Split-jaw Hyena.

    ----------

    Health: 185

    Strength: 189

    Vitality: 175

    Agility: 187

    Defense: 128

    Endurance: 181

    Sense: 173

    Intelligence: 131

    Resolve: 145

    ======

    [As Essence is the very core of sentience and life, you can use your Essence count to upgrade anyone rted to you.]

    Lee paused and nced around. He had been walking towards the west of the vige. He raised his head and saw the pitch ck veil almost entirely covering the sky. The faint light from the horizon had reduced to a sliver.

    "Fero, let''s go back."

    Lee turned around and said. Fero wanted to stay in the wild a few more, but he reluctantly gave consent as he turned back. Through the same route, Lee came back to the vige. Heading towards Paulo''s home, Lee asked D about what lies further into the south-west side of the vige.

    [Perhaps, have you forgotten about your acquaintance living in Silentwood Forest?]

    -------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 3784

    Essence: 153093 (7 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6601/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2407/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15034/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - G (0/1)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 81: Tuskers with paw, Into the storage you go!

    Chapter 81: Tuskers with paw, Into the storage you go!

    ''Rue?! Oh dang, Ipletely forgot about her. By the way, is the forest safe?''

    [Ever since she returned back to the forest, the floral growth rate has been tremendously increased. That little forest you know of, has now expanded to all sides. It won''t take long before the bandits perish by her hand.]

    ''So that chapter is solved!''

    The tremors surfaced when no one expected. Intense trembling caught the whole vige off-guard. The earthquake began to pick up intensity with each passing moment. Cries and yells rose from the houses as many ran out of their homes. Uneven footing made many stumble and fall over. Luckily, no one was severely injured. The tremors terrorised the vige and vanished without a trace.

    ''D, what is happening?''

    [The continent is diagonally marked by an enormous fissure. A few more weeks of such an event, the continent will definitely split and move towards forming the 4 continents. We need to pick up pace!]

    =====

    8 P.M.

    13480 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''About time! Show me the remaining elemental crystals.''

    [You will have to wait a long time before getting your hands on the Time element beast crystal of Deadly Invisible Jellyfish. But you are only 30373 Essence away from Life element beast crystal of 200-Millennium Disaster Dragon.]

    An caught Lee in her sight as she was tending the injuries of the bruised and hurt. She quickly finished her task at hand and approached Lee. His face that reflected deep contemtion made her hesitate, but she asked anyway.

    "Can you ask the supreme cultivator about what is happening?"

    Lee stared at her face for a few second, before replying-

    "The continent will soon be torn to pieces. We have to save and be safe by then."

    "Should we let Paulo know about this?!"

    "No. It will only create unnecessary panic. ording to the Dimension Sovereign, this vige will not suffer any damages. He specifically told me not to share the information."

    The antelope came limping and An was immediately distracted by it. She crouched to take care of it.

    "Lee, do you have a healing potion? It has a broken bone in its leg."

    Lee immediately brought a Medium grade Healing potion from the Shop. Though the beast was not tamed or marked as apanion, it obediently drank the potion as An brought the bottle to its mouth. Within minutes, it''s bone was restored to the original.

    "I don''t know how you have such a great reserve of potions, and I don''t want to pry into your secrets. But I know that you will help others with your abilities, and that is enough for me."

    An made an honestment and passed the potion bottle to Lee. He bloomed a smile as the burning torchmps shed light on his face.

    It was then, An noticed Paulo running at Lee from his behind. Lee noticed her gaze going beyond him and thus turned, and saw Paulo hurriedly approaching him.

    "A group of 6 Wool Tuskers are heading towards the vige. The vige gate or walls will not hold off their attacks."

    Lee sensed the urgency and he dashed to the wall. He leaped from a distance with an urate calction ofnding straight on the walls. Even if he missed, he had Flight to back him up.

    A group of 5 Wool Tuskers caught Lee''s sight before he softened hisnding. The Tuskers were probably scared by the tremors and thus ran away from their territory in fear. But it''s after-effects were always destruction in rage.

    The 3 and a half metres tall Tuskers were only 4 years old. Their highly territorial nature and adamant toughness makes it an opponent worth avoiding. At a nce, it will resemble a young wooly mammoth. It''s fur is brown, but it''s lethargic behaviour and dense hairs sustain green algae on it. This mutual cooperation helps it to maintain a disguise from hunters and poachers.

    One of the tuskers caught the sight of the aura of burning torches over the vige wall. In rage of losing its territory, it gave a short re to its fellow tuskers. Then, aparativelyrger tusker came out of its disguise.

    *gasp*

    The man in armour who stood next to Lee gasped and Lee nced at his face. Fear was written all over his face as he stumbled backward and fell on his rear. Lee was now interested in this 5 metres tall beast. Lee noticed the striking resemnce between the tusker and an African elephant. When his eyes fell on the beast''s toes, Lee was awestruck with one question.

    ''How the hell did that thing have a foot like that of a tiger?!''

    Unlike normal elephants, the beast had a paw shaped foot that was hard as it''s tusk. The size of each paw wasrger than an adult''s open palm. Lee unknowingly nced at his palm, just like you!

    [With such arge frame, it''s internal organs would be well protected. Poison will take all eternity to take effect. Lightning is our only chance, even if I don''t know how effective it will be!]

    ''Why should I worry about defeating it, when I can use it as my precious Essence generator!''

    No response came as Lee leaped towards the tuskers. D was silent as he watched his movements.

    *thud*

    The thud Lee made as hended was intentional. It was meant to enrage them. Needless to say, the big tusker raised his forelegs and stamped the ground like a piling hammer. Both parties had dered the intention to fight.

    Lee took a few steps forward and his pace increased with each passing second. The tusker saw the puny being charging at him and was happy inside. It delightedly advanced forward with quick footsteps. Both of them closed in on each other.

    With enough momentum, Lee thrusted his leg into the ground and the dust drew an arc in air. The 5 spectating little tuskers joined the stampede and ran at Lee. The adult beast saw Lee closing in on its forehead unarmed. Itughed at Lee''s foolishness without having an idea of what was about to happen.

    Paulo went pale as he saw Lee recklessly charging at tuskers. He wanted to shout out and warn this suicidal act, but voice barely came out of his throat. He could only watch Lee slowly descending on the tusker''s forehead.

    Like a hologram, the tusker disappeared. Lee was ecstatic as his n was sessful. But he still had 5 naughty kids to catch.

    The little ones abruptly stopped as they saw the big one disappear without a trace. Lee was already next to them as they evaluated and concluded that this little two legged insect is abnormally dangerous.

    EsGen worked like a magical portal. It was invisible and effective. The tuskers disappeared like dreams as soon as Lee touched their body. The abnormality and iprehensibility of what had happened was too damn high for a simple being.

    "I swear I saw 6 tuskers there."

    "Then am I the one hallucinating?"

    "But where did they go?"

    "False rm. There were no beasts."

    The guards were in a heated debate as to, whether there were tuskers or not. Animals and objects disappearing into thin air without any warning is not something they saw everyday. Even Paulo who was scratching his head, was in an existential crisis!

    When they were in a debate, he scaled the wall in one leap. His sudden appearance jolted the guards up and they had their tongues stuck in their throat.

    "I need to take some rest."

    Leeughed and withdrew from the wall. The confused and bewildered eyes were stuck on his back. Even Paulo was staring as his jaws made a confused and clueless expression.

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82

    Lee fled the scene and headed towards Paulo''s home. Paulo himself had taken the responsibility of amodation for Lee and An. Fero, who was waiting for him at the doorstep, sprang up at the first nce of Lee''s figure. It made a low purr as it came near Lee rubbing its legs. It sat in front of Lee as if expecting something. Lee was clueless to Fero''s behaviour, until D started to yell.

    [What kind of tamer would forget to feed his beast? Oh, I''m sorry, YOU! Fero has not eaten anything since it came with you. Remember to feed him on time hereon!]

    Lee felt guilty as he saw Fero staring at him in expectation of food. Lee patted and caressed it''s fur and mane, as he desperately scrolled through the Consumables. Within a minute, he spotted Rain Rabbit''s raw meat and brought a kilo of it for 16 Essence. Unfortunately, it was a Split-jaw Hyena he was dealing with.

    80 Essence flew away as Fero finally burped in satisfaction. Lee stood up, but Fero conveyed through hisughs that his stomach is full and likes to rest. He also added that the soil and dirt suits him more than the wooden floor. Lee was amused by the reply that only he could perceive. He nodded and gave it a kiss on the forehead before going inside. Fero moved a little away from the door and found a good spot of soil to settle down. His mind and stomach was content as Lee was the first and only being with which it can activelymunicate.

    After greeting Mrs. Paulo, Lee went upstairs to his allotted room. He found An sitting on the single cot bed with a mixture of emotions. She was so absorbed in the thoughts, that she didn''t see him nearing her.

    Lee sat on the bed and that slight movement brought her back to reality. She stared at Lee, who was staring back into her eyes.

    "Would you be kind enough to let this lowly human know of your request, madam?"

    Lee had a rxing smile as he spoke. She averted her eyes from him and stared outside into the dark.

    "I want us to be married. I want to live with my children and you."

    Lee was taken aback by her request. He was expecting her to be worried about the recent events and the disappearance of Freya.

    "But it has to wait. We have a more serious problem at hand!"

    Anpleted her words after a pause. Lee shrugged andmented-

    "This vige will survive the ongoing earthquakes. The Dimension Sovereign had given me a set of things to let you know. He said that the next steps must be taken immediately, and that he will appear in our consciousness tonight."

    An heaved a sigh and nodded. Her chin rested on her palm as she was evidently in deep thought. Lee did not disturb her and slowly crawled into the bed. He took off his tee, just in case of any overheating!

    ------------------------

    =====

    9 P.M.

    15045 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''....why should I have so many affinities, again?!''

    [...you had to be kidding me. I have been telling the same thing for more than 20 minutes and you were not paying any attention?! Okay, listen well, because this will be thest time repeating it!

    The elements you bind with are part of Law fragments. So you will naturally feel the fragment when in range.

    Secondly, the elements you bind with can be manifested in your image, when it reaches a sufficient grade, and while in the Soul Manifestation realm. This gives an overall advantage in number. You can surround your enemies with the sheer number of affinities you have!

    Thirdly, the elements you bind with bes your forte. So the chance to be injured by one you have already bound with is non-existent.

    Since you have stackable affinities, you can possibly create a sentient elemental form in your image, in future. It is a form thatplementary elements can take conjointly. But it takes a lot more than focus and Essence. I will brief the details and descriptions inter days.]

    Lee nodded as his bodyy straight on one side of the bed. His hands were behind his head and supported to incline it. His legs lie t on the bed withfort as An was sitting next to it.

    "Are you not hungry?!"

    Lee asked without looking at her face. She raised her brows as the question fell in her ears. A loaf of Honey Bread appeared in his hand and he extended it to her.

    "Want one?!"

    Cultivators train themselves to refrain from material objects like food. But it was that one thing which made and kept them human. She took the bread without any second opinion. She slowly chewed on it as she was in deep thought again.

    "What bugs you, tell me?"

    Lee extended his filial helping hand. He peered at An with anxiety. She sighed and stated-

    "My cultivation is not progressing any further!"

    [What?]

    ''What?''

    "What?"

    Lee jumped up from hisfort and took hold of her shoulders.

    "Why did you not tell me earlier?!"

    She did not reply, but turned her head away.

    "Because you were busy helping others. This information would only have distracted you."

    She spoke as if it was entirely the truth. Her desire to not be a burden kicked in. If Lee had not asked, she would not have told him and it would take D a long time before noticing her fixed cultivation.

    ''D, help!''

    [Her cultivation is probably hindered by the emotional and psychological barriers that she cannot ovee. There are only two solutions; either use your Essence to help her, or tame a Dretril and use its presence to ignite the Qi reception. Former method can make her strong and powerful, but thetter is natural. I advise to tame a Dretril as soon as possible.]

    ''Hmm.''

    "There is a way. But I want you to be patient, because it may take several months to do it. Do not do anything stupid in the time being, understand?!"

    Lee gently flicked his finger to her forehead. She nodded with a relieved smile.

    "Why don''t you join me?!."

    Lee said as he let go off her shoulders and lie back down. His arms were wide open like an invitation. Though not married, they have shared body and mind with each other. They gave their virginity to each other in trust and honesty.

    An took his invitation and leaned on to his bosom. The arms wrapped around her as she felt his warmth. Intimate moments between a husband and wife blossomed. They were cautious to not cause distress for those under the same roof.

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83

    *ahem*

    "If you could not hug and cuddle in front of an old bachelor, that would be great!"

    D was annoyed to see the lovebirds cuddling and feeling the warmth of one another, even in their consciousness. The sky was blue, the ground was filled with grass and ample lighting from heaven made the atmosphere worth spending cuddling. Upon D''s interruption, both stood on their feet from their seating position.

    "Thank goodness!"

    The old man D shook his head and turned to walk from them. But, An''s voice came from behind.

    "Great cultivator, can you pronounce us as husband and wife?"

    The concerned voice with no sign of tease made him nod.

    "If you have a wish, then I can do so!"

    D turned and his figure slightly changed to a man in his mid thirties. As he brought his palms together, a beautiful orb with dazzling colours in the inside, formed between them.

    "ce your right hands on it."

    Lee and An promptly did as D instructed.

    "From here on, you will be bound to each other as a pair. Lee Shen will be the one and only man of An Fenfang and she will be his one and only woman.

    No one shall separate you until my soul extinguishes. With the power of ''Will of Dimension'' bestowed upon me, I hereby dere you as..husband and wife!"

    D proimed the words and a brand appeared on the outside of their palms. They retracted the hands as the orb vanished. D observed them inspecting the brand and found them clueless. He felt the need of an exnation.

    "Filial Brandings appear on the outside of the palm when one is dered to be wed at the altar of a deity or god. It symbolises the witness of a god in the marriage. The Brandings differ from deity to deity. The wed will have the respective god''s protection throughout their lives. A third person will face anger or troubles if he/she tries to break the rtionship.

    Likewise, the husband and wife will be a pair for their lifetime. It is permanent. They cannot leave their spouse and join with another. The brand will not fade away even if one among them is deceased. It is to keep the honesty and truth of the agreementpletely faultless."

    Lee and An had their mouth in the shape of an ''O'' when D described the brand.

    "Is that why your brand looks like snake fangs?!"

    Lee asked as he confirmed the brand is indeed simr to a snake''s fang.

    D did not reply to what Lee asked and turned away to take three steps. He paused and turned to speak again.

    "The will slowly shift its axis. We have more than 17 years to witness anotherrge scale tremors. Within this time span, we need to do 3 things.

    One, strengthen yourself. An, focus your mind. Avoid useless thoughts. When you are ready yourself, let Lee know. I will instruct him what to do then.

    Two, reach Intellus as soon as possible. The other continents will be torn in due time. You will have to find information about those who partake in the previous battle with the continents andw fragments. Intellus sure has information about it.

    Three, my personal space. I have many things there, including a temporary body. That collection is my entire life''s effort. You will find very useful essories there.

    And most importantly, stay alert. There will be omens of the uing disaster."

    Saying this, D waved his hand and the space faded away. Lee and An came back to senses and they inspected their right hand. The brand was well visible and clear.

    *yawn*

    Lee and An yawned in unison. Both were surprised and amused by the harmony, and theyughed and cuddled. They cozied up on the bed and fell asleep.

    ---------------------------

    =====

    5 A.M.

    15045 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Lee, I want you to wake up and look out of the window.]

    ''What?''

    Lee was woken up by Dnekewy''s instruction. He tried not to wake An, but she woke up from the movements. As Lee moved towards the window, An followed him with droopy eyes.

    "What is happening?!"

    An rubbed her eyes as she eximed. Lee was wonderstruck and no words came out of his mouth! She wrapped her hands around Lee''s waist.

    Aurorae enveloped the sky like a giant beautiful nket. Blue, green and red coloured filled the sky like a Van Gogh painting. It was a feast to the eyes. The waxing and waning colours exposed its rich and radiant elegance. Like An and Lee, a few who woke up at the fortunate moment witnessed the fabulous sight. They were mesmerized by the vista, and hence almost forgot to inform others about the scenery. By the time many woke up, the chasma had moved away to the north.

    Lee and An stood like a statue. Their eyelids hesitated to break the beautiful trance. Their hearts felt light and delight as they witnessed this for almost an hour. When they finally disappeared from the sight, an emptiness crept up their hearts.

    [This may look like an ordinary aurora, but you are wrong. This is a Chromostorm. Lucky that this is a light one. The dark ones give nightmares.]

    Lee nodded as he got some info from D. An saw him nodding and guessed that he was talking to the supreme cultivator.

    "You can go and sleep. I will just stay awake."

    Lee let An know that his sleep is all gone. She was also out of her sleepiness. Without a second thought, she conveyed that they have a long journey ahead and expressed to depart as soon as possible.

    "Okay. Then let''s have an early breakfast of bread and milk!"

    Lee moved to the table nearby and his hands ced a couple of bread loaves and bottles of milk on the table. With the preparation in view, An took a moment to wash her face and Lee followed her etiquette.

    --------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 3784

    Essence: 288418 (5 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An(+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6601/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2407/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12081/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15034/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - G (0/1)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 84: Meeting an Acquaintance

    Chapter 84: Meeting an Acquaintance

    "So..you are leaving the vige?"

    When Lee conveyed his wish to leave the vige with An, Paulo and his wife were surprised. D advised him to give an adequate exnation, so he introduced the issue of the Mo family. He gave a short description on the Mo family''s brutality and how An barely escaped the facility. Paulo and his wife felt heavy-heartedness as the narration neared the end. Amiseration sprang up in their hearts as Mrs. Paulo stood up, walked and sat near An and hugged her. The hug was unexpected, but An found it heartwarming.

    Paulo stood up from the couch and walked towards Lee. He involuntarily stood as a response and Paulo embraced him.

    "Son, I am proud of you. As a husband, you are doing your best to support her, help her and make her feel secure. I am truly happy to have met you!"

    Those words touched Lee''s heart. Lee found a subtle affinity from old man Paulo. Without Lee''s consent, his arms went up and hugged back.

    *gasp*

    Mrs. Paulo gave out a gasp in surprise and awe. It was loud and brought the attention. Even An loosened her arms and nced at her.

    "Is that a Filial Branding?!"

    Lee immediately remembered about the existence of the Filial Brand fromst night. Paulo was very amazed to here that rare term. He turned around to check Lee''s hand and was more astonished. Paulo had a deep frown when he nced at An''s hand.

    "I don''t remember seeing this in your hand."

    Paulo sounded like a father who just caught his son having an unfamiliar tattoo on him. Lee almost stuttered for answer, when D gave a foolproof lie to spit out.

    "You might not have noticed them. We were pronounced husband and wife when we were in Lorin."

    "Oh.that was the case. Silly me! I tend to forgot the minute details."

    Paulo gave a shortugh and beamed at them. Lee and An felt relieved as the story fooled the old couple and save them from further questioning.

    "We would like to depart before the vige gets into full swing. I would like to see the hobgoblins and give a quick word. They will exin the intention of our journey to the fellow men and women."

    "So be it."

    Paulo replied and Lee gave a quick nod before walking to the door with An. Fero was waiting outside like a cannon locked and loaded for action. He jumped up to Lee and expressed his greetings. The antelopeid peacefully on the courtyard. It''s beauty sleep was ruined by Fero''s joyful giggling. It got up on its feet and sluggishly walked to An. She, in return, rubbed its forehead and caresses it''s little stature dly.

    Light barely broke past the humongous boulders in a distance. The darkness was receeding at an extremely slow rate, but Lee had no trouble with vision. His adaptive night-vision, as he wished to be, gave him unwanted difficulty in perceiveing the daylight around him.

    "We will walk you to the gate."

    Paulo sounded his wish to apany them to the vige gate. His mistress wanted to, but he refrained her as tears were a certain urrence whenever two females depart. He immediately walked in front of Lee, which the lovebirds took as their cue to follow. The trio moved towards the doctor''s humble home.

    *knock knock*

    Doctor, who was eager gulp down the warm tea was stopped by a pair of knocking on the door. He immediately walked towards the door as any dy to do so would usually result in an annoyingbo of knocks.

    The door was opened and Paulo gave a wide grin at the doctor. Before doctor could sound his annoyed tone at the old man, the quicker vige head began to give a precise and concise exnation for why they were here. The doctor nced at Lee''s palm and An''s face at respective points of the story''s progression.

    "I will call them."

    The annoyed countenance faded as a neutral face covered doctor. He disappeared and secondster, one of the hobgoblins came to the door. He was delighted and confused to see Lee at such an early time. Lee took the hobgoblin from the doorstep and moved a little away. Lee concisely conveyed some basic and important advices regarding the further days ahead. Lee and the hobgoblin came back to the door and Lee asked him to let everyone know that he will be back within no time. He dly nodded in response.

    The trio left the doctor''s home and headed to the gate. Fero and the antelope was not concerned by the chillness in the air, but old Paulo was. Lee noticed him rubbing his hands and decided to speed things up.

    "I thank you for giving us space to rest. Afterpleting the task, we hope to return as soon as possible."

    An took initiative to thank Paulo. He smiled in return and replied

    "It has been a pleasure to meet you both. Stay lovely and lively!"

    Lee nodded with vigour as he observed the old man''s words. Lee took hold of An''s palm and thanked once more before walking away. Lee found the old man going back inside, as he looked over his shoulder. Those old palms were rapidly rubbing each other.

    =====

    6 A.M.

    15045 Essence harvested.

    =====

    -------------------------

    The destination was the continent of Intellus. Lee and his ''family'' went around the vige and reached the border of Silentwood Forest. Lee had already briefed his meeting with Rube to An.

    The eerie feeling that arose from the forest was enough to skip a man''s heartbeat. Fero felt a strange disagreement from the woods. His posture changed as he took a step forward with fangs exposed. Lee and An felt an unreasonable hostility from the forest. Leemanded Fero, An and the antelope to back off as he felt something amiss. From the Map, he derived that there are many hostile beings inside the forest and Rue is on the offense while defending a certain spot.

    "There are hostile entities inside the forest. Looks like Rue is having some quality time with her visitors."

    What Lee said was clear to An and Fero. They nodded in unison. Fero retracted his sharp gazes while stepping backward.

    =====

    7 A.M.

    15345 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "Why don''t we give a hand?!"

    An sounded her honest opinion as her left palm rested on the pommel of the sword.

    "We can, but we will be considered hostile if we are to enter now!"

    "No, not like that. Use your archery skills."

    *gasp*

    [Lee, this is where you are supposed to get embarrassed!]

    ''Shut up!''

    Leepletely forgot about his archery skills. In a second, the bow came out. Lee raised the bow to the sky, but his focus was on the 28 red dots in the forest.

    *swish*

    The bowstring was pulled back and released. Lee nced at the arrow that was shot into the sky like a cannonball. It took its sweet time to correct and aim onto the first target.

    Inside the forest.

    Rue was attacking and keeping the bandits at bay. Her movements always centered around a specific spot. It was like she was chained to that particr ce.

    A certain artificial chemical had its scent in the air. Rue was having a hard time dealing with the substance and bandits simultaneously. The chemical had a faint corrosive effect, and was slightly affecting the nearby nt life.

    A turquoise colored egg with bright red spots on it, sat on a tree stump covered with vines. The smoothness of the eggshell rivalled a polished marble stone. Due to its significantlyrger size, many would find it as a beautiful sculpture out of marble. It was so big that an adult human would have trouble holding it in his/her hands. Hence, it was impossible for that egg to stay hidden in a forest!

    One of the bandits sneaked past Rue''s attacks and came close to the egg. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the filthy hands only inches away from the eggshell. A veil of hopelessness covered her being.

    *swish*

    Who would have expected that an arrow would pin the bandit to the ground with bone-crushing strength! The arrow Lee shot upward came down with such momentum, that the bandit was instantly ttened on the ground. It was not a pinpoint weapon anymore!

    "Get the egg!!"

    The bandit leader yelled and the aplices recovered theirposure. They did not care for the dead, neither the lesson they left. Another bandit slipped past Rue, but the arrow came down on his head. The bandit fell dead as the arrow had its head reaching down the bandit''s neck!

    Now...the bandits felt something amiss. The cloud that veiled their minds were lifted and they saw two of their brethren dead. The leader did not yell, but brandished his sword and ran at Rue like obtaining the egg was thest thing he cared. Rue waved her hands and many vines came out of the earth and strangled the enemy.

    The bandits were confused and frozen like an icicle. All they remember is having a glimpse of the fabulous egg. When they came to realise what was going on, they had already lost two of theirpanions and their leader. An eerie feeling crept up on them as they tried to back off in fear.

    When Rue was recovering from the disorientation the chemical induced, she sensed something locking onto her position like a predator. She nced around and took guard in the north direction.

    A gust of wind blew and the bandits began to disappear, one by one. Rue was in a daze, and hence moved towards the egg to protect it. The figure that shuttled around her like a ping pong ball came to a halt after the bandits were wiped clean.

    The face of Lee was unrecognisable to Rue. But she picked up the familiarity in his being. She was still not ready to put down her guard. Lee raised his hands and showed no signs of hostility.

    "Is it that hard to remember me, Rue?"

    Lee asked in a teasing manner. Her eyes went wide in recognition of Lee''s voice. Never was she expecting Lee to be so physically distinct and indistinguishable.

    "Lee.? Wait, what is with your appearance? You have changed greatly."

    A series of exchanges took ce as An, Fero and the antelope came tracking Lee''s scent. Lee, who was supposed to go back and bring them with him, was lost in the conversation. He had an intense urge to facepalm!

    Rue took stance as the trio emerged from the woods.

    "Rue, she is my wife, An. That is Fero, a Split-jaw Hyena and that is her pet antelope."

    Lee stated the facts in an instant as he walked to his four-legged friend. Rue was still confused by the events turning out in a way that had no possibility of urrence. Lee found her countenanceplex, and thus decided to narrate from the beginning!

 Chapter 85: Jungle Jewel Bind

    Chapter 85: Jungle Jewel Bind

    =====

    8 A.M.

    15345 Essence harvested.

    =====

    -------------------------

    The daylight spread through the sky and the visibility was increasing. The symphony of wild birds in the morning was pleasing to the ears. The refreshing breeze that caressed one''s cheeks and hair blew consistently. Under the dense cover of leaves, five figures sat on the short and thick grasses on the ground.

    Lee, An and Rue can be seen sitting in a triangle manner while Fero mildly pesters the antelope. The envelope of silence apanied with melodious chirping was followed by the detailed exposition. Lee and An nced at each other as they stared at Rue, who resembled a philosopher at work.

    *sigh*

    "I do have the desire to apany you in the adventures, but my life as a guardian druid is bound to this Silentwood Forest. Without a guardian, the forest would perish. If that happens, my life would end. Thus, I can only wish you good luck on your journey."

    An was disturbed by Rue''sment. The pleasant behaviour Rue exhibited was pleasing to her. An would die to have such apanion in her journeys. She stared at Lee intensely. Her eyes demanded him to consult the supreme cultivator.

    ''D, any solution for this?!''

    [Hmm....since she is the only guardian druid of the forest, she would be aware of the presence of the Jungle Jewel. Ask her where it is.]

    ''Okay.''

    "Rue, do you have any idea where the Jungle Jewel might be?"

    Rue was confused and surprised to hear a term exclusive for forest druids, from a human. She could not suppress her curiosity.

    "How do you know about the existence of Jungle Jewel?!"

    [Tell her that it isplicated to exin, and that she can be liberated from the Jungle Jewel bind.]

    "The reason is tooplicated to exin. But I can release you from the Jungle Jewel bind."

    Rue was flustered from the response. Her confusion reached its pinnacle, and she stared nkly at him for a minute.

    *sigh*

    "That is the jewel!"

    Rue turned her head and nced over her shoulder. Her eyes fell on therge egg. Lee and An followed her line of sight and were surprised to see that the egg-like thing was actually the Jungle Jewel, which they do not know anything of!

    [Tell her to go and stand near the Jewel. Let her ce her hands over the jewel. You will need to kneel down in front of the Jewel and repeat the chant after me.]

    Lee promptly said and did what he was told to. He conveyed D''s warning to An and she took her antelope and Fero at least 40 metres from the spot. Using a fallen tree as a cover, they braced for unprecedented explosions, in any.

    [I will recite the chant now. Remind Ruelle to be conscious and focused at all times. After the chant is finished, the binding will weaken to its maximum. You will feel an immense pull towards the Jewel at the very moment. Before anything else is drawn and touched by the Jewel, you need to take out a being from your EsGen storage and make it contact with the Jewel. Or else, the binding will be restored and will be many folds stronger than before.]

    ''Okay.''

    Lee nced at Rue and gave a final warning. She had no idea of what Lee was capable of, but decided to believe in him. As she steadied her face and resolved her mind, D was ready to lead the y.

    [By thew of Flora and Fauna,

    That which controls the pride and honour,

    Recognise this guardian''s will,

    To not have a fate of ill!

    Take the elements as witness,

    To bring a soul back to its senses,

    I say, release the bind,

    May fate bring another find!]

    As Lee promptly recited the sacred releasing bind, a force swept out of the jewel and filled the forest. Lee sensed many beasts running towards where they were. He almost forgot to proceed to next steps.

    Lee quickly brought a Spikehog from the storage. Before it could squirms and cry, he pushed the hog''s forehead towards the eggshell. The force immediately dispersed as the hog floated over the egg. It slowly descended on the egg and took rest with a prior familiarity.

    [The bind has been removed. Rue is an ordinary druid now. But, your responsibility does not end here. Since the guardian Spikehog is assimting the bind with the Jewel, you need to protect it from attacks. The Jungle Jewel is an addictive object to almost all beings, especially wild beasts. The beasts will only attack you, since you recited the chant.]

    ''That is a relief!''

    Lee nced at the Map and noticed the beasts slowly moving in. D warned him not to absorb too many animals into his EsGen storage. He also added to not kill them, but scare and scatter them.

    Lee called out Fero, An and the antelope and they came near him running. Rue did not know what had happened, but she felt herself feathery. The slow advancement of animals gave Lee an idea regarding how to halt them. D approved the usage of paralysing poison.

    Lee stepped forward as lumps of poison appeared in his hand. Lee walked around the spot where his acquaintances were standing, while continuously throwing the paralysing agent on the ground. Since they can take some time to take effect, Lee continuously emitted lightning from his palms as he walked around. shing and flickering lights shot out of him and illuminated the surroundings. Lee only cared about the safety of his acquaintances, and nothing else.

    *BOOM*

    A wave swept across Lee from his behind. He quickly turned around to see the Spikehog standing on the Jewel. It had a faint radiance surrounding it. It slowly jumped down from on top of the Jewel and made a growl, which was unnatural to a hog. Somehow the growl scattered the beasts away and they went back like fleeting clouds.

    [Now that it has consciously taken the role of guardian of the forest, we better leave the woods, immediately!]

    Lee informed the others regarding the change and quickly moved on their way out. They did not go back in the northern direction, but went forward to south. Rue was feeling unusually dizzy, hence she was supported on the shoulders of Lee and An. Fero and antelope were cautious of the floral vibe from her. It was after walking for over 30 minutes that they exited the woods.

 Chapter 86: Savannah

    Chapter 86: Savannah

    "Where are we?"

    Rue''s feeble voice sounded as she opened her eyes. Her curiosity caused her to raise her torso from the ground.

    "Careful!"

    An immediately supported her to sit up. She was looking forward to talking to Rue when she awakes.

    "We are about 11 kilometres away from the forest. You were unconscious, so we decided to take a break till you are up."

    An replied as her hands gently supported to sit. Rue nced around and was wonderstruck.

    There were no other trees in the vicinity. The tree under which An and Rue sat, was an Okyute Banyan tree. The proud lone tree stood 37 metres tall and its dense green tiny leaves casted it''s shade in an approximate radius of 18 metres. The grass surrounding the tree was green while those that were exposed to direct starlight showed signs of brown and aging. Lee nced around and found Lee sitting cross-legged, and his eyes closed. Composure painted his face as he sat about 6 metres away from them. Unfortunately, she did not see the faint sparkling of lightning inside his ms. Other than Fero and antelope, there were no other being''s in sight. Rue was seeing this kind of surrounding for the first time.

    "We are in a savannah."

    An recognised her visible confusion. She gave a brief description on what savannah is and what are the specialities of the savannah. Rue gave her interest and senses to the lecture, despite an annoying dizziness.

    ----------------------

    =====

    11 A.M.

    15345 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [...That concludes the history of my predecessors.]

    ''I still have a doubt. You told us that marriages are done at the altar of a deity. What did you mean by that?''

    [The deities or gods I mentioned are a race called ''Tubian''. They are marvelous and mysterious beings exclusively to Zaxaluke. Their origin is unknown, but my predecessors believed that they were formed out of thews of Life and Death. They are excellent shapeshifters with sky as the limit. They can grant blessings like a deity.

    Tubians are a race of near-immortality beings. They avoid death with such a slight margin that they are literally ''Living Wonders''. How they look or how they live are a mystery till date. Their signature feature, Adaptive Disguise, can evade mental probing and the finest perception skill there is. None can sense or see them unless they allow to. Their numbers are obscure and I even doubt that they have any means of reproduction.

    These beings have all kinds of behavioural patterns. There have been seven Tubians in the past which resembled the seven deadly sins. Some seek peace and solitude while some are attention hoarders. Likewise, there are benevolent ones and psychopaths among them. But they are not territorial. They live by consuming Essence, the same thing you get at each hour! Throughout history, they have exhibited great power to obtain followers that call themselves ''Chosen People''! Those nipoops will have their Essence slowly drained from them while the Tubian grants them temporary powers, like a bait.

    One important thing, THOSE COWARDS HID WHEN THE WHOLE PLANET WAS WAGED WAR BY THE ANCIENT CONTINENTS!]

    Lee unlocked his eyes as D yelled like a madman. His countenance did not falter as he silently listened to D.

    ''So.I have no way to sense them? There should be something!''

    [Tubians are bound to thews of Time and Space of the Dimension. So they can only be found if you have Absolute expertise in both Time and Space. If not, you will have to follow the concealed trail of Essence absorbed by the Tubian.]

    *vague exchanges*

    Lee turned his head and saw the two females chatting merrily. An was charming as usual, but Rue''s facial resemnce with An caught his attention. At a nce, they will be mistaken to share one father but different mothers. Lee shuttled his eyes between the two of them and his findings were precise and minute.

    Rue felt a pair of eyes scanning her and turned her head to see Lee. An nced in the same direction and saw him repeatedly staring at both of them. The faint frown between his brows went unnoticed.

    "What are you looking at?!"

    An felt strange by her husband''s behaviour. She raised a question and Lee took a moment to think of an answer.

    "You two.look almost simr!"

    Lee rubbed his chin with a deep frown. It was then the two females nced at each other and found the uniqueness. Their expressions went in awe with bafflement.

    Lee was puzzled by their reactions.

    "You two were having a conversation, right? Then howe you both have not noticed this?!"

    Lee patted his rear as he stood up. Slivers of daylight seeped through the dense verdure and fell on his face. Lee scanned around his surroundings with his enhanced eyesight. His extended range went beyond the normal scope. But his nk face and palms resting at his hips gave an imitation of a disappointed mother.

    "If I am right...then we should go...THAT way!"

    His index finger pointed in the right direction after taking a U-turn from where they came.

    "But, we cannot travel at noon. Rue will have trouble."

    Lee added as he came and sat opposite to thedies. Rue nodded in agreement as intense heat was an enemy of druids. An recalled one of her descriptions about the druid''s likes and dislikes.

    Lee brought a 4x4 pic mat from the Shop for 160 Essence. 8 loaves of Honey Bread and 4 bottles of milk appeared along with 2 kilograms of Rain Rabbit''s meat. Fero jumped up in joy at the first nce. Rue was confused and amused by this reaction. She couldn''t help but gulp down the drool as she took the milk''s fragrant bait. The antelope disyed her discontent as she saw nothing edible for her. She soon reconciled as An extended a loaf of bread towards her.

    *nomnomnomnom*

    *nomnom*

    ------------------------

    The time neared 12 midday when D yelled and diverted Lee''s attention to the Map. Several Mucus Boas had surrounded and were attacking a green dot. Lee sprang up like a loaded spring and dashed towards the spot. Thedies and beasts were dumbfounded by his sudden and strange actions.

    "I''ll be right back!"

 Chapter 87: Girl in Samurai Kimono

    Chapter 87: Girl in Samurai Kimono

    ''Why the hell are these snakes chasing me? Do I look that delicious?''

    The katana in Mia''s hand came down with anger. But the Mucus Boa repelled the strike. The slimy protectiveyer around its body was a nuisance.

    *hiss*

    A single Mucus Boa is not troublesome. It is an easy opponent because itcks poison nds. One only needs to avoid its strangling grip. But when ites to 7 Boas at once, the danger increases greatly. A moment''s negligence and you''ll end up coiled and choked from the behind. The mucusyer was a survival adaptation to cope with the intense heat of savannah. But it soon became one of the best natural defense measures.

    17 year old Mia ran away from her family as she was forced to marry a rich and ugly orc. The greedy family head did not think about the prodigy''s future when gold was in sight.

    Her legs were wobbling as she panted heavily. She did not know how long she could hold back the boas before losing consciousness. Her alertness kept her stern and sensitive to the hissing of snakes.

    A boa slipped past her field of view and reached her behind. Before she could evade it, another one coiled around her legs. Mia desperately drove her sword through the stomach of the one coiled around her legs. Her fragile de made of low quality steel broke as soon as it pierced the boa. The deless hilt remained in her hand and emitted waves of hopelessness.

    The pierced snake writhed in pain and this infuriated the other six. Their eyes resonated the pain and wrath of their wounded brethren. As she waved her useless hilt around, the boa behind her hit her with its tail.

    *thud*

    Mia fell on her knees as her back ached. The boa''s attempt to whip her was partially fruitful due to its thick tail. But the pain it delivered was not small. Her legs gave up as she tried to stand up. Her precious samurai kimono was drenched in sweat and covered in scratches. The disordered ck hair that reached upto her mid-back length fell on her face as she desperately put up onest resistance!

    The biggest among them crawled forward and the other surrounded Mia in a sessful formation. The boa slowly opened its mouth and showed the gates of death. Mia was not ready to ept defeat as she gritted her teeth in pain and anger. She unconsciously wished for someone to help her.

    *fupp*

    A muffled shot went past as the arrow descended on the snake. It pierced the boa like a skewer, from above it''s head and thrusted it firm to the ground. The force with which it came down, made the boa go t with a thud.

    The snakes became alert as they scanned above them. The sky was nk and they couldn''t find the source of the arrow. The boa which was struck by the arrow, squirmed and thrashed the ground in pain.

    Mia and Boas surrounding her were currently on a terrain that looked like a wide and shallow bowl. Due to this fact, the snakes couldn''t see Lee and An right behind the edges of the rim.

    "Now!"

    Lee gave a toned downmand. Fierce fangs of Fero were exposed when it charged like a ravaging predator. The longsword in An''s hand had a pink de.

    *sh*

    *w*

    Deadly ws and the longsword shed in an instant. Two boas did not get a chance to evade the attacks and their heads rolled on the ground. Fero bit the wriggling tail of a boa and tore a piece from it. The eyes emitted his natural predator instincts as his chewing jaws amplified the horror of smeared blood on his face. The remaining four boas felt like they were staring into the face of torture itself. They showed signs of retreat, but tried to take Mia as a trophy. But they failed, miserably.

    *swing*

    *sh*

    Two more swings of the sword and two more boas fell on the ground. An brandished her sword as she stepped towards Mia, who was struggling to stand up. She felt numb as she nced at Fero. Her eyes did not even blink.

    The boas felt the approaching defeat. The two backed off in a very cautious manner. As they were ecstatic in escaping death, a palm touched their tails. Anything that happened since then was a mystery for the snakes.

    "Are you hurt?"

    An crouched near Mia as she asked with care. Her longsword had gone inside the scabbard, but Mia had her eyes unconsciously staring at it for a few seconds. The question made her feel safe for unknown reasons. She nodded with eyes faintly tearing up.

    An gave her a hand and helped her up. Rue had followed them and saw the injured little girl with An. Fero was tearing apart the wide and fatty boas. He felt immense joy to have some action and morepensation. He silently dragged the bodies to him and settled down to gobble up.

    Lee proudly smirked at Fero like he meant ''thats my boy!''. He and Rue came close to An.

    "She is injured."

    An gave a shortment as Mia patted her tattered kimono. It''s pale turquoise and uneven ck colours conveyed a summary of her situation.

    Rue stepped forward and came near Mia. She raised her hands and a faint glow appeared in her palms. Mia felt a tingling sensation as the faint light touched the injuries. An brushed a lock from her face as she supported Mia who was in distress from the feeling of a druid''s healing.

    *huff*

    After 10 seconds, Rue stepped back and faintly huffed in relief. She felt a little dizzy and almost stumbled, but Lee came behind her and caught her. Mia felt her head spinning as she lost consciousness. Her head came down and rested on An''s bosom.

    "She will sleep while the healing is underway."

    She barely said those words and fainted in the hands of Lee. An and Lee understood that a young druid like Rue had to use a good amount of her powers to elerate the healing.

    "Let''s take them back to the tree."

    An said as she took Mia in her hands. She leaped and sprinted towards the Okyute Banyan tree. Lee followed her with Rue in his hands. Fero with his bulging tummy as a boa''s tail was hanging from his mouth. Most importantly, Lee did not forget to sell the dead snakes to the Shop.

 Chapter 88: Restoration Potion

    Chapter 88: Restoration Potion

    The twinstars zing up in the sky toned down the heat and watched over Utopia with a tilt. The sky had a few nimbus clouds here and there. Theck of rain for a long time is visible from the dried bushes.

    Lee sat cross-legged, leaning on the tree, and Fero had his head on his master''sp. Fero would nce at Lee oftenly, only to see that Lee was sleeping. In reality, Lee was having conversations with the Dimension Sovereign. The hourly reminder popped up, but Lee did not open his eyes. He instead asked D to dictate.

    [It''s 1 P.M. and you harvested 15560 Essence.]

    *internal nod*

    [As I was saying, your Essence reserve can be used to increase other''s attributes. But the ratio is 2000 Essence for 1 point of attribute. Don''t forget the ratio.]

    Lee opened his eyes with a relieved smile. He had two reasons to be delighted. One, D imparted all of his knowledge to Lee and that includes very detailed and extensive facts and figures regarding the Intellus continent. This was because D has his adopted father''s grave there. It was he who introduced him to the world of cultivation. D could not be near him when he died, so he created an independent space and stored his pce, his collection and his father''s grave there. The only entrance to that space was in Intellus, and does a cyclic rotation around the continent regrly. The key to open the space, which is D''s soul print was already one with that of Lee''s.

    Two, Fero was staring at him while standing on all four. If looked closely, you can see a faint smile on Fero''s face. Lee rubbed and caressed Fero''s short mane and his skin. ncing at An, he found that Rue and the girl had not woken up.

    *gasp*

    With a gasp, the girl in the samurai kimono jolted up with wide gone eyes. Her eyes reflected fear and shock, as her heart drummed in her chest. An was surprised to see her waking in the most unexpected way. But profusely sweating Mia gave a hint of a bad dream.

    "Are you okay?"

    For An''s doubt, the girl nodded frantically as she turned her head in all directions and surveyed the surroundings. She could only calm her mind after confirming that these people are not going to kill or exploit her.

    Swear drops fell on her cloth and Mia wiped them off her face. Rue regained her consciousness as she began to wipe her face.

    An had an instinct inside her telling that she is at a weakened state, and reached to support her. Before she could grab onto Rue''s hands, the druid had gone falling back. At the right moment, the antelope appeared behind her and cushioned her descend. An sprang up and moved forward to support her and lie down.

    "Lee!"

    An called out Lee in a manner that made him vignt. His whole being shot towards her like a pre-recorded reflex.

    "She needs a healing potion!"

    Thement sprang up as he observed Rue. Weariness took over the druid''s face and showed signs of difort. Sweat drops gave a warning of rise in body temperature.

    [She needs a Restoration potion!]

    ''Then but it!''

    In the open palm of Lee appeared an exquisite ss bottle that rivalled the beauty of gemstones. A few drops of deep pink coloured liquid moved inside the 12 centimetres long bottle. Under D''smand, Lee opened the bottle and emptied it out into Rue''s mouth. The pink drops vanished and Rue twitched for a second before going into deep sleep.

    "What was that liquid?"

    An frowned as she questioned the liquid. The difference in the bottle''s shape and quality made her wish that his choice better be right!

    [Repeat after me.]

    D gave a hand to counter An''s question as Lee had no idea what that was except it''s name.

    "That was the Restoration potion. Used to treat Mana deviation."

    Lee repeated the concise definition and nced at Mia who was flustered by the events. To lighten her visible fear and confusion, he decided to initiate a friendly talk. He introduced himself as a wanderer. An got her cue to act and gave her part of description.

    "I am Kawahara Mia, daughter of Kawahara Hisoka, of the Wind Samurai n."

    Mia was still cautious of both. All the actions she had witnessed till now could not be rted. The calm demeanor of the longsword bearer and the yful predator face of Fero invoked a sense of guard in her. But, An and Lee decided to open up more as they found a girl belonging to a famous samurai n situated in Festa, in a savannah far away from the city. Not to mention her tattered clothes and broken sword, the duo felt something was amiss and uninformed to them.

    After a series of exchanges, Mia lowered her vignce as she learnt more about them. A smile crept up her face at some point of the conversation and remained there since. Her initial fear to even look at Fero was slowly ovee by firm assurance from Lee and support of An. Goosebumps stood up on her hands as she finally mustered all of her courage and touched Fero''s mane. Under Lee''smand, hyena took Mia as an aplice. This decision came from the unwavering evaluation of D.

    =====

    3 P.M.

    15560 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Somewhere in the conversation, Lee had missed an hourly notification. The time and atmosphere conveyed a pleasant sensation. While Lee was basking in this moment, Mia''s stomach growled out, loud enough for the others to hear. Fero and the antelope moved away from her, as she suppressed the hunger with hands pressed to her tummy. As she closed her eyes in throbbing embarrassment, a sweet fragrant smell offered its help.

    Mia opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was an open bottle of milk. It was stretched in front of her face as a gesture to drink it up. Mia doubtfully nced at An who was holding the bottle. When her heartwarming countenance was sighted, Mia quickly took the bottle and emptied it up into her dry throat.

    *hah*

    A relieved sigh rose from Mia as she ced the bottle on the ground. Wiping her lips, she noticed that not even a single drop of milk had been spilled. She felt proud for not spilling even a drop of the precious milk which was given to her. As Mia sat on her knees, An gave 2 loaves of Honey Bread and another bottle of milk.

    ----------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 3855

    Essence: 441308 (3 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6601/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2407/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12131/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15209/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (997/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - G (0/1)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 89: Towards the Shore

    Chapter 89: Towards the Shore

    15 minutester, Mia let out a burp and indicated that her little tummy is satisfied. She beamed at An with emanating happiness. She conveyed her gratitude in her standard family custom.

    An noticed that the little girl was hesitant to speak something. ncing at Rue, Mia spoke-

    "Will she be alright?"

    The response was a heartwarming smile. Mia found her concerns and worries flying away in the wind. An nodded ensured that Lee had taken care of the druid''s health. Mia felt happy, but still possessed the hesitance to ask something vital.

    "I can see your reluctance. You can consider me as your elder sister and speak out."

    Lowered head was raised as Mia stared at An. Her sieza posture was made more firm as she made up her mind to ask.

    "Can you take me with you?"

    Her firm voice resonated in Lee''s and An''s ears. An was expecting help or favour, but the request was a surprise. Lee raised his head from where heid down, and took a nce of Mia''s resolute face, and then went back to his nap. He confirmed her certainty from that instantaneous glimpse.

    "Wee aboard!"

    An, who sat in the traditional chinese posture, extended her right hand to Mia. She expected a handshake, but Mia hugged her elder sister. The scene made D tear up with happiness.

    [It''s almost 3.30 in the noon. I advise to move by 4. As far as I''m concerned, Rue will wake any minute now. Let her take some rest and the affectionate ones have their bonding time.]

    Lee raised his head and at the same moment, Rue opened her eyes. She sat up like a released spring and rubbed her forehead reflexively. Her aimless sight caught Mia hugging An. Rue''s countenance turned bright seeing Mia healthy.

    "You should not do that again in the near future."

    Lee rose up and walked to her. His sound had a tinge ofmand that she immediately sensed as a warning on a potential danger. Lee added the deviation she experienced with over-usage of her Mana. But, he did not mention the timely usage of Restoration Potion which nullified the turbulence of Mana.

    "You are still young. So this journey will help you acquire experience."

    Saying this, he passed a bottle of milk to her. She epted it and drank to get rid of her sluggishness.

    "Rest now. Restore your health, then we can travel."

    Lee waved his hand and gestured at her toy down on the green grass in the shade of the tree. Turning around, he saw Mia and An talking about something. As he observed them, An stood up and walked towards Lee. Mia sat as she was told to sit still. She had a request to make.

    "Mia, she has lost her de and her kimono is in a poor state. Can you help her?"

    Lee nodded and asked what she wanted him to do. She enquired whether he had a spare attire to give Mia.

    ''D, buy a samurai kimono. Scan Mia and find one suitable for her.''

    [For a girl of 160 centimetres and weighing 55 kilos, I have selected one for 230 Essence. Take a look before you buy.]

    A panel appeared before Lee and a samurai kimono was disyed. It''s upper portion was decorated with deep pink coloured floral designs in pale pink background. The greyish ck bottom and the red sash was a goodbo. Since D deemed it fitting for her, Lee brought it and took it out from his Inventory.

    The materialisation of a beautiful kimono from thin air caught Mia in surprise. She was almost eximed as Lee brought a katana from the Shop. Though an ordinary katana with 67 centimetres long de, its tsuba of a beautiful sunflower amplified it''s beauty. The 725 Essence cost was worth for its Elven Copper that overwhelmed steel in its strength and toughness, while giving off an orange-red colour.

    Lee passed the sword and the dress to An, who was wonderstruck. What she received was greater than what she expected.

    "This is the Supreme Cultivator''s gift. Don''t tell her."

    Lee untied her doubts with two hushed sentences. Mentioning D was a psychological move so that he can cover up the existence of the Shop. He did not want to hide it from her, but D insisted so.

    An walked back to Mia and ced them in her hands.

    "We had a spare that suits you. We hope it fits."

    ------------------------------

    =====

    4 P.M.

    15560 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "Shall we depart?"

    Lee asked as he gazed in the southern direction. An, Mia and Rue rose up and patted their outfits. Fero and antelope came near him, indicating their willingness. Lee paced forward in moderate speed, and the whole party followed him. A faint breeze brushed past them and headed north.

    *conversing voices*

    Lee would pick up conversing sounds every now and then. While the antelope elegantly strided on the hard terrain, Fero would run around yfully. Lee would be involuntarily dragged into the conversation, and he would give a precise and concise response.

    [Lee, we are 38 kilometres away from the ocean. Not affirmative, but I do am sensing hostile intentions from afar.]

    ''I will keep it in mind.''

    ------------------------

    6 kilometres after.

    =====

    5 P.M.

    15560 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''D, when the Essence count hits 685000, buy both of the remaining beast crystals.''

    [Okay.]

    Lee was continuously ncing at his attributes and Essence count. The conversations from behind had lost its vigour. An really felt an urge to ask about the destination, but she instead chose to believe in her husband. Fero lost his interest to run around and pant for no reason.

    The sky above them wore a dazzling orange yellow veil. Their elongated shadows walked by their side. The twinstars are not in a form to be viewed with naked eyes, but if you could do so, you would have seen the marvel of burning gaseous balls that illuminated the for countless millenniums.

    *GRRRR..*

    Fero growled looking at a distance. His limbs were sturdy and ready to pounce. His exposed fangs emitted terror. Rue and Mia stared at this disy of viciousness, but An was more absorbed by what made him gomando. A faint smell was noticed by Lee as D shouted aloud-

    [GET DOWN!]

 Chapter 90: Ground Trolls

    Chapter 90: Ground Trolls

    *woom*

    A wooden spike approached at an incredible speed. It missed his sternum as Lee instantly bent backwards. But the spike took his nose bridge off of his face. With the help of Foresight, Lee saw the 14 centimetres diameter spike passing just above his lips, in slow motion. As its tip brushed past his hair, the sting of the torn nose kicked in!

    Rage! Pain-fuelled rage! Lee clenched his fist and gritted his teeth in anger that was enough to tear this spike to shreds. As he slowly floated downward, his eyes quickly caught sight of the three women who were not as instinctive as him. Lee spontaneously raised his right leg and kicked its rear before it passed him.

    *tuk*

    The kick threw off the spike from its trajectory. Lee''s back touched the dust as the spike''s rear derailed upward. Thebined effect of its forward motion and Lee''s kick resulted in a front flip, in an inclined ascent. The spike barely missed and went past thedies, before it fell and rolled over a distance of 24 metres.

    *Thud*

    Both the spike and Lee touched down the ground at the same moment. Lee managed to slow down his fall, due to his superhuman but unseeable muscles. He even desperately tried to smoothen his fall with lightning, which was obviously fruitless. Despair made him look for any and all alternatives.

    In a matter of seconds, Lee jumped up on his feet and ck appeared in his palm. His eyes could not find anything hostile in the vicinity. Even the map had no red dots blinking.

    Rue was the first one to notice his nose bridge torn and on the ground. She almost screamed out loud, as blood dripped down from his lips.

    An and Mia went pale as they saw Lee without a nose bridge. They instantly came out of their shock and wielded their weapons. An was particrly burning with wrath as her insides screamed madly.

    [Lee, there is nothing in the Map.]

    ''And there is nothing in my sight. YET, I LOST MY NOSE!''

    D was puzzled by how events took turn. He felt his sense being blocked by something. Lee was keenly analysing as his eyes pierced each point around him.

    [Savannah.terrain.spike.momentum.stealth. aggressive! If I am correct, we have encountered a bunch of Ground Trolls.]

    ''Exin, for fuck''s sake!''

    [Ground Trolls are subterranean and social beings. Varies in size. Carnivorous. Weaponized with basic tools. Intelligent.]

    ''No. Since they are undetected by your senses, then they are much more than intelligent. D, can you at least give me an approximate distance or direction?''

    [I''m helpless. My senses are being blocked in every direction!]

    ''Then so be it!''

    D did not understand the meaning of his statement, as Lee raised his left palm in the air. Lightning began to sparkle and condense into a sphere as he gritted his teeth in pain. When the ball was big enough, he nced over his shoulder.

    " When my handes down, jump!"

    Without a second thought or dy, Lee pulled his raised left hand downward at the ground. The lightning sphere shattered under his immense momentum.

    *THUD*

    The three women jumped up and missed the condensed lightning with a slight margin. The wave rippled out from Lee as he took a slight backsh. Almost two secondster, some cries could be heard from a distance. A few figures jolted up as the lightning tickled their senses.

    ''Just die!''

    His de was switched to bow as his eyes recognised a figure rising from the ground. Without any hesitation, Lee shot out an arrow and it struck at the very forehead on the troll.

    *Swish*

    *Thud*

    It only took a second toplete this process. Lee smirked, as this shot was entirely dependent on his proficiency, and it made its mark like a skilled marksman. The body fell backward with a thud. Following the sound, many red dots crept out of their cleverly hidden holes.

    ''Let us see how much Essence they can contribute.''

    Their direction of heading was blocked by numerous red dots. The nearest one was about 33 metres away from them. Lee was surprised to see their camouge wless and awe-inspiring. The trolls stood up with weapons, and covered more than 120 degrees in front of them.

    *GRAHH*

    An elderly looking Ground Troll roared as his hammer was raised into the air. The other trolls roared in union with their potential leader.

    *Whoosh*

    The prickling electrocution numbed the leader as the arrow hit it''s thigh. It''s cry carried pain and anger, which triggered the others to re at Lee scowling.

    Fero was at the verge of charging towards the gigantic opponent, but Lee kept him under control. It was evident that one swing of their mace can break most of the bones in Fero''s body.

    "Any change of mind?"

    An stepped forth on his right and enquired, as her sword came into her hands. Mia followed and stood beside An, with her katana out of the saya. Their battle stances brought a sneer of his noseless face.

    "Try to keep them alive, will you?"

    The bowstring came back and had gone forth in a second! Mia had her doubt solved regarding how Lee fired the arrow without a quiver, only to recieve a much more astonishing sight!

    *Thwup*

    Another troll fell numb with an arrow sticking on his stomach. Now this really pissed off the herd, as they raised their weapons and charged at the humans. With a mentalmand to stay uninjured, Fero was released to y the predator.

    *whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh*

    The arrows left the bow with swiftness. Nothing could hinder it''s trajectory. As the trolls closed the distance to 20 metres, Lee began to shoot two arrows in one go. An and Mia sprang forward, with the condition to stay alive.

    *Grah!*

    The longsword flowed with elegance as An guided it to chop off the troll''s hind-limbs. Mia took out her skills passed down from her father. The katana drifted through the air with grace and style. Her slender figure and nimbleness gave her abundant reason to evade the iing blunt force attack.

    The antelope alone stayed behind. It hid behind Lee and watched the scene turning into a one-sided massacre. It''s eyes skimmed from troll to troll as they either lost foot or were pierced by an arrow!

    To be honest, the descending twin stars gave a wonderful visual effect to the battle.

    ------------------------------

    =====

    6 P.M.

    15560 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Move a little to the right.]

 Chapter 91: Trolls Bait

    Chapter 91: Troll''s Bait

    Lee avoided the chunk of dirt flying at him. He shed forward and embedded his palm in the Troll''s stomach. Before it could spit out blood, EsGen devoured it.

    ''How many left?''

    [9 more jumping around.]

    ''That is it?''

    [Other ran back to the tunnels.]

    ''Okay.brief me about these beings.''

    [The Ground Trolls were an exceptional race. They vary from 1.70 to 4 metres in height, and their hideous faces set them apart from others, physically and mentally. Their highly effective teamwork makes them a worthy opponent to both adventurers and animals alike. To counter the traditional notion of ''less brain, more brawn'', the Ground Trolls distributes the workload.

    The Minor Ground Trolls are agile and nimble, but are weaker than a human in strength and sturdiness. These little ones do the scouting and exploring, with great uracy, regardless of day or night. The extrarge eyes and efficient brain acts in harmony with stealth.

    The Major Ground Trolls exceed in strength and size. These giant ones are strong enough to wrestle with an adult Wool Tusker, but are tardy. They are the only damage dealers in themunity. The bulging muscles paired with a blunt edge weapon are always their choice. The particrly thicker skin is their speciality.

    But that does not mean that the Major Ground Trolls are brawn alone. They implement various tactics to distract or bait their prey. And their most favourite method of offense is retreat!

    Running back into the tunnel acting afraid, they create a scene where the trolls are retreating in despair. It psychologically enables the other party to follow them into the tunnels, courageously. Normally, the prey entering the tunnel ever exits it.]

    By the time D concluded his lecture, 5 trolls had fallen numb. Lee sprinted around to pick up his Essence farms lying on the ground. As the trolls were wiped off the Map, An''s longsword and Mia''s katana had severed the legs of the remaining four.

    *sh*

    *sh*

    Lee walked to them and stored the trolls in EsGen. He unconsciously nced at the face of An and saw frown and confusion. Lee took a scan of Mia and found that she was unscathed.

    "What?"

    Lee had to ask as An''s stare was directed towards him. He couldn''t find a reason as to why she is gazing intensely.

    "Are you not feeling any pain?"

    Lee frowned in bewilderment. Secondster, his eyes went wide as his hands unconsciously approached his face, in a revtion.

    Clotted blood trails originated from the exposed pair of holes. He touched and hissed in pain. Thest one hour shed in front of his eyes. His anger was instantly annulled by the satisfaction in his own performance.

    ''D, a Prime grade Healing Potion!''

    A secondter, the potion bottle was transferred to his hand from the Inventory. The ck-green liquid went down Lee''s throat with a single gulp.

    *twitch*

    Lee spontaneously twitched as he felt an immense tingling irritation on his face. He restrained his hands from teaching his nose, but the annoyance increased. The feeling of vexation made him crouch on his right knee. As he reached the verge of yelling out aloud, the sensation disappeared.

    The pain was non-existent, as something solid reced it. Lee realised that his nose have grown back at such a rate, that it caused the uncontroble itching. He let out a sigh and stood up straight.

    An and Mia assumed what was happening to Lee and nced around. Though Lee had collected the defeated trolls, their math did not add up. They could swear that there were more than two hundred giant trolls.

    "What is it?"

    Lee asked as he saw the bemused expression of An. A silence followed the enquiry as An was absorbed in the mystery of vanishing trolls. But it was Rue who gave the answer.

    "When you were all fighting, the beings were mysteriously disappearing into the ground."

    Lee raised his brow and nodded as D advised to convey the vital information regarding Ground Trolls. When Lee promptly narrated the facts, the three women became aware of the situation.

    "...hence, we have to leave the area. The day light is almost out."

    Even Fero unanimously agreed to Lee''s statement. Their figures turned to south and leaped forward. The Ground Trolls saw their tactic failing, and a loud bellow came from the disguised cavemouths.

    *GRAAH*

    The deafening roar momentarily diverted their attention. But, Fero dashed past them and ulted. Seeing Fero''s streamlined body running ahead of them, the realisation hit them hard, when arge warcry in unison rose behind them.

    *GRAAAWR*

    Horription enveloped them as they sprang forward with all they had. Even so, Rue, An and Mia were not fast enough to outrun the trolls. A few spikes shot past them and proved the troll''s gradual advancement. Lee had no other way than storing thedies in the EsGen.

    *pat pat pat*

    Lee slowed down and came behind each one and patted their shoulders. One by one, Rue and Mia went inside the space. An joined them a secondter. The antelope neared him with consent.

    *zoom*

    The strength that Lee restrained so as to match the speed of the females, burst out. Where he stamped his foot had a firm mark on the ground. His Agility value of 320 greatly surpassed the Ground Troll''s maximum speed value of 170.

    Lee came near Fero and ran alongside him. Fero, in return, gave a giggle. In amusement, the hyena was taken to his master''s bosom. Lee elerated as he felt a little difort with Fero in his arms.

    Unfortunately, he was unaware of the impending danger!

    ------------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 3855

    Essence: 487030 (6 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6623/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2407/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12131/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15352/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1189/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - G (0/1)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

 Chapter 92: Hauled To Fight

    Chapter 92: Hauled To Fight

    Somehow, Lee was feeling ominous behind his back. He did not care to turn back or slow down. D advised him to fight the trolls that can give him a lot of progress points, and Essence generator. Lee simple replied-

    ''NO!''

    *whish*

    Something wrapped around his leg, and brought Lee to an absolute and instantaneous halt. This unanticipated deceleration threw Fero off his bosom. But before the hyena flew out of the range, Lee brought him to his EsGen storage.

    A gust of wind hit Lee''s back. Lee looked down inplete shock. The night vision kicked in as the daylight gradually disappeared. D was pale to see a vine coiled around Lee''s leg.

    "What the-"

    His words could not bepleted as the vine dragged Lee towards the trolls at a frightening quickness. He lost all control of the body and felt like going numb. D warned him that something is silently trying to enter his being.

    *shocked*

    Lee was pale when he heard the distorted voice of D getting faded away. D was silent since then.

    ''What the f**k is happening?!''

    Lee struggled to regain control of his body as an unknown force kept attempting to invade. For a third person, Lee can be seen as twitching continuously.

    ''D.Dee..damn it. My de!''

    Lee found himself in a difficult situation as his Inventory was inessible. He summoned his bow and de multiple times, but silence was the answer. His emotions became quagmire, when he opened up the system panel.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: -----

    Fame: 3985

    Essence: 487030 (6 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Spouse: An (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1189/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    ==========

    Stunned Lee tried to shout out, but his voice dispersed before it came out of his mouth.

    ''What!''

    The surprise came in the least expected form. His status was somehow partially disabled. He did not had any affinity or immunity, neither could he ess the Map or his Shop!

    Lee found the vine unyielding to attacks. His strength could not tear it apart. But, everytime he attacked it, it coiled more vigorously around his leg! When Lee came to notice the surroundings, the green vine had dragged Lee all the way back to the Ground Trolls.

    The dreadful Ground Trolls gripped their maces and blunt weapons with eagerness, as Lee was being dragged nonconsensually.

    One of the trolls stepped forth to beat Lee to a pulp with hisrge wooden club. Unfortunately, he was also being dragged in the right direction!

    ''Ah...screw it!''

    The Foresight was forcefully activated when Lee assigned the forting troll as his enemy. Time slowed down and progressed like a 13 frame per second movie.

    Lee skimmed through every nook and corner and deduced the number, position and elevations of all trolls. His amplified thinking capability derived a course of action from the conclusions.

    Darkness had gradually conquered the vibrance of day. The dark red sky exposed the presence of rain clouds that silently crept up on them. But this detail was only noticed when rain began to drip. The natural cont toned down the heat of the day as petrichor crept up the noses of trolls.

    Lee made up his mind as the vine dragged him further nearer to the trolls. He rxed his body as his torn tee could not protect his back against the dirt. Like a pair of sledgehammers, his arms came down and the palms made contact with the ground.

    *thum*

    The reaction caused Lee to rise up into the air. The vine hauling Lee became a blessing in disguise, as its pull enabled Lee to draw an arc in the air. Lee bended forward and twisted his torso, and positioned himself upside down. The advancing troll was stunned by Lee''s sudden change to a projectile. The troll stood astonished as Lee flew past it''s neck.

    *PAK*

    The troll''s chest was muchrger than the palm of Lee. But it delivered a sharp pain upon contact. Lee decided to try his luck and uttered inside-

    ''EsGen!''

    As all the Ground Trolls beheld, theirrade vanished without a trace! More and more trolls vanished as the vine pulled Lee through the stunned bunch.

    *gra gri gri*

    A rtively shorter Ground Troll shouted agonizingly. The giants who had fallen into the stunned state came out of the trance. Their eyes bulged with rage after witnessing the perplexing disappearances. Wooden clubs and spikes came aiming at lee, but they ''mysteriously'' disappeared. Lee found out that the EsGen can act as an alternative Inventory, when he withdrew a spike from it and impaled a giant troll.

    =====

    7 A.M.

    15749 Essence harvested.

    =====

    When they shouted in unison with rage, a deafening response came from the direction in which Lee was being dragged! Fear tried to overpower Lee''s mind, but was not sessful. The pull began to slow down and gradually came to a stop. Lee jumped up and saw the trolls taking a few steps backward.

    He realised that these beasts have surrounded him. He skimmed his eyes around, not expecting something so extraordinary!

    His eyes caught the sight of arge cave opening, inclined into the ground. It was about 40 metres away from him. He missed to notice its presence as he concentrated on the trolls alone. The ring of trolls had already encapsted Lee and the cave in one big ring. The unyielding vine extended into the pitch ckness. The rain clouds slowly retreated upon sensing the tension in the air.

    Lee tried to shake up his leg and found that the numbing presence is no more. When he never expected, D''s voice faintly uttered three words inside Lee''s mind, before fading again.

    [Tubian. Amortal. Descendant...]

    The alertness of Lee did not falter as the three words resonated in his heart. The faint voice of D and his message conveyed a hint of an overpowering enemy to Lee. As he intensely stared into the darkness, the vine unwinded and disappeared into the cave, in a blink!

    *ghu..ghu..ghu..ghu..*

    As soon as the vine went back, the trolls began to chant in unison. Their weapons joined the chorus as they kissed the ground at each phrase. The threatening atmosphere and absence of D when Lee needed him, felt oppressive.

    *ghu ghu ghu ghu ghu ghu....*

    The beat gradually increased as time passed. Lee stood facing the cave, but his senses were scanning all around him. An increment in the pace unconsciously warned Lee of the approaching danger. His posture changed as he slightly bent his knees and leaned his body a little to the front. His palms facing the ground were a little farther from his body, as he tried to bring out either his lightning or poison affinity, but ended fruitless.

    *ssss...*

    A slithering voice came from the depths of darkness as the beat achieved its peak. The roars were deafening and disorienting to Lee, but maintained hisposure. His senses could pick up any slight change in the surroundings, but failed to notice his own heart beating like a mechanised bass drum!

 Chapter 93: "Be it death, Ill measure its depth!"

    Chapter 93: "Be it death, I''ll measure it''s depth!"

    *puchik*

    A faint impaling voice rose up and the roars in unison faded away simultaneously. Lee nced at the surroundings toprehend what was happening, without making a single move. As he noticed, the trolls expressed a deep sense of victory and pride. Their hideous mouths smiled in arrogance, as if they were looking at their prey. They expressed an emotion simr to having their prayer approved by gods!

    But, Lee was soon distracted by a tingling sensation of pain from his stomach. His eyes turned towards the cave and saw a purplish vine extended towards him. It did not crawl on the ground like the former, but was in the air, like a needle suspended by a thread.

    The pain became more evident as he followed the vine''s trajectory. The focus came nearer and nearer to his torso. His eyes ended up staring at his stomach, dripping blood.

    *gasp*

    Pain amplified to its pinnacle as Lee slowly raised his hand and touched his stomach. The smoothness of blood reduced the friction between his fingertips. The familiar smell of iron crept up his nose. The reluctance of Lee to believe that it was actually his blood flew away, as it slowly travelled down to his elbow.

    He wanted to squirm and shout aloud but he held back the pain, to hide any signs of suffering. His inner demon wanted to go on a rampage in ache, but he chained the beast. His body felt subtly uneasy, for the mind and body were in a state of chaos.

    Every nerve in his body yelled at him in agony. Lee felt his muscles not responding to hismands. The absence of D to whom he would shout and scream, made a mental void in him. For the first time after arriving in Zaxaluke, Lee teared up in pain!

    The sound of gnashing teeth carried the intense stinging sensation around him. The trolls showed signs of delight and joy when their prey writhed in agony. Their expressions became bright, as their overgrown and twisted teeth were exposed.

    The carnivorous society feasted their eyes with the suffering of this human. For them, anything other than a troll was food. Their wild behaviour which was fashioned by a strange appetite including meat, nt and even rotten corpses, molded them into the most psychopathic enemy one does not want to encounter!

    *huff*

    Lee tried his best to stand up straight, as he felt each passing second more disorienting than its previous. He assumed that this vine had the ability to absorb its prey''s vitality!

    Lee was filled with a flood of thoughts and memories. He explored through his and D''s memories to find out anything that has a part like this purple vine. Though a vine, Lee felt it''s sturdiness and solidity rivalling a metal rod of the same thickness.

    His head, tilt forward, spilled it''s overflooded tears over his impaled stomach. The saline solution simply gave a smack at the wound and he raised his head with his eyes shut tight. He scanned his back with his hands and found no wound there. He had a smile of joy, but it was soon overshadowed by the pain.

    Lee began to brainstorm regarding what might have lodged into his stomach. His internal organs sensed something sharp and pointed, which he assumed to be an arrowhead. He also thought of a chance of being poisoned, which he soon discarded. Since his immunity bar was disabled anonymously, he should have been poisoned by now. But as he does not have his affinities working either, the conclusion was quickly derived.

    His final option fell on removing it by suffering a little pain. Lee consoled himself that the pain will be inferior to an ant bite. His legs almost gave up as he tried to move them. But with unwavering dedication he regained the control.

    Slowly, Lee took a step backward and the vine lodged into his stomach came along with him. He realised that it was useless to walk backward, and it was utterly necessary to pull it out by himself.

    A pair of slightly trembling hands wrapped around the vine and tried to pull it out. Lee came to realise that the courage to do so was immensely exponential to what he had, at the first second. In a split second, his mind became fuelled by rage and vigorously pulled the vine out!

    ''AAAHHHHHHHHH.!''

    A shout many times powerful and carrying the entirety of agony resounded inside him. The action was quick, but left a pain so intense, his body stiffened for a few seconds. After that, he opened his eyes with teardrops running down his cheeks. His eyes thoroughly scanned the vine, which instantly became soft, like a vine!

    The purple vine with only a circumference of 3 centimetres came out of his stomach, as he pressed his stomach with his palm to halt the bleeding. Lee felt his internal organs beaten and twisted to a batter, as the vine''s sharp tip came out of his stomach.

    *vague troll voices*

    Lee crouched on the ground, aching. He still had the strength and resolve to scan his surroundings. ncing around while being pulled away by the pain, Lee deduced that pulling the vine out of the body was not a part of the troll''s action script.

    A troll threw his club on the ground and walked towards Lee with an arrogant smirk. The troll cracked his knuckles in pride. Before it could take the 4th step, a deafening screech came out of the cave. The troll hurriedly ran back to his spot and took the club from the ground.

    *SCREEECCH*

    Lee was shaken up by the sound. He kneeled up on his right knee and looked at the cave. The cave trembled after the screech and the tremor rippled outward to the surroundings.

    Every bristle of Lee stood up with this revtion. Soon after the long screech ended, Lee stood up on his foot and waited for the next assault. His alertness went over the roof, as Foresight unknowingly was awakened.

    ''Be it death, I''ll measure it''s breadth!''

 Chapter 94: Possessed by Tubian

    Chapter 94: Possessed by Tubian

    *thuck.thuck.thuck.thuck.*

    A series of footsteps faintly emerged from the cave. The echo gradually became bold and firm. Ground Trolls grinned sinisterly as they began the chant again. The atmosphere once again plunged into wild mode.

    *ba-dum.ba-dum.*

    Lee listened to his own heart drumming inside his chest. His eyes pierced the darkness and looked into the depths. No figure appeared in his sight, but he can confirm that the footsteps are getting firm and solid. He cautiously took a step back and maintained his posture. His vignce went over the roof as his eyes reflected the sinister faces of trolls.

    *THUCK.THUCK.*

    The steps became strong and sound. The trolls gradually decreased their loud chant, and brought to a muffled form. This auspice gave Lee a chill up his spine, as the arriving enemy could be many times stronger than him. The faint words uttered by D pushed him into worry.

    A bipedal outline came into Lee''s view. It was colossal! At the first nce, Lee deduced it to be over 5 metres. The inclined entrance gave enough space for that frame to walk out.

    The fiery red coloured skin exhibited it''s bioluminescent pale red stripes going over it. The fully developed muscr limbs resembled that of a human, but many timesrger. It''s pointy and ragged nails had blood marks over it. The face was rtively better looking and facial features much ordered and firm. The lower jaw, which was positioned a bit forward than the upper one, produced a pair of fangs that protruded up. The iconic crooked nose of a troll was evident!

    Blood red was the eyes! No pupils or white, but all red, like blood. The question regarding how it sees, rose in Lee''s mind. It had a bush around its crotch, which hid it''s gender. But it''s saggy assets gave the answer away. Brown and tiny hair decorated its head with a pair of pointy ears on its side.

    The chant was shut silent, and the elderly woman nced around. Lee observed her actions as he was really interested to know how this beast had the ability of sight!

    The appearance of the beast was like a candle in the darkness. It''s luminescent stripes were hardly visible for a few kilometres. And since the ce was almost an arid area, theck of settlements were perfect for this stunt.

    *ssss.*

    The leader nkly stared at Lee for a few minutes. A short and threatening slither was produced as it exposed its split tongue. A truly evil grin came out as it nodded at Lee, in satisfaction. Before Lee could make a conclusion from its mocking actions, three vines rose from its back!

    A purple, a green and an off-white one made Lee recall of the recent events. His stomach stung after witnessing the purple one. The red troll leaned at little to the front, so as to make the vines pop out easily. It rose from its backbone and wriggled like tentacles. The off-white one, unhurriedly wriggled upward while the other two took its offensive stance against Lee.

    The green one surprised Lee as it shot at him like lightning. Foresight was activated seconds before, and Lee used his immensely powerful reflex to evade It. He barely evaded it, by moving to his left, as his right foot made a deep impression on the ground!

    ''View.''

    Lee felt an immense urge to unfold it''s mysteries, and uttered View inside. The appeared panel had a slight glitchy distortion for a fraction of a second. A normal human could not have noticed, but Lee did. He made a mental note on it, and skimmed through the information.

    =====

    Race: Ground Troll (Female).

    Age: 18 years.

    State: Tubian possessed.

    Law: Light, Soul.

    Description: Intentionally hostile to those with elemental affinity. Crowd control ability.

    ----------

    Health: 5080

    Strength: 445

    Vitality: 638

    Agility: 345

    Defense: 404

    Endurance: 301

    Sense: 552

    Intelligence: 246

    =====

    ''......''

    To stay silent was Lee''s only option. Before him was a female Ground Troll possessed by a Tubian, the very race D mentioned an hour ago. Before he could make a move, the green vine again shot out. Lee slipped out of its trajectory by a few inches, as he crouched and rolled to his right.

    Lee concluded his disadvantages. One, the stats of the being outruns his, so a head-on fight is difficult. Two, the presence of the Soulw, which D had never mentioned about, had made him cautious. The revtion of ''Crowd control'' ability made him watchful of his surroundings. It might be the power to control the trolls like a puppet.

    Even before the information popped out, Lee had decided to stay away from the troll. The presence of tentacles was a lethal weapon against anyone in a distance. And since he know the functions of the harpoon and the coiling vine, his alertness was sky-high!

    Lee put his bet on the EsGen as it will do two benefits for him. It will store the troll and would be able to produce a LOT of Essence from it. With this n in mind, Lee took a step forward.

    *frown*

    A frown knitted the troll''s brows as it also took a step forward. This responsive sign was a gesture to begin the battle!

    The grappling vine shot again at him. Lee did not jump and evade, but slowly tilted his body and let it go past his neck.

    For his surprise, troll used it''s brain. It misjudged Lee that he would jump to his left, so it shot its purple harpoon. It''s intelligence was more than enough to calcte the possible path of Lee. The calction was not urate, but would have made a wound on him. It flew 2 metres right to him and that surprised Lee.

    An idea popped in his mind as his eyes instantaneously nced over the two tentacles. Within a second, Lee had his both arms gripped on the extensions. A smirk unconsciously appeared on his face.

    The light attribute of troll enabled it to see in the dark. It saw Lee smirking as he held the vines. An anonymous feeling of danger was sensed by it and it discarded the moment Lee activated the EsGen.

    ''....what?''

    Lee was surprised to see the troll standing, despite losing its extensions. Lee came to a conclusion that those might be detachable tentacles. What he did not knew was the troll''s ability to faintly sense danger!

    Bloodshot eyes skimmed along the faces of the surrounding trolls, and they began to get agitated. The tentacles were infact mere extensions to act as a weapon. The real lethality lies in itsws of light and soul. The troll had already used it''s ''Soul weakening'' on Lee, but it was D who fell into the trap.

    Clubs and spikes were lifted off the ground as the trolls began to home in on Lee. An individual Ground Troll was never a rival to Lee, but the collective result proved difficult to him. The possessed troll expected him to put up a fight, but Lee did not.

    His eyes skimmed through the battlefield as he used the club swings and mace edges as a means to propelthrough the crowd. The well co-ordinated attacks gave a clue to Lee, that the red troll is using its crowd control ability. A faint biege hue spiralling inside it''splete red colored eye, took its role in cementing his guess.

    *Woom..Pak..Thud..Thum...*

    The coordination of the attacks began to falter as the assumed target kept jumping around, from the beginning. The umted fatigue of physical activities coupled with theplicated crowd control skill adversely affected the leader and her subjects. Lee began to pocket the trolls as they almost fell on their knees. Their leader''s will power alone left them running.

    As she saw the trolls disappearing into the void, the Tubian inside her awoke. It felt the activity of an element, and greed overshadowed it''s being. The Tubian took control andmanded the trolls to back off immediately.

    A space was cleared in the middle and Lee stood there alone. The off-white tentacle came bending down to Lee with not a tinge of hostility. As it came down, it''s blunt edge began to shine like a firefly. It moved elegantly, as of it has sentience of its own.

    It scanned Lee from top to bottom. Everytime it''s tip shone, Lee would feel goosebumps on him. He assumed that this is a non-hostile, but potentially dangerous tentacle. It cautiously rounded him three times and retreated to the troll''s body.

    Red troll showed signs of struggling, but it was over in a second. Shocking Lee to his core, the troll began to speak.

    "Wgu arr uo?"

    Lee frowned as his posture became vignt. The troll raised its jaw and dislocated it without a second thought. While squirming with pain, it repositioned the jaw.

    ''Looks like the Tubian is parasitic in nature.''

    Lee assumed the possible nature of Tubian and gave reply.

    "I am a human."

    "Whath dith yu du?"

    The possessed troll pointed at the declined number of trolls surroundings them, catching breath. Lee became clear of the question it raised.

    "And why should I answer you, who attacked me?"

    The question enraged the female troll at once, and it roared in anger.

    "Ai asch on moor taim, whath dith yu du?"

    The stripes began to regrly brighten and diminish like a wave''s crest and trough. For any being of great power, ego was not any less than sky!

 Chapter 95: Tubians & mighty Yava

    Chapter 95: Tubians & mighty Yava

    *ping*

    The tentacle got unusually brighter and shot out a white beam. It was a concentrated natrow beam of light, at a nce. But it''s lethality was exposed as Lee was wounded by it!

    Lee, who saw the tentacle charging up and shooting out the light beam, did not sense any hostility from it. As he observed and analysed its target to be his neck, Lee slid his right leg sideways and moved out of its linear path. Though it missed his neck, his shoulder was not safe from its attack!

    *hiss*

    A hissing sound was produced as it brushed past Lee''s shoulder. The tee and his shoulder were pierced. Lee hissed and cursed himself for underestimating it''s concentration. The pain in his stomach waspletely overshadowed by his sting on his shoulder. As Lee inspected, he found the wound cauterized!

    ncing forward, the tentacle can be seen charging up for the next attack. Lee decided to put an end to the act. He clenched his fist in the darkness, but his knuckles conveyed his wish to fight. Without wasting a moment, Lee dashed towards the troll.

    *ping*

    The second iing resounded and Lee jumped up into the air. Like he expected, the light beam followed his path for a few seconds. But, the tentacle went passive and defensive once it lost its charge. Lee deduced that this will be it''s method of baiting.

    *ping*

    *ping*

    *ping*

    ..

    .

    Lee went around the troll, who did not give an opportunity for Lee to close in. It randomly altered the light beam''s firing frequency. Lee was perplexed by this irritating pattern. The troll can clearly tell that a single touch of Lee can be obliterating.

    ''View.''

    The second time View was used, Lee saw a slight increase in all the stats, except Health. He peeked at the troll through the corner of his eyes, as he evaded the narrow white death rays!

    Strategically closing in at a rate of five centimetres per evading, Lee kept on moving. The troll recognised his n, and decided to go melee. It took a step forward and its left arm came like a bullet train!

    *Whoosh*

    Avoiding it was easy, but Lee never expected another attack behind it. The white bean brushed his cheek, causing an ugly burn mark to appear. As the next attack came aiming at Lee''s chest, he used his left palm to deviate it from its path as soon as it reached in front of him. The fist missed the target and Lee went inside the range of the troll''s arm length.

    *PING*

    An intense ray shed at Lee, but it too missed the target. Lee crouched and moved forward, and his palm got in contact with the trolls stomach.

    *Whooom*

    The EsGen gobbled the being andbthe Tubian possessing it. The resultant sound made Lee worry and he nced around. The trolls, upon disappearance of their leader, began to disperse and scatter in many directions. Though able to see at night, those beings acted as if they are partially blinded. Lee was vignt as he skimmed his eyes over them. At the most unexpected moment, D came out shouting-

    [Run!]

    Like an interface powering up after an short break, the Map came up before him with a blue path on it. At one end of the path was Lee, and the other end extended straight to south. Without any further instructions, Lee took off towards in the southern direction. He did not forget to borrow a few trolls running around wild, into his storage.

    --------------------------------------

    Intellus continent. Forbidden zone.

    Vahanka mountains, the ce of Tubian gathering.

    A colossal dragon skeleton can be seen lying on the t ground. The inner frame of the draconic remains had an aura of death running inside it. A mountain range of 28 kilometres radius, surrounded the skeleton and hindered any sight of it from outside. A woman, A humanoid snake and a winged siren stood on a mountain peak and stared at the skeleton. Fireflies in immense quantities flew in this space and illuminated the area like a day.

    *Blip*

    As they witnessed, a blip originated from the skeleton and it''s cracked and crumbled bones began to rise up and join. The bones regained its sturdiness and colour, while the skeleton was restored. The aura of death had vanished from its body and massive chunks of flesh began to appear on the skeleton along with muscles and blood vessels.

    "What was the revtion, Kunjaa?"

    Golden scales began appear on the raw flesh, as it slowly raised its huge body on its legs. It''s extra long tail moved around as it rotated its head towards the three spectators.

    "Yava released me in mercy. It has a message for all of us. A powerful variable has appeared. That stupid rogue brat has encountered it and have mysteriously disappeared. Not dead, but in a suspended state. Proceed to determine whether it is hostile or friendly."

    As it finished speaking, the reconstruction process wasplete. Arge and wildy, but symmetrically twisted horns protruded from its head. It had no eyes and nose. It''s pointy snout exposed its razor sharp army arranged inside it''s jaws, when it spoke. A pair of wings formed from the crumbled wing bones. Stretching the wing high into the sky, itpletely raised its body off the ground, on its limbs.

    "I have to see Wikyan Dragon as soon as possible. There is a much important problem at hand!"

    The three nodded their heads and turned around. Their figures shed like lightning and disappeared into the horizon. Bu saw this and spread its wings high and wide. Its present stature exceeds the mountain peaks that span over 12 kilometres!

    ''I am starting to doubt the bloody serendipity of this ne! Well..let ite.''

    A single p and its body slowly levitated over the ground. As soon as it separated from ground, its body began to fade away as smoke. This smoke condensed and rose up to the sky. Under the disguise of the clouds in the dark sky, it moved gracefully, towards where Wikyan slept peacefully.

    --------------------------------

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96

    =====

    9 P.M.

    29910 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The bonfire burned with crackles every now and then. It illuminated the surroundings with ample light and heated those sitting around it. A cricket cried from a distance. The doughnut moon was partially visible due to the clouds.

    Lee, An, Rue and Mia sat around the fire. Thedies showed signs of intellectual indigestion. Lee rubbed his forehead as he sat cross-legged on the ground.

    "In a nutshell, Tubians are sentient beings formed from the pure fragments of Amortal. They can control their powers very efficiently. But most of them are parasitic in nature."

    D spoke inside Lee and Lee selectively transmitted the information to thedies.

    "Tubians are descendants of Amortals, but they have different viewpoints. While Amortals want to achieve Godhood, Tubians want to live like they always did, for millennia.

    A few Tubians have sacrificed themselves to be the part of the higher power, but their wishes were fleeting clouds. The Tubians have recently realised the sinister ns of Amortals. The one we caught possessing the troll was a reckless, stupid and rtively younger one. I will need a lot of time to extract all the information it has."

    Lee gave a nod and spilled a few basic information regarding Tubians. Rue and Mia were wonderstruck with what they heard.

    "Now you both know our journey''s purpose. I will not stop you if you deem the quest dangerous and back off. But-"

    Lee wanted to speak more, but Mia raised her hand and gestured to stop. He paused his words and peered at her.

    "I have joined in your quest the moment you saved me. From the age, you are as old as my elder brother. Thus, I hope to stay with my brother on his journey!"

    Mia sounded honest and brave. Her words resounded in air and Rue also repeated the same words.

    "You are both wee. But your current level is nowhere near to defeating a giant Ground Troll alone. I have an idea. But let''s take rest now."

    Saying this, 4 futons fell on the grassy patch near to them. Lee retracted his hand as they fell on the ground. A medium size tent also came out with them.

    ''D, where are these from?''

    [I have a lot to tell. But sleep for now. Setup the tent.]

    Lee stood up and raised the tent. He dragged the 4 futons inside and ced it appropriately.

    Rue and Mia yawned in unison, and stared at each other. They chuckled and entered inside the tent and fell asleep in a few minutes. An nced at Lee, who smiled and conveyed her to take rest. She nodded and went to her futon and fell asleep within minutes.

    Sensing their breathing, Lee deduced that thedies have slept. He turned to D.

    ''D..what happened till now? Brief me!''

    [Put out the fire and sleep. I''llmunicate with you in your conscious space.]

    Lee promptly put out the me. His arms threw the sticks scatteredly, into a distance after making sure that they won''t start a fire. Then he climbed into his futon, after closing the tent entrance.

    [You don''t need to do that. I can protect you all when you sleep.]

    Lee didn''t say anything in response, and crept inside his futon. The fatigue took over and Lee lost his control over his body as he fell into deep slumber.

    ---------------------------

    Consciousness chamber of Lee.

    D, in his old man form, was walking to and fro, waiting for Lee to appear. He did not pull Lee into his consciousness ne, like before, but waited for him to voluntarily enter it. After a few minutes, Lee began to materialise from thin air.

    "Wee."

    It was awkward for Lee to be weed inside his own consciousness chamber, but he didn''t mind it. The surroundings changed to a savannah in a sunset. A few wool tuskers ran in a distance while D and Lee sat on the grassy patch ofnd.

    "What exactly happened to you?"

    Lee raised his question a second before D opened his mouth to talk. D remembered that he needs to give a brief description of what happened.

    "Let me start from the beginning.

    The Tubian we met had a soul weakening skill, which trapped mine, instead of you. But I do not know how that affected the system interface. Now it is all back to normal."

    D waved his hand and theplete interface came appearing. Lee looked at the disy in front of him and scrolled up and down, confirming D''s im.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 3855

    Essence: 562599 (9 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Partner: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6623/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2407/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12131/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15352/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (0/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1189/10000)

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Skills:-

    View

    Foresight

    EsGen & EsConv

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - G (0/1)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

    "I analysed the Tubian in the EsGen storage. I have extracted some information from it, which is exclusive to Tubian.

    The Law fragments in this dimension are scattered into many ces, especially ocean. The Tubians are unable to absorb aw fragment, as they will melt and merge with thew fragment, losing its identity. Their innatew is all they have.

    Due to their ipatible view with Amortals, Tubians are in turn trying to protect it from other beings. It will be an advantage if we can get in touch with a few Tubians.

    Other information extracted is sent directly to your brain. You can ess it like a memory."

    Saying this, D waved his hand. A humanoid squid appeared in front of them. Lee stood up and observed its characteristics.

    "This is that parasitic Tubian. Most Tubians are parasitic in nature. Only a minority have the ability to evidently shapeshift and walk among us.

    This Tubian is at the verge of dying. The suspended state jumbled it''s internal functions. So before it dies, I am going to assimte it with my soul. It will act as a great benefit for us."

    Before Lee could make out a conclusion, D moved towards the suspended being and lightly tapped on its form. The powerful being squirmed and tried to break out of the consciousness chamber, but ended up in vain.

    *poof*

    The being instantly turned to smoke and disappeared. D stood there for a second and walked back to Lee.

    "My soul was partially damaged when you rescued me from the Origin dimension. But now that I have assimted with this little brat, my powers are back to peak. I''m still a soul, though. With some new found insights, I will be expanding the system features. Before that, do you wish for any features that you would like to have in the new ''update''?"

    Lee frowned as he leaned on his arms, which were anchored behind him. Lee nced up and down in thought, but couldn''t find any. D could hear his thoughts like a megaphone, so he retracted his question.

    "It''s okay if you don''t remember. I will make sure that the insights help you."

    D waved his hand and Lee was pushed out of his consciousness chamber and into slumber.

 Chapter 97: Mana Mastery Begins

    Chapter 97: Mana Mastery Begins

    =====

    5 A.M.

    24861 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee jumped up like an unloaded spring. He did not look like someone who had slept all night. ncing around, Lee realised that he was only one awake. Sensing the silence, he leaned back onto the futon and called D.

    ''Buddy.you there?''

    [Morning kid. How did you sleepst night?]

    ''It was okay.''

    [Then stand up and change the rags. I''ve bought a set of clothes and kept them in the Inventory.]

    Lee slowly stood up and walked out of the tent. He opened the Inventory and saw a long ck jacket, an off-white tee shirt, a trunk and a usual denim jean in it.

    ''D, are there any water sources around here?''

    D told him about the presence of a river about a kilometre away from them. He also added that a vige stands right next to it.

    ''Then I''ll wear the new ones after freshening up!''

    As he responded to D, An came out of the tent. She did not see Lee in his futon, so she came out looking for him. Lee greeted her.

    "There is a river about a kilometre away from where we are. Let us go there and clean ourselves. Let''s hope that the nearby vigers are not hostile."

    An nodded and turned to wake up Mia and Rue, but Lee told her to let them sleep till they wake up. Coincidentally, Rue and Mia came out of the tent yawning.

    Lee ced the futons and tent into his spatial ring, and informed about the river, which was 1 kilometre west to where they stood. He also added that they can eat breakfast after cleaning themselves.

    The trio nodded in unison, and Fero and the antelope came out of the EsGen storage. Lee did not bring them both out yesterday, as one is highly territorial and protective, while the antelope was a cozy one, taking up too much space.

    Without further ado, they departed to the river. Thendscape was grassy and further south to them was a forest. The terrain was not too rugged for them, to tread with difficulties.

    ''What are the new insights you gained?''

    [Though young and foolish, the Tubian we caught had a lot of information in it. Important among is thest three progression steps in Mana Mastery.]

    A panel appeared. It had theplete Mana Mastery levels on it.

    =====

    1. Rookie

    2. Official

    3. Veteran

    4. Elite

    5. General

    6. Lord

    7. Saint

    8. Spirit

    9. Essence

    10. Sovereign

    =====

    [Not only that, that thing knew the amount of Mana one needs to advance to each step.]

    =====

    Rookie - 2100 Mana

    Official - 3750 Mana

    Veteran - 5405 Mana

    Elite - 9105 Mana

    General - 15700 Mana

    Lord - 221000 Mana

    Saint - 1504000 Mana

    Spirit - 7080500 Mana

    Essence - 29844900 Mana

    Sovereign - 1040567500 Mana

    =====

    [The demand of Mana is exponential. But each step will bring great power amplification. If you reach General level of progression, a single punch of yours will have thrice the strength you currently have.

    2100 Mana is needed for advancing to the second stage. Likewise, the humungous amount of Mana you see next to the 10th level ''Sovereign'', is used to break the bondages of the Dimension. That means, you acquire a status simr to mine.

    But two sovereigns cannot exist in one dimension. The Will of the Dimension will alert them to take a final decision regarding the one who is superior. If they could not, then the Will will try to make a solution, by homing in its power towards the two. The moment one dies or forefeits, the cataclysm will end.

    Sadly, whatever I do, I cannot change the fact that you are an outsider, and thus is unable to absorb Qi or Mana. But the EsConv will help you convert Essence to various formats, like Qi, Mana and progress points.

    I have brought the remaining two beast crystals for 685000 Essence, and havepletely absorbed them into your being. You''ll see the affinities in your affinity panel. You have 76487 Essence left with you.

    The Elemental Binding realm will have to wait, because we have to concentrate on Mana Mastery now. Since you literally have all affinities, be it Lesser or Greater, using them coupled with Mana can cause appropriate, and powerful effects.

    Let me demonstrate. I will take 487 Essence from your reserve and convert it into 974 Mana.]

    An and Rue spoke to each other as Mia walked in front of them. Lee was walking parallel to Mia and Fero silently followed him. The antelope crossed and messed up Mia''s peaceful strides. She was annoyed and picked it up. She tickled antelope''s underbelly and it wiggled to free. But Mia had a strong grip to which the herbivore yielded.

    Lee froze in his steps as D deducted 487 Essence from his reserve and converted it to 974 Mana. He stared at the panel before him, without realising that 5 pairs of eyes were observing him. Uu Yui u uu uu ,. u have uuU

    [Mana has an intrinsicpatibility to nature. It is more harmonious with elements than Qi.

    Use any amount of Mana you like to create a ball in your hand. Activate one or more affinites simultaneously. Then fire off the ball.]

    Lee raised his right hand and his palm rose to his chest height. Fire affinity was activated and a fiery ball formed in the palm. Fero took a few steps backward. Antelope ran and stood by Fero. Mia and Rue were wonderstruck. But An was most shocked to see Lee creating a fire ball.

    The fire ball began to condense and grow more hotter. Lee had to extend his hand due to intense heat. Mia and Rue involuntarily took a few steps as An pulled them backward.

    [Stop the Mana input. You will kill us all.

    Now, use a small amount of Mana to propel it to a distance. Or you can throw it manually.]

    Lee took a few steps forward and looked around for a target. At a distance, south to where they were, stood a rtivelyrge, but dead tree. It was as tall as the trees in the forest. Since it stood at a distance from the dense vegetation, Lee chose it as his aim.

    *Whoosh*

    Lee did not use Mana to propel, instead, he threw it. The ball rose up into the air and fell at the foot of the dry trunk.

    *Bhoom*

    With a bang, the tree shattered into pieces. The ball exploded with so much power that the ce where it stood did not recognise it.

    The scattered chunks of burning wood astonished all, including the quadrupedals. Lee stepped towards the tree to take a closer look. Fero trailed him, but Lee geatured to stay back.

    With shock and pride, Lee scanned the burning wooden pieces. Rue was slightly angry as he aimed at the tree, but did not mind any further as she saw it dead and dry.

    [Congrattions! You have fired a fireball. You can be considered as a Rookie!]

 Chapter 98: Why Qi & Mana

    Chapter 98: Why Qi & Mana

    [But use lesser Mana for such simple attacks, okay? You used 86 Mana for this one attack. That is why the fire''s purity and strength went above a normal fireball skill.]

    ''I will keep that in mind.''

    Lee took a few steps backward, as his eyes nced over the shattered pieces onest time, then walked back to thedies as they stared at Lee like aplete stranger, with a frown.

    "You.you can use Mana?!"

    As a Druid, Rue was extra sensitive to Mana. Also, she can use Mana, but it takes a toll on her body. Clearly, she had not encountered any enemies worth expanding and empowering her skills.

    An, who knew of Lee''s special identity, was actually surprised to see him use a fireball of good destructive capability. Mia, who thought that Lee was a simple man with nimble moves, was also surprised.

    Lee did not give a reply immediately. He just smiled and replied after a couple of seconds-

    "I will answer that questionter."

    Saying this, he took the lead and walked towards where the river was. Thedies and the quadrupeds followed him like family.

    ''D, why and how does Qi and Mana differ when attributed with affinities?''

    D began tough so loud that Lee had his eyes go wide as a reaction. Hopefully, nobody saw that.

    [Both Qi and Mana are Essence. Consider Essence as in, odourless, colourless water. Then Qi is alcohol and Mana is acid. Let me exin.

    Everybody intake alcohol to have courage and bravery, which theyck when not intoxicated. Likewise, Qi empowers from within, and bes one with you. It''s effect is many times stronger. But, like alcohol, you will have a hangover.

    Acid, on the other hand, has many different applications. You cannot intake it, but goes well with substances while counteract certain ones. Acid attack is also one of its uses. Here, the acid acts as a type of weapon, but you are still unarmed. It gives you an advantage in a fight. It does not give you a hangover, but can be a double-edged sword if not used properly.

    Nature produces both Qi and Mana to maintain the bnce. But it is found to be a necessity as Qi and Mana cancel each other, and reveal its underlying truth, Essence. Just as acid and alcohol nullifies each other.

    Wherever and whenever Qi and Mana cancels out, Essence is produced. But due to its intangible state, none can detect it. Only those that have cultivation level of Essence Saint or above, or Mastery of Essence stage or above, can detect its presence.]

    ''But that still does not answer my question!''

    [Wait kid. Let me brief. Like I said, alcoholes in different vors and smells. But they are ultimately for one purpose - get drunk and throw up. But acid, which is inedible, has many varieties of reactions that entices us.

    Likewise, Mana which empowers us from the outside, like an auxiliary, can get well with all elements. Thus it''s elementalpatibility is extremely high. As acid can act as a catalyst, Mana can act as an attack amplifier, which strengthens and speeds up the process. Both armed and unarmed fights arepatible with Mana in a good way. But elemental attacks are more fancied by Mana users.

    Qi, bes one with you. Thus it is about being one with the empowering agent. Unless born with an innate elemental affinity, Qi cannot greatly gopatible with elements. But armedbat where a weapon, which is close to you as a limb, is involved, the Qi empowers and connects you with the weapons and the motions be immensely fluid and fluent.

    When you cultivate Qi, it is all about weapon proficiency. When you master Mana, it is all about elemental affinity.]

    ''...''

    A long silence was followed by D''s detailed description regarding the rtion andpatibility between elemental affinities, and Qi and Mana. Lee walked with a nk face, but he was in deep thought. His pace did not alter, nor the direction.

    *conversing voices from behind*

    Lee nced over his shoulder and saw An and Rue talking to Mia about her interests and childhood. They were careful not to poke any sore memories. Fero and antelope walked side by side, and guarded the women.

    ''Now..what do we have to do?''

    [What do you mean?]

    ''I have acquired all elemental affinities. Now what shall we do?''

    [Progress them, of course. You know the conversion rates between Essence and stages of progress.]

    *sigh*

    Lee let out a sigh as they had almost reached the river. The vige can be seen on the other side of the river, which spans wide and probably deep. His sigh was loud enough that it attracted the attention of hispanions. They saw the river hardly 20 metres before them.

    Clean water flowed through the river and Lee saw some vigers fishing from the other side. At the first nce of the strangers, they made shouts and loud cries to attract the attention of the party, before they entered the doors of death. Lee caught antelope from jumping into the river as he also felt a hostile sense from the water. Not just him, his pet hyena also felt it.

    *Unintelligible shouts*

    The vigers from the other side warned to not enter the water. The 85 metres wide river needed a much powerful means ofmunication, other than mere shouts. Their throats became sore, and they switched to signnguage. Due to its easyprehensibility, Lee made out words from their actions.

    "There.is a giant.giant elephant being...in the water. Wait, what?"

    The four nced at each other''s face as Lee spelled out the interpretation of the signs from the other side of the river. Mia reached for her katana as she nced over the river that stretched from one end to the other. Likewise, An had her hand over the longsword''s pommel.

    *grrr*

    All of a sudden, Fero began to growl. Their attentions were momentarily distracted by Fero when something surfaced.

    A pair of vicious eyes floated up and nced around. It was attracted by the presence of Lee and hispanions, so it drifted towards them. Lee can see the terrifying ruthlessness from those eyes itself.

    It came near to them and floated at a safe distance, as it stared at Lee and Fero intensely. Fero was its major target as he growled and showed hostility towards whatever that lurked beneath the water.

    Lee took a step forward and his de came out. It mysteriously appeared in his palm, and the eyes drifted a little backward. The situation was again in a stalemate!

 Chapter 99: Ichidila

    Chapter 99: Ichid

    =====

    6 A.M.

    24861 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Ahh, screw it..! Lee, just take out those eyes. It''s starting to piss me off!]

    ''....okay!''

    The de disappeared from Lee''s hand and the bow appeared. He did not dy to pull the bow string with lightning sizzling over it. Rather than a direct shot, Lee aimed straight into the sky. D advised to let the gravity do the rest.

    *Whish*

    The arrow ascended into the air and came down like lightning. The floating eyes felt a sense of danger and went underwater the very moment. Secondster, the arrow touched down on the surface of the river. The vigers on the other side had retreated long before.

    *Zzz*

    A short moment of electric discharge was followed by silence. But it too was short-lived as the beast inside the water pounced out in pain.

    Arge snout that resembles thebination of a wolf and a crocodile came up. The skin colour ranged from deep green to ck. The almost cylindrical shape of the being with unknown length was at least six timesrger than a giant crocodile. The eyes were over its rough skinned head that had a rugged texture. The slit shaped pupils can now be seen clearly. It had a pair of flippers that helped it in lotion. It sure has a body, but the force with which it came up was not enough topletely throw itself into the air.

    *Gurr...*

    The creature made a weird sound and stared at Lee pratively. Lee wanted to present the next lightning arrow, but the beast opened its mouth and shot out a stream of water.

    [Just water, not dangerous.]

    Lee stood there without moving a muscle as the water shot at him. The slimy water sshed all over Lee and sttered over the surroundings. Fero jumped backward and escaped from this attack.

    ''Are you sure this is water? It is so sticky!''

    The creature slowly floated towards the river bank and stared at Lee, who was drenched in a slightly slimy water. He wiped it off of his body. Fero came and peered at him, and then sniffed the substance.

    *sniff sniff*

    The smell was a delicate bnce between stink and aroma. One moment, it can be recognised as fragrant. The next moment, it may feel slightly repulsive.

    "It feels odd!"

    Lee made a remark as he was soaked in water. What he felt was slimy, but the actual property of this water, which is abination of the beast''s saliva and river water, is to make the opponent less agile. The sticky and dampening nature of the slimy water was easily overpowered by the supernatural strength of Lee. Seeing him move so easy and free, despite being drenched in the water attack, made the beast to be wary of him.

    The vigers on the other side saw this and were astonished. There has never been an instance where the beast retreated after its signature water attack. As soon as the beast dived deep into the water, they signalled at Lee to stay put. Lee noticed that the vige did not have any functional boat. All they had was a rear part of a boat, torn and capsized, and resting on the shore, near the vige.

    "This is slimy water. Don''t touch."

    Lee turned around and told An, as she came near to touch his soaked and torn clothes. She immediately retracted her hands.

    ''D, how do I get this slimy water off me?''

    [Very simple. You previously created a fireball with Mana. But this time, spread the Mana all over your body and imagine it getting heated up with fire. Make sure you don''t toast yourself!]

    Lee turned away thedies and walked a few steps from them. He stood there like a statue for a minute and steam began to rise from his body. Faint me like patterns were witnessed by hispanions. Fero giggled as he saw his buddy heating up like a saiyan!

    [Okay, that should be enough. Any more, and you will overcook yourself.]

    ''Okay.''

    Lee promptly cut the Mana input, by halting his thought processes. The aura around him faded away, and he was dry.

    "Can you teach me how you do that?"

    Rue asked from where she stood. Lee smiled at her as he replied-

    "I will teach youter."

    In actuality, Lee was merely repeating what D said. Lee barely had an idea about what she spoke.

    ''You sure? I just repeated what you said. I don''t know how to teach controlling Mana!''

    [I got this. All you have to do is y along!]

    Lee walked back to An, who was staring at the river. Mia tried throwing stones into the river, and the beast came up. When she threw a stone again, another one came up.

    "Brother, I think there are two or more Ichids in the river."

    Mia notified Lee in an alert tone. Lee, who was a stranger to the name, almost replied to her with a question, but D interrupted.

    [That water beast is called Ichid. They are territorial predators. Any fish or marine organism is their food. They tend to live in groups of even numbers. What we saw is an average adult Ichid.

    But, they are native to oceans alone, and live in saltwater. They aremonly used as mounts by waterfolks. No matter what the circumstances are, they do not travel into ind water bodies. Wonder why they got here?]

    "Ohh."

    Lee made a soft response in wonder. Mia took it as an acknowledgement to her finding. Lee patted her head for the information.

    The vigers on the other side had gone back to their daily lives. Only a 7 year old boy stood there, staring at the other side.

    Lee had to look for an alternative. He peeked at the Map and saw that the vige across the river had a well, and a pond! He shared his findings to An, Mia and Rue. Even Fero was excited to hear about the pond.

    "But how do we cross the river?!"

 Chapter 100: Crossing The River

    Chapter 100: Crossing The River

    Rue raised the question as her hands rested at her hip. Her depressed countenance was reflected in her doubt. She stared at the river and the vige repeatedly.

    Lee was having an idea of his own. D could only stare at his amorphous mass of thoughts forming and reforming, inside his consciousness chamber.

    ''D, I don''t know if it would work, but I''m giving it a try.''

    Without waiting for D''s response, Lee raised his hands and brought his palms, upside down, in front of his chest.

    *huff*

    Letting out a breath through his mouth, Lee picturised an airball in his hands. As he let more and more Mana out of his reserve to form it, transformation took ce as it began to condense into a pseudo-solid state.

    The translucent sphere rose up into the air as Lee guided. The umon amount of Resolve he had, yed vital in making of the cloud. As it began to puff up, Lee applied Mana to tten it. His imagination gave shape to a thick and solid air tform!

    [Topress air to such a degree has used 240 Mana. You are picking up a thing or two.]

    ''It is not done. Yet!''

    As D witnessed, thepressed air tform stood suspended in the air, just above his head height. As thedies also noticed the cushion like object, frost began to form underneath the cushion. Theyers of ice slowly build up its foundation over which the air cushion stood.

    [DOUBLE ELEMENT STACK!!]

    D was well ustomed with fourfold element stacking. But he did not expect Lee to think of double element stacking so soon. Then D realised that the situation had yed a vital role.

    [Compressed air has weight, so it will touch the ice foundation. If the air freezes, the feet will suffer. What would you do then?]

    As he expected, Lee created a faintyer of heat between the cushion and foundation. A whole apparatus floated in the air, with pale blue ice at the bottom, translucent air cushion at the top, and the faint red heating effects in the middle. It wasrge enough for Lee, An, Mia, Rue, Fero and the antelope, to stand on it without any wobbling or capsizing.

    The constructed setup unfortunately, and suddenly, fell down at the most beautiful moment, where all were enjoying it''s structural beauty. The air cushion dispersed into the air and the ice block fell on the ground with a thud. Since it was his maiden ice block, it easily shattered after the fall. Small chunks of ice were all that was left without ample Mana. The ice easily melted, which pointed at hisck of proficiency.

    D exined that the depleted Mana reservoir was the reason. He added that the consumption to perfectly sustain this shape for an hour is three quarters of Lee''s hourly extracted amount.

    ''Convert 10000 Essence to Mana!''

    Upon Lee''smand, D deposited 20000 Mana in his storage. Step by step, the previous process was repeated, and the boat like structure was formed. Due to immense Mana consumption, Lee promptly lowered it into the river.

    If it was a simple block of ice, the Ichid might have smashed it. But this time, Lee took ample precautions for thefort of his passengers. He made the foundation much wider and long than previous. The condensation rate was also maximised. D warned Lee that the Mana cost will increase exponentially. After adding another 20000 Essence to Mana, he continued to pay attention to his work.

    The ice was lowered into the river, and the pseudo-solid air cushion sandwiched the heat against the ice. One by one, they boarded the temporary transportation, and Lee used a gust of wind to propel them towards the other side. He nted his legs firmly into the ice block without breaking it, and ejected powerful bursts of air from his hands. Of course, everything was powered by Mana.

    The scene of a weird shaped object floating on the river shocked the vigers. To add more astonishment, there was a man and women on it. Some vigers assumed that these approaching figures are not probably aliens and are some other beings. Some picturised Lee and his party as superpowered, possibly friendly, beings. Expectations and rumours flooded the minds of the vigers as the ice block was only 40 metres away from them.

    The Ichids swam around the ice block, but saw no way to catch the sailing humans. As they passed halfway through the river, those predators became aggressive. They began to disrupt the flow of motion, and tried to break the ice.

    Lee was initially cold to these actions, but soon grew annoyed by them. He handed over the Mana output to D, and took out his bow. His anger exited as skyrocketing arrows.

    *whish whish*

    Two arrows were shot upward into the sky and the bow went inside the Inventory. The sizzling at the tip of lightning-attributed Lightning arrows came down as they were homing onto the two beasts. Aplete silence was followed by the arrows entering the water like a kingfisher. No disturbance further arose, as the high dose lightning knocked out the two troublesome Ichids.

    [*peep peep* You have arrived at your destination.]

    D made a funny announcement, as the ice block touched the other side of the river. The party descended from it and took steps towards the vige. Before that, Lee dispersed the air cushion and increased the heat''s intensity, which melted the ice at a visible rate.

    "Fero, stay passive."

    Lee said to his hyena as he walked towards the crowded vigers. Fero nodded and giggled in response.

    The vigers eagerly came towards Lee. Some were afraid toe forward and see the sorcerers who crossed the river with weird magic. But a good portion of vigers were interested to know who they were and how they did it.

    "Greetings. We are wandering people who came across this vige by chance."

    Lee gave a vague introduction of who they were. The response came from one of the vigers and the conversation flourished.

    --------------------------------------------

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 3908

    Essence: 97861 (6 A.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Spouse: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+)

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie level

    Mana: 48386

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6623/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2411/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12131/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15354/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (136/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (664/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (2375/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    Lesser Life Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Time Affinity (0/100)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1191/10000)

    ----------

    Skills:-

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - G (0/1)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

    (The system skills like View, Foresight, EsGen & EsConv are removed as they are fundamentals.)

 Chapter 101: Burrow Village

    Chapter 101: Burrow Vige

    Lee and his party were warmly greeted. When conveyed their need to refresh, the vigers agreed without hesitation. They dly navigated Rue, Mia, An and Lee along with their four-leggedpanions to the pond to freshen up.

    --------------------------------------

    =====

    8 A.M.

    24861 Essence harvested.

    =====

    --------------------------------------

    ".....and that was how this vige was established!"

    The vige head of ''Burrow'' was an old granny dwarf. Nobody, including her, remembers her actual name. That''s because everyone had been calling her ''Granny''. In time, she too forgot her name!

    The vige was established when dwarf granny''s father, who was a wandering hunter, came across this ce. The fertile soil found at the banks of the river were perfect for agriculture. The water was easily essible from the river. Most importantly, the forest provided enough resources. He, with his fellow hunters and their families, came and settled here about 287 years ago. Their descendants now upy thend. Somewhere along the history, elves and humans joined.

    The vige was 792 metres in length and breadth, and looked perfectly round from an aerial view. Therge fence around the vige protects it from rarely urring monster attacks. The forest, south of the vige, was their means of sustenance. Due to its presence, all able-bodied men and women in the vige have knowledge regarding basic attacks. Children from their early age are taught farming and hunting along with other basic and necessary stuff.

    There was a small farnd where vegetables and Pepper Wheat were grown. Twice in a week, a selected group of men and women would go for hunting. The fast popting Rain Rabbit was abundant in the outer areas of the forest. Their fur and skin were the main raw materials for making their clothes. Other harmless, but beneficial herbivores also contributed for the wellbeing of the vigers.

    [.....make sure to advance the progress of every affinity you have. That''s it.]

    While Granny was narrating the history of Burrow vige, D was simultaneously advising Lee about his further advancements. He gave emphasis to the progress of the affinities. He also reminded that the Absolute grade of affinity is necessary for wless cultivation, before stepping into the Elemental Binding Realm.

    "I see that you are distracted by some other matters. Why don''t you and yourpanions join us for breakfast?"

    Granny saw a momentary distraction on Lee''s face. Assuming that he has his own problems to think of, Granny diverted the topic to breakfast. Lee nodded as he was sitting next to his wife. Granny and them were sitting under a tree near her house. Mia was running around with children and ying with them. She was very much enjoying their temporary stay at the vige. Rue on the other hand, was talking with the women and men of the vigers.

    Granny stood up and gave a short whistle. A man of about 36 years came walking towards them from one of the neighbouring houses. He bowed to Granny.

    "These people will join us for breakfast. Make necessary arrangements."

    Granny spoke in a feeble voice. Her tone had an overwhelming sense of kind and care. The man listened and nodded, before going back into the house.

    "Shall we go to the dining area?"

    Granny smiled at Lee as she spoke. Her wrinkly face and toothless jaw always outpoured kindness and serenity. Lee and An stood up from where they sat and followed Granny, who led them. As they walked, Granny would point out residents and houses, and would give a short description about them. Her small stature and slow pace gave ample time to recollect and organise information, before passing by them.

    ----------------------------------------------------

    The dining area Granny talked about was an open grassy ground. As Lee and An stood next to Granny, who was dictating about their usual delicacies, several kids came to the grassy open area carrying chairs. A few men and women followed them carrying tables. As Lee assumed theirmunity dining setup, the tables were arranged in a big circr shape and chairs were ced ordingly. Within two minutes, it was all set up. Secondster, people came out of houses withrge pots of food. Lee was able to detect the pot which contained soup, without using his View. The steam rising from the broth had an enticing smell apanying it.

    *giggling noise*

    An turned her head to her right and saw Mia bing one among the kids of the vige. She giggled so loud that An, who was standing about 17 metres apart heard it. She was evidently ecstatic. An gestured her toe near as she called Mia. Mia came hopping at her like a silly little girl. Mia came near her and she dusted her dress off of the dirt.

    At the same moment, Rue entered the dining area apanied by two women. She held a Silk Maid nt in her hand, and was pointing out its parts. As the two women were interested in botanical life, Rue was ready to share her knowledge about nts. So, she plucked a Silk Maid nt standing among the grass and narrated its medicinal purposes.

    As An, Lee and Mia fell into her sight, Rue excused herself from thepany of the two women as she handed over their study material. They thanked her and went to join others. Rue walked straight to Mia, who smiled with flooding excitement. As the antelope and Fero came running to them, Mia started to narrate how she felt among the kids.

    Rue also shared her experiences from interactions. She found the viger''s interest in nt life exciting. She added that if they were not on such an important mission, she would have stayed in the Burrow. Mia sounded her agreement to Rue''s statement.

    "If you want, that would be great. We can stay here for a while."

    Lee gave a response to their statements. Mia nced at him with an urge to respond, but Rue spoke out before her.

    "We have all of eternity to rest, after the mission. Let use back then!"

    Rue''s answer was immediately followed by a series of ringing. It was the signal toe and join for breakfast. As time hit 9 in the morning, the Burrow vige ate their breakfast and served their best delicacies to their guests. A whole hour went past as they savoured the alluring scent and drooling sight of the Rain Rabbit''s cooked meat, which was their usual meat option. Freshly baked Pepper Wheat bread loaves invoked an avnche of emotions inside their hearts. The salted Snake Cucumber slices tickled the taste buds with great vigour. Even D, who was a soul, lost the track of time!

 Chapter 102: Folx Forest

    Chapter 102: Folx Forest

    =====

    11 A.M.

    24861 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Rue and Mia felt dejected as they walked towards the vige entrance. Facing the rising sun, it was wide open for their exit. Fero and the antelope were happy with the delicious meal. They expressed their happiness as they walked with a tinge of excitement, visible in their strides. Both of them felt a sharp stare from Mia, which made them run and hide behind An.

    After the breakfast, Lee shared his knowledge in unarmedbat with the vigers. They were excited as they witnessed his agile and powerful movements, which unbeknownst to them, was supported by his immense stats. Lee felt a need to teach them a few punch and kickbos after seeing their sparkling eyes. D agreed to this decision, though it cannot be equal to the hospitality they provided. He also suggested to show them his elemental proficiencies of fire and lightning.

    The results were ording to the Sovereign''s prediction. When Lee disyed his affinities, the granny dwarf was astonished. In her life till today, she has not met someone who has two affinities. That too, at a powerful extent. She wished Lee a very good future in her heart, and prayed that he may always stay in the path of righteousness.

    An followed Rue to the gate, as she noticed her sad face. Reminding her own words, she consoled Rue. Mia too felt an urge to finish the quest as fast as possible, so that she can return here and spend her time as a kid.

    "I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality. This vige has provided us more than we asked. So, as a symbol of gratitude, please ept my humble gift."

    Turning to Granny, Lee spoke with honesty and happiness. As he extended his arm towards her, the Aquamarine Jade stone in his hand reflected the warmth of the twin stars. Granny and the vigers behind her were surprised to see such an elegant stone with innate exquisiteness. They had clearly not seen anything more valuable than gold.

    "We cannot ept this. What we did was something we would have done to anyone. We teach our young ones to be benevolent and caring, without expecting a reward."

    Lee was expecting this answer. So he repeated what D told him.

    "This is not an ordinary ornamental stone. The Essence of Water and Nature are inside it. If you ever feel any problems with your agriculturalnd, bury this inside the soil only for a whole day. The crops would grow at a faster rate and will bring more yield. If you find the water is undrinkable or water beasts as hostile, dip this stone in the water for a few seconds. It will pacify the creatures and purify the water for a long time."

    Lee was shocked to hear the abilities of this stone. His delighted countenance covered up his anger as D replied to his doubt regarding the cost of the stone, with a sixty five followed by two zeros.

    Granny hesitated to ept the stone. So, Lee took her hand and ced the stone inside her palm. He further spoke and conveyed his wish to see them again. Without further ado, Lee and hispanions left the vige after bidding farewell. Exiting, they corrected their course to the south!

    ----------------------------

    Folx forest, middle region.

    ''....''

    [......hey...you alright?]

    *tock*

    ''Do you think I f##cking am?''

    *tock tock*

    Foura Monkeys loudlyughed and giggled from the top of the trees. Lee can be seen walking through the woods, with thedies tailing him at a distance of 5 metres. Fero, who used to be aggressive around other beings, was walking next to Mia. Rue had a nk expression as nced at Lee, helplessly. The next second, another Needle Banyan fruit fell on his head!

    *tock*

    "YOU HAD TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!"

    Lee shouted out in anger, but several Needle Banyan fruits came in as a response.

    *tock tock tock tock*

    Needle Banyan trees were a tall and moderately wider version of the original Banyan trees. It was tall and had a thick trunk that narrowed as it went up. In any way, it did not resemble a Banyan tree. The rtion with its distant rtive can only be determined by its thick drooping vines.

    Its fruit is a different case. Normally, banyan trees do not even have fruits. But this one has. The signature charcoal ck colour enveloping the rugged exterior of the elongated sphere shape can be considered as a substitute for small rocks and pebbles. It''s hard shell protects the juicy interior with overflowing sweetness that can easily take you to the verge of diabetes. The pale green squishy mass inside, housed the seed. Unlike its exterior, the seed is smooth as a polished stone, and is about the length of a centimetre.

    Foura Monkeys inhibit these trees, and a major portion of the middle region of the Folx forest. The name was gifted by someone ages ago, as this naughty and prankful creature had four arms! As a very social being, its interactions are always extreme. They are known for pranking and annoying other beings, regardless of its size and habitat. Its long tail is it''s major ally. With its help, you can see it pulling off stunts that even a trained acrobat struggles to do!

    Lee had finally entered this furry prankster''s list of prey. Though only about the size of a swan, its muscr strength coupled with the troublesome Needle Banyan fruit is painful. Anyone else would have ran away in pain, but Lee? These rugged fruits could not do anything to him. But it was indeed an annoyance to have something fall on you in a regr pattern. The frustration would only increase if you are aware that someone is deliberately doing it!

    ''D, can I just burn these apes and trees down?''

    [First of all, they are monkeys. Second, you can''t burn down a forest just because you are annoyed. If that is the case, the Chaos continent would have been reduced to ashes!]

    ''Then what am I supposed to do?''

    [Tolerate. Be happy that you alone are their target. Thedies might have a hard time with these four arms.]

    ''Wait!''

    Lee nced over his shoulder and saw the women talking to each other, as they followed him. Fero, next to Mia, was gradually getting brighter from all the pats from her.

    ''Why am I alone targeted?''

    [A specific category of intelligent beings have something called Intuition. They use it to find out the strongest among the bunch. Since you are the one taking lead, they will normally target you.]

    ''...really?''

    [Then what do you expect me to say? Some other hidden and mysterious skills?]

    ''No, why am i the only one being targeted?''

    [That''s something called Foolishness. All beings have it. It is just that it is expressed in different ways, in different situations.]

    ''No wonder. Tell me, what should I do in the meantime?''

    [How about->

    =====

    12 Midday.

    24861 Essence harvested.

    =====

 Chapter 103: Perrafin

    Chapter 103: Perrafin

    [About time!]

    ''You were about to say something.''

    [Yes. How about progressing the affinities? Now you have all of them!]

    ''I remembered about it when the notification came up. Do me a favour and bring up the Affinity panel.''

    As Lee asked, the affinity panel was brought up in front of him.

    =====

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12131/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15354/1000000)

    Medium Fire Affinity (136/10000)

    Medium Water Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (664/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (2375/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    Lesser Life Affinity (0/100)

    Lesser Time Affinity (0/100)

    =====

    Lee slowed down his pace a bit as he skimmed through the lines of information. D continued to describe about the effects and advantages of each affinity.

    [The more your proficiency in an element, higher will be your degree of control. You can understand it from the usage of lightning affinity. You canpress the lightning into a small sphere with lethality of disintegration, or make it go like wildfire and do an AOE damage.

    But poison affinity is a good example for reflecting your imagination in the element. The poison affinity varies it''s efficiency from numbing your opponent, to killing them at the first contact. You can only create poison which can numb your enemies, because you acquired the affinity from a Swamp Serpent, which relies on its poison to immobilise its prey.

    Once you acquire an affinity, you cannot change its characteristic function. If you need to alter its purpose, you need to achieve the Absolute grade of the affinity. The same goes with those born with an affinity. Since they do not have a system to help them progress, they tend to make very little improvement in the course of time.

    But there are exceptions. Some would dedicate themselves in, to such an extent that they will progress greatly in their path. Still, reaching the Greater grade is unheard of, and reaching the Absolute remains as a fantasy!

    You are lucky, for you have me! If cultivators and adventurers were to hear of the easiness you have in the progression, they would have a heart attack or will fall into an existential dilemma!]

    ''Stop praising yourse-''

    *Thuck*

    Lee was immersed in the conversation with D and his eyes were nted on the affinity panel. Thus, he failed to notice the tree in his path. Lee head on collided with the tree and it produced a noise. Lee came back to reality and rubbed his forehead. He did not look back and walked forward, as Rue and her friends wereughing.

    ''D, I can see two Lesser ones, nine Medium ones and seven Greater affinities in the panel. Use Essence to upgrade the Life and Time to Medium grade.''

    [Okay. Deducting 800 Essence. Since they are Life and Time, expect some diforts. They are rebellious in nature.]

    ''What-''

    Before Lee could finish, a pain assaulted his stomach. The sudden outburst of pain made him twitch, but he managed to tolerate it. Secondster, the pain vanished and everything came back to normal. Thedies did not find anything suspicious, but Fero did walk towards Lee. The hyena felt a sense of pain for a short moment, so it walked towards Lee.

    *rub rub*

    Fero came and rubbed Lee''s feet as he walked. Lee expressed his affection with pats and by caressing his mane. Thedies became silent for a moment as they watched them. They just came to realise that the falling fruits and naughtyughs of the monkeys have vanished.

    [Lee, something is in the vicinity. Probably a flying beast.]

    Lee immediately went alert as his senses went from 0 to 100 in an instant. He realised the silence that overpowered the monkeys and found the threat even more overpowering, as he nced at the Map.

    ''Is that a Griffin?''

    [Close. It''s a Perrafin. Something Griffins and even Swamp Serpents find threatening. The Foura Monkeys are delicious to it. Tell thedies to hide.]

    Lee waved his hands at An and gestured to stay silent. He also conveyed to stick to the shades of the trees. Luckily, the trees were tall and wide enough to provide enough shelter. Signalling Fero not to make any noise, he told him to follow as he tiptoed towards the trio. The antelope was sticking close to An.

    "It''s a Perrafin. That''s why the monkeys went silent."

    Lee spoke in a hushed voice. It was barely audible to the three. They heard what he said and nodded in agreement. They were all internally amazed to know that the terrorizing beast which silenced the monkeys were a Perrafin.

    ''D, tell me more about Perrafin.''

    [I don''t have to. It seems like it has caught the scent of humans in the forest.]

    Lee immediately notified this information to An. Mia, who heard this, unsheathed her katana as An pulled out her longsword. The de appeared in Lee''s palm. Poor Rue did not brandish a weapon, because she did not have one.

    ''D, I am giving you the task to upgrade the maximum number of affinities to Greater grade.''

    [Just emptied your Essence reserve forpletely upgrading fire element to Greater grade and raising the water element progress to 5119.]

    ''Hmm.... Tell me D, is there any advantage in using Mana to manipte elements than just simply using the affinity?''

    [Mana acts as an amplifier for damage and helps to control element with more precision. It is good to leash the bull than letting it go rampage!]

    Just as D paused, Lee''s heightened ears picked up wing ps above the trees. He can see the trees swaying by the enormous gust of wind. Luckily, the drooping vines of the trees acted as supportive anchors and went deep into the soil. It created a cage like structure, inside which An, Rue, Mia and Lee hid, along with Fero and the antelope.

    *points upward*

    Lee pointed upward and the eyes of the trio scanned the interior of the cage and saw a nce of the beast''s shing figure flying over the area.

    "I think it caught our scent."

    Lee spoke in a barely audible voice.

    "I have previously fought a Perrafin. I never knew that those beasts had such an acute sense of smell!"

    An hushlymented as she nced at the faces around her. They were surprised and the brows were raised.

    A specific set of wing beats could be heard, and Lee realised that the beast is trying to descend. The trio made themselves ready.

    *DHUM*

    A loud noise in a distance attracted their attention as the beast touched down. It''s massive size was unsuitable tond among the dense packed trees, so it found a rtively wide area tond. Surprising everyone, it did something intelligent!

 Chapter 104: Beat It To Submission

    Chapter 104: Beat It To Submission

    Serene pale blue pupils that sat inside ck eyeballs, on a face that resembled arger cat, scanned the surroundings. It''s short, but adorable jaws exposed a row of teeth ready to tear apart the prey. The pale pink coloured triangr nose at the tip of its snout was cute.

    An elegant S shaped neck decorated the head with a mane running behind it. The blowing wind caressed it. The front portion of the neck had a few grey fur that was arranged in an approximate shape of an upward pointing arrow. D reminded that the fur arrangement is unique to each Perrafin. Isted faint grey fur can be spotted on its coat randomly.

    Wellbed white fur covered its body and outlined it''s muscles. Its limbs resembled that of a tiger, but muchrger and longer. The non-retractable ws could easily rip apart a Swamp Serpent''s scales. The colour of the fur gradually changed to grey, towards its feet.

    The streamlined body came in with a pair of wings that originated from its neck. When unfolded, a single wing can reach upto 2 metres. The signature design of the wings were eye-catching. The feathers turn pale pink, pink and then suddenly shift to grey which deepens to be ck, as it touches the tip of the wing. Like a bat, it''s forearms and fingers can be traced by naked eyes, if given enough focus.

    The long tail was worth giving attention to. The tail itself was a few centimetres longer than the body. Thebed fur on the tail would give a pleasing death when being choked by it, Lee noted. Like the wing and the limb, the tail too had the distinct colour gradient!

    The beast that was as big as a sedan car, and as tall as 3 metres, stood still as it''s eyes pierced the surrounding. The sniffing nose can find the trace of humans, but it could not find any among the trees. Even if it folded the wings, it was difficult to pass through the dense trees. Considering the chances of ambush are not low, it decided not to take any risks. After a few scans, it did something unexpected.

    "Quickly, hide behind the trunk!"

    Lee almost yelled to hide behind the tree trunk as it bent it''s forelimbs and took a nce around it. The creaturemissed them by a fraction of a second, due to Lee''s enhanced senses and perception. The moment he saw it folding its knees, Lee almost cried out in astonishment.

    The Perrafin can now see beneath the leaves of the trees. It was a move even the most notorious predators might have note across. Lee had to apud the creature''s intelligence!

    *sniff sniff*

    It continued to sniff as it narrowed down the searching area. The Perrafin was now staring at a few trees around the one, behind which they were hiding.

    "An, should we attack or hide?"

    "I am not even slightly confident in defeating that flying monster. Maybe you can!"

    Lee asked for An''s advice, and got a reply. D from his inside, kept pushing to fight the beast.

    ''View.''

    Lee focused on the beast''s figure in the Map and uttered inside. The panel opened up and showed the information regarding Perrafin.

    =====

    Name: Perrafin.

    Age: 15 years.

    State: Hungry.

    Description: Passively territorial. Lone hunter. Intelligent. Flee at sight.

    ----------

    Health: 483

    Strength: 267

    Vitality: 262

    Agility: 386

    Defense: 243

    Endurance: 360

    Sense: 488

    Intelligence: 399

    =====

    Lee did not finish reading the information when another panel came up.

    =====

    Quest generated!

    ''Tame the Perrafin.''

    Reward: 2000 Essence, 2 attribute points, 1 Weapon Upgrade Token.

    Failure: Death.

    =====

    ''Why death?''

    [Because, if you did not tame it sessfully, then naturally, you will die by it.]

    *gulp*

    ''Got it.''

    Lee found himself in a win-win situation. If he tamed the beast sessfully, then he will get a free means of transportation. Thus, Lee resolved his mind to tame the beast.

    "If we keep hiding, it will track us all. I must fight it!"

    Lee said this and nced at the faces of the trio with confidence. He advised them to stay here, until hees back.

    ''D, shall we?''

    [After you!]

    Lee walked out of the shadow. Perrafin saw him emerging out, and was delighted as the prey had walked out himself. It would save it''s time searching for the human.

    Lee held the de in front of him and reflected the burning stars'' light onto the Perrafin''s face. The beast got enraged and growled in anger. Fero, who was with Rue, had an urge to stand out and defend Lee, but was silenced by Lee himself. He advised Fero not toe out, and conveyed that the opponent was muchrger, smarter and stronger than Fero!

    ''Let us test the beast!''

    Lee leaned forward and slid his left leg forward, and then, his right leg stepped ahead of it.

    The Perrafin and Lee stood about 56 metres apart, but Lee slowly closed in the distance, with his steady pace. The creature jumped up onto its leg and attained a stable and aggressive stance.

    *growling*

    The de continued to reflect daylight straight into its eyes, and the beast growled in anger. It''s tail vigorously moved around, signifying it''s active ill intent. But these disys did not threaten Lee.

    [If you are going to tease it too much, then you will fail the quest!]

    D sounded his opinion from inside. Lee promptly nodded and his de went inside the Inventory. Then, he extended his hands forth, and cracked the knuckles.

    Lee closed in on the beast and reached about 27 metres away from it. The trees became loosely packed and gave enough space to move around. Perrafin patiently waited for its prey to walk out of the trees.

    [What are you nning to do?]

    ''Beat it to submission!''

    Lee sprinted forward as he finished his sentence. His speed was lesser than the creature, but it was in shock to see its prey moving at shing speed. Before the Perrafin could take a step back or evade, Lee had reached in front of it.

    Witnessing the instantaneous eleration, Perrafin locked onto Lee and tried to bite him, but missed by a few inches. Lee did not stand idle as he hopped up with the momentum. His figure can be seen floating over the beast''s head. The time became slow and slower!

 Chapter 105: Upriser Class

    Chapter 105: Upriser ss

    Bright twin stars illuminated Utopia''s surface with great generosity. The light was casted on Lee, who can be seen floating, as he passed over Perrafin''s head. The beast made an attempt to bite him again, but missed the target due to theplicated twist of its head that was necessary to pull off.

    Let''s pause the moment for a second. Lee can be rted to an expert gymnast executing a stunt with grace, and eyes closed. His upside down figure slided a foot above the white fur. His arms extended to the sides, like the statue of ''Jesus the redeemer''. Within a second, his palms showered a torrent of lightning over the adorable killing machine!

    *ZZZ..*

    The bright white lightning running over the white fur made it twitch with incredible pain! The spasm it gifted made it fall on its belly. Like a fallen angel, it lied on the ground motionless, and a few twitching here and there. The grey eyelids protected the pale blue pupils inside the ck eyelids, and the exotic eyshes screamed out beauty, rivalling the likes of the queen Cleopatra!

    The mid-air front flip was followed by a typical heroding, where onended on a knee. It was connected to an immediate forward sprint to a few metres and a U-turn. Lee got into a boxing stance, as he keenly observed the being. Its tail still moving around could give away a whish!

    ''Dead?''

    [No, but you''ll probably soon be. Perrafins have an intrinsic affinity of lightning and air!]

    ''WHAT?! WHY DIDN''T YOU TELL ME EARLIER?!''

    [Because I want to see you improvising in your battles. What fun will I have if I give away all the weaknesses of the opponent to you?]

    ''You sick old man, I will deal with you after I tame this flying four legs!''

    [Take your time!]

    *sizzle*

    Faint sparks began to crackle on the white fur, as the bristles raised their heads. The tail came to halt as the body began to rise on the four legs. It took its sweet time to raise itself. The wings expanded and spread over the ground. Lightning ran towards the surroundings, and the beast turned it head to peer at Lee, over its shoulder.

    The pupils were no longer pale blue of serenity, but were green with rage. A gust of air escaped its nostrils as it exhaled. A mad bull might have been less terrifying than this Perrafin. Like a vicious predator, it slowly turned towards Lee, with its tail suspended over the ground centimetres apart.

    *growl*

    [There is a possibility that this might be ourst conversation.]

    Perrafin pushed its body forward with powerful hind-limbs and it shot at Lee like a rocket. Lee jumped left and right to evade it''s continuous bite streaks. Even with Foresight, Lee had a tough time evading the lethal jaws!

    ''I won''t make it alive if I continue to evade!''

    [No, don''t!]

    What D said was ignored, as the lightning condensed in Lee''s right palm. Lee evaded the attack once and like a p, the palm came and made contact with the beast''s forehead.

    *Whish*

    The palm delivered the pain, but the tail descended on Lee from his blindspot. It came down and hit him straight on his left shoulder.

    Both parties retreated in pain. The sound of grinding teeth and growling stagnated the air. Lee rubbed his left shoulder. He can feel the shoulder bone at the verge of dislocation.

    ''Not good. It''s stronger than it seems!''

    [That''s because of your lightning attack. Like King ss beings, there is this ss called ''Uprisers''. They are known for taking damage from an affinity simr to theirs, and rises above their prey. Undefeatable, unless you use the appropriate counteracting element.]

    ''You should give me an introduction about the beast sses. And tell me its counteracting element!''

    [Find it yourself.]

    ''Fricking meatball!''

    Lee rubbed his shoulder as he observed the beast. The palm strike was supposed to pacify it, but it seemed more enraged and strengthened. Lee took out his nunchuck. It hung in his left palm as he smirked the most evilest grin he had ever made!

    ''I will make sure you ARE tamed!''

    After rubbing his left shoulder and locating it back, while gritting his teeth, Lee changed the nunchuck into his right hand. He began to rotate it as it hung lifeless. As it picked up speed in rotation, Lee released Mana and activated Poison affinity. If lightning can''t numb it, he was hoping poison to execute the role!

    Sprinting at the Perrafin, Lee gripped his nunchuck. The beast felt an ominous feeling from the nunchuck, so it evaded the strike by jumping to its right. The nunchuck raised into air and the swing produced an upward force. The hit was targeted at its chin, but missed.

    Another whish weed Lee as he rose up into the air with the force. In mid-air, he had no way to evade it. Thus he took the strike head on. But unlike Perrafin''s expectation, Lee wrapped his left arm around the thinner part of the tail.

    ''RELEASE!''

    An enormous pressure erupted as the EsGen opened. The pure and powerfulw of lightning and thunder came forth and soaked both of them. The area around which they fought had rtively lesser trees, yet many exploded at the slightest touch of thew!

    *BZZZZTT.*

    Two motionless bodies fell on the ground. Violent spasms covered both of them as lightning ravaged them. Lee''s lightning immunity went up skyrocketing. He would have let the EsGen stay open, but D closed it, because prolonged exposure such pure power can kill even the most powerful people!

    Lee could not move an inch! He was as immobile as a wooden log. Perrafin, on the other hand, can be seen spasming even after the lightning was gone. Lee saw this and had a smile on his face saying, ''hahaha.gotchu!''.

    The trio and the four-legged friends wanted to run towards Lee, but the lingering lightning posed a great threat. After making sure that the troublesome energy ispletely dissipated, they rushed towards Lee.

    *rustle*

    Rustling voice of something brushing against the grass can be heard. But they did not notice Lee moving. Turning their heads, what they found as the source of the noise made them go pale!

 Chapter 106: Protector Gets Protected!

    Chapter 106: Protector Gets Protected!

    An unsheathed her longsword and held it before her. Mia was faster than her, as she held her katana ready to chop off the enemy. Rue took a few steps back in fear, while Fero bared his fangs against the winged mammal.

    ''How the hell is it standing up?''

    Lee could not move, but from how heid on the ground, he can see the whiplike tail moving away from his sight. Lee almost skipped a heartbeat when he saw the Perrafin standing up and putting up its guard.

    He wanted to stand up and defend hispanions, but not even his pinky could move. With his face pressing to the ground, he prayed for their survival. He channeled all of his strength, but D assured him that all of his attempts are futile.

    Perrafin was experiencing an intense headache. It felt disoriented. Thew fragment''s energy did not harm it, but overloaded it with enormous power. It is amon standard that too much of anything, be it ambrosia, can be lethal. But this theory did not apply to Perrafins.

    With wobbling legs, it somehow took stance. Seeing Lee lying on the ground motionless, it felt ecstatic. The beast can tell that these humans can never even touch it''s fur. But it did not let its confidence take over. With caution and a splitting pain, it stepped sideways.

    Rue found the Perrafin regrly shaking its head as a sign of disorientation. She recalled the lightning rampage that made even Lee go numb. She softly conveyed her findings to Mia and An. This piece of information helped them to muster their courage to an extent. Though notpletely confident, An was ready to put her life on the line to save her husband, and Mia wanted to save her brother!

    *rustle*

    Mia slid her left leg forward and leaped at the beast. Perrafin, with the pain haunting it, could not urately aim its paw at Mia. An saw this inability and charged forward. The towering beast found itself unable to fly up as its wings were temporarily out of order. But, it found another use of it, as it began to twirl from where it stood. The wings lifted up from ground and gave them trouble closing in.

    The Perrafin soon regretted this decision. Previously, it was able to stand up, at least wobbly. Now, it witnessed the whole world going upside around it. With iprehension and perplexity, the actions became disordered and chaotic.

    =====

    1 P.M.

    24861 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Essence reserve depleted. 3327 progress points left to go.]

    ''.....''

    [Be a good boy and lie down. Let me watch the strength of those you protected till now.]

    ''You can see them fighting?''

    [Of course, I can. I am only a wisp of soul, but a powerful one. So I can sense my surroundings and detect the motions.]

    ''Mind doingmentary?''

    [NO!]

    ------------------------------------

    *sh*

    *whish*

    The katana and the longsword flew in the air restlessly. They grazed the thick defense of the beast and relentlessly wore it down. The Perrafin longed for some rest to recover, but An and Mia did not leave it peaceful for a second!

    The organised attacks pissed off the beast to its core. Mia avoided the neck, head and torso, and concentrated on its limbs. Due to the katana''s length and characteristic shape, it was suitable for shing continuously, and was perfect to wound the four sturdy limbs.

    An aimed her longsword at the beast''s torso and neck, as it''s length and speciality was apt for dealing with more tougher parts. The de shone with the pink hue, which made Mia raise her brow in appreciation. The de''s vibration osciting at a very high rate, was sessful in bleeding the Perrafin. It''s pink blood soon flowed down onto it''s fur, and signalled the broken defense.

    *GRAAaaaa.*

    The continuous poking of the fast vibrating longsword de and restless brushing of katana eventually brought agony. Rue slowly pulled Lee out of the battlefield. The nonresponsive log was difficult to pull, but she did it. The Perrafin, which was slowly re-orienting itself, regardless of all the scars and injuries, found the swords utterly annoying. A rather urate set of attacks took off, but still missed the target. Though the beast is capable of biting the swords to two, the neck could not keep up with the swords'' airborne velocity.

    *huff.huff.huff.*

    An was showing signs of fatigue, while Mia was panting between her breaths. Fighting an overpowering, yet disoriented beast for more than 30 minutes was indeed tiring. They could have fought longer, but the beast wouldn''t just sit idle. It was moving and twirling in the most unpredictable way. So the major portion of energy spent by An and Mia were used to correct their steps and movements. And due to that, they were lucky enough to not be brushed by the Perrafin''s tail.

    *thud*

    Finally, the beast fell on its side. The wings expanded in an attempt to bnce, but ended up in vain. The white fur with pink blood smeared on it, looked like a beautiful and random design. This behaviour made An go vignt, as it previously exhibited a higher level of intelligence. Mia wanted to thrust her katana deep into the beast''s underbelly, but An stopped her. Cautiously, Mia and An tiptoed towards the Perrafin.

    *gesturing*

    *nod*

    An signalled Mia to round the beast. She gestured not to kill or further wound it, but to always be on guard. Mia nodded in response and moved towards the beast''s head. An stepped towards the immobile tail. Slowly and steadily, they walked around the beast. The Perrafin lied there, heavily panting. Its stomach rose up and down quickly. The proud lone hunter''s head lied on its side. Heavy gusts of breaths vigorously escaped its nostrils.

    *gurrr.*

    The beast slowly raised its eyelids and nced at Mia. It realised its helplessness as it saw the katana held before her. After making a loud purr, it gave out a sigh. Mia felt its reluctance to fight anymore, and An carefully walked past its tail, heading towards its torso. Due to countless battle experiences, she was able to sense its difort in further fighting. As she reached in front of its underbelly, she lowered its sword and poked it hind-limb. The beast squirmed and stretched the leg that got poked. An nced at Mia and signalled to lower the de, while slowly taking a few steps backward. She promptly did so.

    Lee can now move to a good extent, but not perfectly. Rue supported him to stand up, and he limped towards the beast. He tried to support himself on his legs, but found it slightly troublesome. Thus, he decided to sit down for a moment. Cross-legged, he channeled his breath deep into his lungs and exhaled it. A few repetitions and a new found energy bloomed inside Lee. He jumped up in a single leap, without exhibiting any signs or weariness. Rue enquired how he feels, and his answer was satisfactory to her. After thanking his sister for taking care of him, Lee walked to the beast lying in the ground. Hearing the footsteps of the troublesome among the bunch, the Perrafin climbed on its feet.

 Chapter 107: The Peacedeed

    Chapter 107: The Peace''deed''

    Mia and An stepped backward and their swords were drawn again. Guard stances were attained, but the beast simply ignored them. Mia and An could only frown as the beast turned its back on them. Instead, it focused on its formidable opponent. The Perrafin struggled to stand on its feet, but was not trembling anymore. Its resolve was reflected in its pale blue eyes. D notified him that the Upriser ss beings can only empower themselves with the affinity, if it were attacked by the same element.

    Rue took a few steps back as Lee gestured. He bent himself slightly to his forward. His palms faced the ground and conveyed his vignce. The beast growled for a bit, but did not emit any hostility. Perhaps it was because it found Lee and his less powerfulpanions troublesome, the Perrafin positioned itself a distance from the party. An and Mia joined Lee and stood guard to Rue. When it was showing its reluctance to fight, the beast''s stomach growled out loud.

    *squirm*

    The growling of the stomach could be heard, but the pain it provided was only felt by the beast. It squirmed for a second, and then nced at the humans. Fero, who was standing on the sidelines, was intelligent enough to evaluate itself powerless in front of the Perrafin. The beast caught the hyena in its sight, but did not attempt to attack. The stomach growled again, and the beast took a step backward. Its movements notified D that it is trying to escape.

    [The Perrafin is trying to leave, you stupid idiot. Give him some meat to make it stay, or you will fail the quest!]

    ''Oh damn!''

    Lee hadpletely forgotten about the quest. As the beast took one more step backward, Lee remembered his Essence reserve depleted. Without seeking D''s advice, He pulled out a Spotted Bush Deer from his EsGen storage. It was inside his EsGen since the time he went to hunt down the bandits.

    The sudden appearance of the Deer made it hesitant to take another step. The EsGen had messed with its mobility. But the sheer predatory sense of the Perrain can detect the freshness of the Deer. Sparkling eyes locked onto the prey, which was only the size of a 40" television. Lee found it amusing, as he moved the deer from his left to right and the beast followed it.

    The actions were reversed, and the Perrafin took a step forward. Noticing the loud growls of its stomach, and its drooling mouth, Lee can tell that it will certainly pounce on the deer. So he threw it towards the beast. The deer, unbeknownst of the impending death, drew an arc in the air. The Perrafin did not let it to be soiled, as it received the deer with its mouth.

    *crunch crunch crunch*

    The noise of breaking bones resonated in the air as the deer went down the throat of the Perrafin in a gulp. A moment of relief surfaced on the face of the Perrafin as it savoured the taste. Realising the situation, it peered at Lee for more. The beast courageously stepped forth a few steps and halted as it stared at Lee, conveying its need. Lee had no other way, than to give it a couple more deers as food.

    Disappointed! Completely disappointed! Fero, who was previously baring his fangs at the beast, had a nk expression now. It sat on the ground and nkly nced at Lee and the Perrafin. All the time he was with Lee, he was not fed any of such juicy fresh meat. ncing at An an Mia, who were lowering their guard, Fero simply conveyed his discontent in Lee''s behaviour. His eyes reflected the soul of a betrayed being!

    *nomnomnom*

    The Perrafin no longer resounded hostility, but was getting familiar with the party. Fero came walking towards Lee, and gave a nce at the beast. The towering beast scoffed inside, and gulped down the churned meat. Blood dripped from its mouth, and onto the grass below it. As the hyena walked past it, the antelope came running towards An. The Perrafin caught a nce of it, and found its delicate figure alluring, but was distracted by Fero''s growling.

    *burp*

    The Perrafin gave out a sudden burp and it jolted Fero. The antelope leaped with its life at risk and reached An. Fero turned his head and nced at Lee withplete discontent.

    ''I have something better for you!''

    Lee was hoping to console Fero so that he wouldn''t turn rebellious. Taking his bipedal buddy''s word for it, the hyena took a few steps back and sat on the ground. His eyes were still stered in the beast''s face.

    [The beast has eaten sufficiently, so it will leave soon. Do something to tame it!]

    D sounded his argument to Lee, but he had no idea what to do. Fero was a special case when he tamed it. But this Perrafin?

    ''So be it!''

    Lee took a step forward. He was not cautious. Gesturing An and Mia to sheathe their sword, Lee took one more step towards the beast. Letting out a deep sigh, he stared into Perrafin''s eyes. The beast felt a sense of tranquility from Lee. It stared back at his eyes without any motion. Silence enveloped them as it gracefully closed its eyelids. The enviably attractive eyshes kissed each other and opened up again.

    Lee had reached near it. The absence of hostile intentions assured the beast of the safety of the surroundings. Looking down, it saw Lee standing in front of it, with his right arm extended. His palm facing the sky was bright with the daylight. The pale blue eyes showed signs of surprise seeing his palm. The Perrafin nced at Lee and his hand repeatedly.

    =====

    2 P.M.

    24350 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Staring at the iprehensible face of the beast, D inquired about the amount of Essence harvested, after he sacrificed a number of deers.

    [24350 Essence were collected. Do you want to use it for elemental progress?]

    ''No, drop that process. Let''s amass Essence for a while.''

 Chapter 108: Beast Takes Initiative

    Chapter 108: Beast Takes Initiative

    Fero came forward and peeked to see what was happening. But he could not go beyond 3 steps, as Mia pulled him back by his tail. He took it as a cue to stay dormant. He sat where he stood and calmly waited for whatever was supposed to happen, to happen.

    The Perrafin was getting the point of Lee''s action. It can summarise his action as a peace treaty. With thoughts wildly running in mind, it fiddled it''s right forelimb. After reaching a conclusion while making Lee wait for 4 minutes, the Perrafin showed slight hesitation as it raised its forelimb. It was also confused whether this action was appropriate in response.

    Silently and smoothly, the right forelimb moved and ced itself on Lee''s palm. Lee deduced that the visually slender leg was actually housing some real mass. It''s muscr outline and chiseled shape, along with the sharp and curved ws, was supported by a rough skin which was in contact with his palm.

    Though there was no hostility, Lee can hear its eyes sharp and alert. Theck of pinna were substituted by arger ear canal, protected by ayer of thick fur. Lee caught a nce of the aforementioned ear canals through the fur. The two dark holes a few centimetres beside the eyes can be easily mistaken as another set of eyes.

    [The beast is wounded. To earn its faith, heal its wounds.]

    ''Which element?''

    [Figure out yourself!]

    Lee did not respond, but went into thoughts. The next second, Lee raised his left palm and ced it over the beast''s forelimb. The Perrafin immediately retracted its limb in vignce. But Lee opened his palm and showed that there was nothing inside it. Noticing zero hostility as it stood with its retracted paw dangling in front of its chest, Lee extended his palm expecting the paw in response. With reluctance, it hesitantly extended its paw and ced it over his palm. Lee slowly extended his left hand and gestured friendliness.

    ''Here we go!''

    30 Mana was deducted from his stats, as a tingling sensation crept up Perrafin''s leg. The unfamiliar sensation made it put up its guard, but since it did not sense any ill intent, the beast tolerated the tickly prickling sensation creeping up on it. A faint presence of something invisible climbing up urged Perrafin to pull its limb, because Life affinity was colourless, so was pure Mana!

    The sensation reached its neck and it immensed its w into Lee''s palm, while twitching. The ws did press into his hand, but couldn''t make him bleed. Bright red w marks left on his palm left as evidence for its attempt. The Perrafin nced at his palm unsurprised, as it could tell that Lee had defense rivalling its strength.

    *pak pak pak*

    Perrafin stood with a nk expression, as it could not control its tail helplessly swinging all around it. The sensation had reached its lower torso, and it triggered this reaction. Beast tried to pacify the vigorous tail whipping, but ended up partially sessful. The tail then all of a sudden twitched onest time and fell motionless on the ground.

    Though Perrafin''s tail is its main ally, it had to turn its head to look at it, to evaluate what had happened. Sensing that the tail is not severed in any way, it turned to look at Lee. But as it turned, its sight got caught on an interesting sight!

    Brows rose up to the sky as it witnessed its wounds being healed at a very fast rate. The pink blood spilled on the fur had disappeared in one blink. The cuts on the skin vanished without leaving any evidence. Most importantly, the residual fatigue waspletely removed. The Perrafin felt reborn!

    It stared at Lee with all the amazement written over its face. D congratted him for sessfully pulling off the trick and assuming the correct element. Lee responded in an unfriendly manner, and I quote-

    ''Just wait, you formless rusty piece of impolite intangibility!''

    Lee let go of its forelimb as he lifted his left arm. His right palm still supported the being''s limb. Noticing his merciful action, the Perrafin retracted its paw. Lee sensed a smile on that cat-like face, which he did not take into matter. Stepping back, he handed over the result determining, to fate!

    *gnum gnum*

    The Perrafin produced a weird sound, and slowly moved towards Lee. It lowered its head and brought it towards him. As he was wondering its intentions, its triangr nose touched against his forehead.

    ''....''

    A strange, but somehow familiar sensation passed into Lee''s head. He assumed what the action is and acknowledged the connection. As he closed his eyes, a faint white light could be seen in his mind. Lee did not feel hostility and deduced that the Perrafin is trying to make a bond. He epted the symbolic request and a bond was formed between them.

    A moment of silence and the beast retracted its head. It took a few steps backward and anxiously stared at Lee, who was still standing with his eyes closed. It took a couple of seconds for him to open his visual windows, but he was astonished by what he sensed in those seconds!

    A tall and prideful hunter stood in front of him. Though his eyes were closed, Lee could see with the newly formed bond. Its outline was vague, but the energy circting inside it was bright as a day. Theplexwork of blood vessels, which also carried the magical energy and its vitality, was a sight to behold. One thing that caught his attention was the non-existent physical ears of the beast. He did not see something like that on its physical body, but he was looking at its tall and erect ears at the moment. It was made up of white lines of vitality, and resembled of some spiritual objecttched onto its head. It majestically stood on its head, which was barely outlined. The facial features were barely visible, except its eyes, which werepletely ck.

    There were a few more details that caught his attention, but D reminded that he was standing like an idiot, with eyes closed. He also advised to open his eyes, so that the Perrafin does not find him stupid. Heeding the words, Lee exposed his hazel brown pupils.

 Chapter 109: Another Peaceful Ending

    Chapter 109: Another Peaceful Ending

    [By the way, you are only eligible for getting 2000 Essence. The bond was initiated by the Perrafin, so it cannot be said that you tamed it. Thus the two attribute points and one Weapon Upgrade Token are gone!]

    *sigh*

    ''Okay!''

    [....]

    Unlike D expected, Lee did not pounce on him. He stepped forth and caressed its fur. The beast purred like a spoiled beast. The trio was clueless as to what happened. Fero, on the other hand, peered at Lee and Perrafin repeatedly. He assumed the chance of forming a bond, which could not be discarded.

    ''The wild is all about survival. It may have fought many and killed many, but this is possibly the first time meeting a being of equal caliber. So rather than continuing to fight, it had an option to form a non-violence treaty with me. When I healed the Perrafin''s wound, it''s intelligence deduced that I am a being worth colluding with. So it initiated the bond. D, am I wrong!?''

    [That''s a precise and concise evaluation. Let me add something with what you said. Perrafins are being with great loyalty. Though lone hunters, once it forms a pack with another Perrafin, the trouble is literally tripled! They are not opportunist, as you assume. They are naturally so.]

    Lee sensed a number of eyes piercing his back, so he turned around and introduced them to the beast. He gave a brief introduction about the Perrafin, which contained more than enough information about it. The trio sighed as they carefully stepped towards Lee. The antelope was not courageous enough to expose itself to the lone hunter. Fero, which was Lee''s first familiar, tried to make himself clear to the beast, and got ruthlessly ignored. The hyena growled in anger, but Lee intervened and made things clear between them. He asked assurance from both sides that a friction would not ur.

    "I think-"

    *growls*

    Lee opened his mouth to state his opinion at the moment, but his own stomach growled louder than him! He immediately became the target of six pairs of eyes. Unbeknownst to them, D wasughing maniacally inside Lee''s mind. The overall atmosphere made him feel embarrassed. So, without a second thought, he took out the pic mat that was stored in his Inventory.

    As the group witnessed, Lee knelt near the mat and brought out 9 Honey Bread loaves and 9 bottles of Horned-Mow Milk. He did not forget to stack 4 kilos of Rain Rabbit''s raw meat next to the mat, as he took Perrafin''s presence into consideration.

    Setting up the lunch, Lee did a good job covering up his embarrassment. It only took him a few seconds to forget about that incident, as he became absorbed in arrangement. The setup was a stranger to the Perrafin, but the stacked raw meat pulled it closer. Seeing the hyena closing in on the meat stack, it deduced that those are for consuming, and probably contains its share too. The wings folded and came closer to its torso as it extended its neck to snatch a bite. Fero saw this intervention and wanted to growl and make a fuss, but remembered his words of assurance given to Lee. So he silently decided to tolerate the meat-gobbling being''s existence. A few bites and almost half a portion of the total meat had vanished!

    The Perrafin sensed angry stares rising from Fero. Without inciting anger any further, it turned towards the mat. The puffy loaves and the serenely flowing milk caught its curiosity. As it neared them, Rue saw the curious beast. She concealed her trembling as she extended a bread loaf to the beast. The smell was notpletely to its liking, but it gave a pleasant feeling to the Perrafin. An, who sat on the mat with her back facing the beast, saw a shadow being cast on her, as the beast bit on the loaf. It slid down its throat effortlessly and disappeared without a sound.

    The taste was to its liking, but it did not exhibit it, as it could count the number of loaves left on the mat. A full bottle of milk also went into its tummy, which gave it the most pleasant sensation it had ever savoured. The count caught its sight and it had to helplessly gulp down the drool. Lee, with his keen senses, noticed its microexpressions and deduced the reason. Since the Honey Bread loaves only cost 1 Essence and the Horned-Mow Milk cost mere 3 Essence, Lee brought another dozen of bread loaves, and bottles of milk. You should have seen the beast brightening up like sunshine!

    ----------

    =====

    3 P.M.

    24350 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Oh, 3 already?''

    [What did you expect? 10 in the morning?!]

    ''Chill man. Just bring up the status panel.''

    [Theplete one, or?]

    ''Theplete status.''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 4197

    Essence: 50552 (3 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Spouse: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+), Perrafin (+).

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 0/1100

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie level

    Mana: 48332

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6710/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2411/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15358/1000000)

    Greater Fire Affinity (0/1000000)

    Medium Water Affinity (6673/10000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (664/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (2375/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (11998/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Life Affinity (23/10000)

    Medium Time Affinity (0/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1191/10000)

    ----------

    Skills:-

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - F (0/5)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

    ''Wait...how did my Fame increase over 4000?''

    [While you were fighting with no idea about the surroundings, Foura Monkeys were watching the battle. Even now, they are baffled by the unpredicted ending.]

    Lee peeked at the Map and saw many green dots surrounding them, almost in the shape of a circle. Sneaking a peek, he found the tree tops filled with innumerous four armed monkeys, blended into the dense foliage. The monkeys wanted toe down and snatch the bread loaves, but the very presence of the Perrafin kept them at bay. The beast had already recognised their presence, but did not do anything as they are not posing any threat. Itid right behind Lee, and he leaned onto its furry torso.

    "Haaaa...."

    It was a sigh, but the sound it resonated signified relief. An and Mia nced at Lee, who had a very pleased and relieved countenance. Rue gave Leepany as she leaned onto its fur dly. The two left, did not waste any time sitting on the mat as they also found peace andfort on the cotton-like fur. It was needless to say that Fero had forgotten about his seniority, in the coziness as it cuddled to the antelope.

 Chapter 110: Pzy & Cultivation

    Chapter 110: Pzy & Cultivation

    *ding*

    =====

    4 P.M.

    24350 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee slowly raised his head and nced around. The women were peacefully sleeping against the fluffy fur. An was right next to him, and her hands had coiled around his right arm. Mia and Rue slept side by side, and the antelope snuggled between them. Fero found coziness on the Perrafin''s rolled up tail.

    The beast sensed motion and opened his eyes and turned its head around. Seeing Lee awake, it was about to move, when Lee gestured not to, and pointed at the sleepy heads surrounding it. It nodded andid its head back on the ground, and closed the eyes. He tried not to move, as he could wake up An. Lying back silently, Lee called for D.

    ''How does the surroundings look?''

    [All the monkeys have gone back to their usual lives. The premise is safe.]

    ''Brief me about the uing cultivation hurdles.''

    [As I said before, higher the grade of affinity, higher will be the result of your Elemental Binding realm cultivation. Since the impending dangers are unfathomably exponential, you must achieve Absolute grade in each and every affinity.

    After the Elemental Binding, you can use your Qi with each affinity. Like Mana, the Qi reserve will be used. From that moment onwards, the affinity attributed attacks will be greatly pacified. Because any innate affinity usage without Mana or Qi will put a burden on your soul for the next three cultivation realms; that are Nascent Soul, Soul Condensation, Soul Transformation and Soul Manifestation realms. So I advise you to refrain from such activities at that time.

    Nascent Soul is about forming a ''soul'' for your affinity. It is like a sprouting seed, which has barely gotten exposed to daylight. That soul will be a part of you, and can have a consciousness which is subservient to your being. To nurture a soul is no simple matter, and neither I nor the system can help you with that. You will have to do it manually. Don''t worry about the existence of the system. It will be concealed from the affinity souls.

    This small sprout after enough caring and nurturing, will grow into arger, but weaker version of the initial soul. The condensation of the soul is very necessary as it can dissipate when left loosely packed. The condensation is also a slow and thorough process, where no shortcuts or catalysts should be introduced. The extent of condensation will determine the soul''s potency. Some cultivators would force their life out to condense, which will result in the opposite of what they have been expecting. Some would find a temporary boost in the potency, which will decline greatly after a few years, and there is also a chance for the soul to be disintegratedpletely. Once an affinity soul is gone disintegrating, it is lost forever. But it is possible to recultivate the affinity soul by depleting a n''s entire treasury. I meant that it cost an insane amount of money and resources, along with time and possible risks.

    The soul has the innate imprint of the respective affinity. Yet, it still needs to be introduced to an immense amount of the affinity for an extensive period of time. This process goes on in the Soul Transformation realm. The affinity soul will show 9 signs in the course of its affinity consumption. Each sign will mentally notify the cultivator that the soul has gone past the respective stage, and it is his/her cue to break-through the same numerical sub realm. Not everyone follows the same order. Some would umterge quantities of resources for the time being, and will do a continuous break-through spree, after the soul exhibits all the 9 signs. Either way, it is necessary to provide an amount of Qi for the sustenance of the soul, as it gets tired after each achievement.

    At the end of the Soul Transformation, the affinity soul would havepletely matured. The power level of a matured soul is partially upto the nurturing and condensation of the soul, and the other half goes to how much affinity it gets to feed. After maturing, the soul will show urges to go out of the consciousness ne. This is the cue to break-through to the Soul Manifestation realm.

    Soul Manifestation, as the name implies, is about the external materialisation of the affinity soul. The soul must cultivate alongside the cultivator, to achieve sub realm break-throughs. All the umted urge to deploy affinity empowerment on your weapons and yourself can be experimented here. This will only benefit the soul as it gets ustomed with both the inside and the outside of the cultivator. This can also decrease the transition time between both sides. More proficient cultivators can materialise the affinity soul in a blink of an eye, and sometimes in style.

    Your case is an extreme exception. I have heard from double and triple affinity cultivators that simultaneously taking more than one on a journey is troublesome. Since you have opposing elements like fire and water, and death and life, you have to keep a bnce between them. The opposing elements can tear each other and can cause harm to the cultivator''s true soul, while possibly disintegrating one or both of the affinities. Spar with the affinity souls in your consciousness ne, as they mature. It will help you to keep them obedient and orderly, while increasing the bond strength.]

    ''Then the Essence is the resource in my case, isn''t it?''

    [Yes, Essence will act as the resource. You can have as many Qi you want, if you have ample Essence. But if I am to say my opinion, feeding Essence directly to the soul will do greater good because of its purity.]

    Lee diverted his thoughts onto the possible appearances of the affinities. D heard his thoughts and gave him answers.

    [The affinity souls,monly called as ''Pzy'' among the cultivators, can only be called so, when it is able to manifest outside the cultivator. The color of a Pzy depends on innumerous factors, but it ultimately acquires a colour that finds suitable to the cultivator''s true soul and the affinity, while considering the aforementioned factors. So how it turns out, ispletely up to the cultivator.]

    -------

    A few more dialogues and the next hourly reminder came popping up.

    =====

    5 P.M.

    24350 Essence harvested.

    =====

 Chapter 111: Departure From The Forest

    Chapter 111: Departure From The Forest

    "Okay! Lets resume our journey."

    Lee stood up in one jump and said out loud. The Perrafin quickly followed his lead. An, Mia, Rue, Fero and the antelope had no other option as they raised themselves, still yawning. They rubbed their eyes and inspected around and found the heat of the day declined. Lee noticed them peering at the sky, and responded ordingly.

    "It is 5 in the evening."

    Rue was surprised to know that they had slept for so long. Mia appreciated Perrafin''s smooth andforting fur while An checked about her longsword. Fero came near Lee and sat as he awaited for further instructions.

    ''D, where is the south?''

    [Your back is facing the south. And you are 7 kilometres away from the nearest settlement.]

    Lee took a U-turn and conveyed the information. The trio was actually surprised to see the Perrafin nodding in agreement. The beast stepped forward and lowered its torso, as it made a weird noise with a head gesture.

    *gnum gnum*

    From the visual and auditory conveyance, Lee deduced that the beast was offering a ride.

    "This Perrafin wants to give us a ride."

    Lee spoke as he neared the beast. Without a second thought, Lee climbed onto its back, and sat near to its tail. The seating was perfect for him, As it can be considered as the back of a slightlyrger horse. Rue initially hesitated, but soon made up her mind and got on it. Mia jumped and gave Rue apany. An saw this and shook her head with a smile. She was happy to see this family consisting of a couple and two sisters. As she climbed onto the Perrafin''s back, Mia gave space and signalled An to sit in front of Lee. The antelope hopped onto Rue''sp, and Fero found stability at the front most seat, where he hung his legs free as he used the beast''s neck for seating.

    Fero in the front, on the beast''s neck. Mia right behind it, and Rue behind her, with the antelope in herp. An and Lee sat secure at the back most position. Then, a slight difort arose.

    The female outfit did not allow them to sitfortably. After a few seconds of seating, the beast felt them squirming and moving as they tried to adjust their postures. Unknown to them, the Perrafin itself was having trouble with all the load on its back. The legs started to wobble, the body shook and lost the bnce and its underbelly kissed the ground.

    *thud*

    Lee jumped out of the beast''s back as he realised the situation. He came near its head and saw the pain in its eyes. He felt sympathetic, and came up with an idea.

    ''D, you said that Perrafin''s have affinity with lightning and air?''

    [Yes. Why?]

    Without bothering to give a reply, Lee condensed a mass of Mana in his palm and air twirled inside the ball. Before D could understand what he was meaning to do, he pressed the sphere into the beast''s body. The Mana slowly dissipated as the air went into its fur. Within a second, the being felt itself lighter. The legs supported the load of three women and two four-legged animals effortlessly. He nce at An, who was having trouble with the seating and spoke-

    "Sit with both legs on the same side."

    An understood the solution and sat as he said. Rue and Mia found themselves secure and safe as they followed her lead. Within a few seconds, the trio attained afortable and much refreshing seating. Fero slid a couple of centimetres down to its torso, and decreased the strain on its neck.

    "But what about you, brother?"

    ''Flight!''

    Mia sounded her concern and a smile appeared on his face. Within a few seconds, his body slowly rose up and levitated above the ground. Fero and the antelope were visibly surprised, as they have not seen him use this skill before. As the Perrafin noticed Lee, he was floating above the ground, and was slowly rising upward.

    "I have tricks up my sleeve, little sister."

    Saying this, he rose upward and moved towards the south. He nced over his shoulder and gave a wink at the surprised Perrafin, which realised that it is its cue to fly with him. The beast gave a warning to the boarded passengers, as it bent its legs to take a leap into the sky. They had nothing else to hold onto, other than its fur. Without angering the beast, the trio held onto the fur.

    *whish*

    A single p of the wings and the beast rose into the sky. It adjusted the direction and tailed Lee. Within a dozen of seconds, it closed the distance. Lee saw this over his shoulder, and a racing spirit bloomed in his heart. But he had to say no to it, as there are people on the Perrafin''s back, people dear to Lee.

    The sight of Folx forest from an aerial view was not a stranger for the beast. Lee was already somewhat ustomed with the forest''s topography. But for Mia, An, Rue and the four-legged friends, it was a visual feast. They enjoyed the scenery as the twin stars still had some time before intercepting the horizon. The antelope, which has never been airborne, was trembling as Miaforted it with pats and belly rubs.

    The Foura Monkeys witnessed their ascension, and watched them till they disappeared from their sight. The silence that enveloped those vertebrates came off detached, as a monkey made ament in their dialect. Followed by thement, the atmosphere became chaotic. As the noise died down, the elder monkeys had conveyed a wise decision that they should remember the faces of those humans, so that they can avoid pulling pranks on them in any manner.

    -----

    With the daylight enough to illuminate the objects at a distance, Lee saw the multitude of viges situated around a fortifiedrge city. The entrances of the fortress were through the viges, so the residents acted as the security guards as they dwelled. From 3 kilometres away, Lee noticed a turquoise blue coloured g. The lemon yellow eagle beak embedded on the deep green pentagon felt very familiar, but he couldn''t just pinpoint where he had seen that before.

    A secondter, his eyes went wide as his altitude dropped drastically. He came to a sudden halt as his feet made a thud with the ground. They were a little away from the carriage road, and the road was luckily empty at the moment.

    Lee, dropping down suddenly, alerted the Perrafin. It came round about and descended next to it. As the trio and Fero stared at Lee, the cursed and crumbled pile of bones shed in front of his eyes!

 Chapter 112: "Your Sins Are Forgiven"

    Chapter 112: "Your Sins Are Forgiven"

    "What happened, brother?"

    Mia touched the ground as the Perrafin came to a halt. She jumped out of its back and came at him. Her voice carried concern for her brother.

    "Nothing. I cannot fly for a long time, and thus had to descend. I think I can walk since we are out of the forest."

    Lee decided not to share the info about the almost disintegrated remains of unknown soldiers. And since he cannot derive any conclusions at the moment, D advised to lie to them. Fortunately, the trio was not able to sense the microscopic changes on his face.

    "Then we can walk from here. I think I almost saw something in the distance."

    Ruemented as she got down from the back of the Perrafin. An joined her as the antelope jumped down and followed her. Fero was reluctant, but seeing everyone on the ground, he had no other option.

    "Okay. Then we can walk."

    Lee conveyed the matter to the beast. It slightly nodded and Lee turned around to walk towards the road. Upon entering the brown stretch of road that was formed by innumerous carriage rides, Lee stepped forward towards the fortress. Mia and Fero walked side by side to Lee, and An and Rue took the lead of the convoy.

    The Perrafin, which has never been near the human settlements, had an uneasy feeling. Lee sensed it''s difort, but D told to console it and strengthen its tolerance through regr human interaction. He also added not to store the beast inside the EsGen, as the time that it spends with Lee and the party will be beneficial to it.

    ---------

    "Is that a-"

    *gasps*

    "I think it is a Perrafin!"

    Lee, who did not know why the vigers were talking about the beast, was vignt. Upon entering a vige that simultaneously acts as the fortress gate, Lee found his party being a target of many pairs of eyes. A few mediocre carriages that went past them halted and its passengers poked the head out to see the voracious predator.

    "Halt!"

    As An and Rue led the team towards the fortress, a loud voice came from their left. They halted and nced to where they heard the voice. Rue assumed the man in armour walking towards them as the origin of the shout. Holding a spear, and having a sheathed sword in his waist, the man stood blocking their path and spoke-

    "Who are you? State your intentions!"

    Mia nced at An and Rue as they nced back at her and Lee. The Perrafin did not show any signs of hostility, and had a nk face. The short growl Fero produced, made the man catch the sight of the lone hunter. A sweat drop flowed down his neck as Lee detected him trembling.

    "We do not have any ill intentions. We are a group of wanderers."

    By now, the vigers had begun to crowd around them. The beast stood as a major attraction, as many have only heard of the wless hunter in the stories and folktales. One naughty person tried to touch it''s tail, to which it responded-

    "Grrrrr"

    *pat pat*

    Lee patted the beast as it made a threatening sound. The crowd unconsciously took a step backward as they heard the growling. The guards, who were also the residents of the vige, took vignce and precaution as they distanced themselves from the beast.

    "Is that beast yours?"

    Visibly, the guard was a little more decorated than the usual ones. He had a headgear, which was unseen with the other guards. Apart from him, no one had two weapons. The man thrusted the spear into the ground and stood with arms crossed. His expression was not weing.

    "Yes, it is. This Perrafin is mine."

    Lee gave an appropriate answer to the guard, as he stared into the very soul of the man. He felt a strange sensation and took a scan of Lee top to bottom. After finding him unarmed and inpany with three gorgeous women, the guard smirked and moved out of the way, and let them pass.

    "Looks like the people are not so warmhearted."

    Mia spoke as they went past the guard. Her eyes skimmed over the sturdy fortress and reached the soldiers, who were staring at them intensely. Mia felt ufortable and tried to reach for her katana, but Lee tapped her hand and gestured ''No''. He pacified her worries and patted her head.

    "Always stay calm. We are strangers to them."

    Lee nced at the Perrafin and gave amand to stay close to Mia, and watch over the other two. Then he overtook An and Rue,and took the lead. Fero came next to him, and he was also given amand to watch out for hostility, while keeping an eye on the trio.

    The fortress was simr to the city of Yeuvis by the exterior. The presence of cannon did not rm Lee, but when it suddenly turned and took aim at him and hispanions, he was rmed. Peeking at the Map in his mind, he saw the guard he met before talking to someone visible higher than him in rank. The receiving person was wearing a slightly bigger armour and his sword was an dachi. The sight of an dachi triggered numerous memories inside him. While surfing through the memories of his life on earth, Lee disappeared from the sight of the cannon turrets as he and his party entered inside the fortress.

    The turquoise blue g fluttering on a tall post greeted them. The declining daylight had only given up on illuminating the base of the gpole. Judging from the pole that stood over 9 metres, he calcted the geographical features and surrounding features, with the Map as a tool. A thunderous voice astounded them as a man descended in front of him.

    "State your purpose, and pay 55 gold coins. Or else you will face consequences!"

    The ground under the man''s feet had cracked a little. Lee found the person very familiar as he had the same dachi he saw a while ago. A faint breeze came in through the open entrance and swept across his face, and the long white hair danced in it.

    The silver coloured armour wasrger than any armour he had seen till now. The exquisitely carved dragon shapes were eye-catching. A robe beneath the armour was visible, as the protective casing only extended to his knee. The messy hair and a horizontal scar on his nose, coupled with his perverted stare gave a summary of the person. His eyes continuously scanned young Mia, and skimmed over An. Lee stepped forward and interrupted his visual feast. The perverted grin became an angry frown.

    [Lee, that man has malicious intentions and is a poison affinity cultivator.]

    An aura of a peak stage Immortal Grandmaster surged out of him. An and Mia found the man''s presence threatening, and Rue found the pressure suffocating. Their legs wobbled as they felt like going numb. The aura made Fero and the Perrafin shudder for a second. Lee instinctively took a step back and supported Rue and An on his shoulders. The pressure disappeared and the man spoke-

    "You have lied about your identity. Reveal yourself, or be ready to suffer!"

    Though the cultivator was speaking to Lee, his eyes were on the female trio. Even before D notified, Lee can tell that this man can never be a threat to him. An supported herself on her feet, with sweat drops rolling down her cheeks. Lee supported Rue, who has not yet been exposed to such a powerful Qi surge, onto the Perrafin. Fero stood near Mia with his guard full on.

    "Themander gets a new set of girls, and the brothel gets a few more additions. Poor man!"

    The heightened auditory senses picked up a barely audible dialogue of the nearest guard. Lee peeked at the Map and saw the soldiers averting their sight, and continuing their routine activities. From the dialogue and the repulsive attitude of the man, Lee deduced that a lot of girls have been soiled by the man. His anger skyrocketed, as he shed from where he stood. The cultivator went pale as he witnessed the superhuman speed with which Lee sprinted. The reflexes acted and the man reached for his sword. He barely held onto tsuka and Lee reached in front of him, on a whim.

    Right hand of Lee pressed onto the pommel of the dachi and his left palm pressed into the chest of the cultivator. An explosive force originated from the palm and the cultivator regretted his decision.

    "Your sins are forgiven!"

    Lee hushedly spoke as his face appeared in front of the man. Within a fraction of a second, the cultivator disappeared and EsGen obtained a new addition!

    The whole process waspleted in a second. The guards were in their stations, but their ears were expecting the usual cry of feminine despair. They waited for about a minute, but the screams did note. Frowning, they nced at the spot where theirmander hadnded. Nobody was there. The urrence that had never happened before made them alert, but they consoled themselves because he was a peak stage Immortal Grandmaster. When they were thinking so highly of theirmander, he was being extracted off his Essence.

 Chapter 113: Gauthamas Inn

    Chapter 113: Gauthama''s Inn

    =====

    6 P.M.

    24625 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''You know, D, as a peak stage Immortal Grandmaster, that man was disappointing.''

    [Why? I harvested 275 Essence from him.]

    ''By his behaviour. Those with power must help those without. I remember these words from my memories.''

    [Let us talk about thatter. This is what I found out. This city is called Piscerent, and is a city with extensive sea route connections. The Venus kingdom severed all trade with this city, as this ce has a side which repels the ''Be nice to all'' notion of the king Aizil. Geographically, This city is about the conjoined size of Lorin and Yeuvis. The major powers of the city are a bunch of ns.]

    ''You extracted information from that man?''

    [Nope, I scanned the whole city. The information was obtained bypiling many pieces of information.]

    Lee and An walked hand in hand, as Mia scanned the stalls with sparkling eyes. Rue walked behind her and was sensin the quality of the vegetation in the stalls. Her face showed discontent as she realised that they are only looking good outside,but rotten inside. She pulled Mia near and conveyed her findings. Rue''s discontent became both of their discontent!

    The daylight had receded greatly and the burning torches gave away its warmth and shed its brightness around. The poorly paved streets made the carriage travelling difficult. The building around them varied by its purpose and function.

    One thing that caught Lee''s curiosity were the nametes of the shops. The nametes he came across had a specific redundancy. Though it''s been more than half an hour since they entered into the city, the nametes consistently repeated a few sect names along with the names of the building. The sect names were engraved just below the shop''s name. There was a seal next to it, which indicated the engraving''s authenticity. The extent to which the sects control the economy of the city was evident to him.

    [From the observations, five organisations are controlling the trade here. They are Long Sect, Tycoon n, Moon Water Sect, Iron Shadow n and the Cultivator''s guild. The first four seem more powerful than thest, which only have a few buildings under their control.]

    Lee nodded to the information. The details were urate as Lee himself had evaluated so. Lee nced at Rue and Mia over his shoulder, and saw tiredness on their faces. Coincidentally, An yawned, which Lee found amusing. He immediately skimmed over the Map and found an inn very close to them.

    "Let us go find a room to rest."

    Rue was hesitating to ask Lee about getting some rest. But her countenance turned bright as he mentioned about finding an inn. Lee picked up pace and they obediently followed him. Unknown to them, the Perrafin and Fero had attracted some greedy eyes!

    The perrafin halted as it saw Lee stopping at once and ncing to his right. The beast also looked to where he looked, and saw a door which was small to its size. As it stood there enjoying the bright lights and sceneries around it, a man came next to it and scanned it from top to bottom. Since Lee hadmanded it not to hurt anyone, the beast silently tolerated the man''s presence. When the person took a step closer, the Perrafin let out a faint growl, which alerted the passersby, and the man. Lee, who was seeing all these through his all-powerful Map, turned his head with a nk expression. Though poker-face, it carried a strange pressure that the man could notprehend. A fake smile crept up the man''s face as he executed his crookedness.

    "Good evening, sir. Are you new here? May I help you?"

    Acting like a good samaritan, he thought of getting closer to Lee. But to someone who had seen enough men and women with advanced crookedness, Lee found the man repulsive.

    "Good evening. I am new here, but that does not bother you in any way. So please."

    Lee finished his words and nced at the street behind him, before bringing the focus back to the man. The man was wise enough to understand the underlying meaning of the gesture. As Lee was straight forward, he too decided not to dilly dally.

    "Is this beast for sale?"

    Though the humannguage was iprehensible to the Perrafin, it can feel the intention from the words. The beast sharpened his stare, but Leeforted it through his psychic connection. ncing back at the man after calming down what once was a ferocious predator, he spoke-

    "Who told you that this beast is mine?"

    "Since it obeys you, I assume that it is yours."

    The response came quickly, and a smile appeared on Lee''s face. He did not smile because of the quick answer, but by a few red dots in the vicinity. Coming back to reality with a smirk, Lee spoke-

    "Your reasoning is good, but the answer was fast. Go back to where you came from."

    Without wasting a second, Lee gestured to the women to walk ahead, as he stared at the man with a sharp gaze. The man felt the atmosphere slightly hostile, as the Perrafin joined with Lee. He quickly fled the area, and Lee stepped into the inn. With a singlemand, Fero and the Perrafin remained outside the door. The attention the beasts grabbed were not small.

    The man who was discontent with Lee''s attitude, belonged to the Iron Shadow n. He quickly fled to the n and conveyed the news of the appearance of a tamed Perrafin. He also added the case of Lee, but much distorted and in the form of an arrogant bigshot, in thepany of three women. The informer also evaluated the females as ''worth the time''. I can swear that if Lee happened to hear this, this man will visit hell''s door multiple times!

    -----

    Gauthama''s Inn.

    Lee and hispany were weed by a little boy, who sat on the reception counter while licking the lollipop in his hand. The boy wore a simple attire consisting of a sleeveless short gown and tattered trousers. He did not notice the presence as they walked in. A quick scan gave a summary of the inn. The insides are rtively old with slight crackings and cobwebs here and there. But the presence of someone who cleans the shop daily, could be perceived from the dustless surfaces and floor. Antern illuminated the inside with its yellowish white brilliance. The desk had a candy jar, into which the kid poked his hand after quickly gnawing the lollipop. It was then the boy saw the party of four, with an antelope, walking towards the reception desk. He nced at them and the wooden surface, which usually acted as an rm for somebody''s entrance.

    "Uncle, somebody is here!"

    The boy shouted out loud, and descended from the desk with care. He disappeared through the next door, and his sound went fading. Lee noticed the door right behind the desk, which had a partially torn curtain. The room inside was dark for naked eyes, but Lee saw the same pattern of the floor they were standing on, extending inside. He deduced that the building isrge, from its physical appearance.

    Right to the counter was a shelf with an object in it. Lee felt an immense connection with it, as he can swear that he had seen the same object when he was on earth. Lee frowned as he scratched his head and stepped towards it. Since it was ced on a shelf with great care and cleanliness, he did not dare to touch it. As he retracted his thoughts from the object, D sounded his concern.

    [Lee, you are really pushing me into an existential crisis. How can there be so many objects of earth origin, here?]

    ''I don''t know. Let''s find it out!''

    Turning his head back from the object, Mia sounded her doubt. He merely replied that the object seemed familiar. He nced at it and found nothing familiar, so she left the object alone. Rue stared at the object and quickly retracted as she felt an immense sense of boundless serenity from it. She considered such a boundless emotion as hostile, be it good or bad. As she opened her mouth to notify Lee, a female voice came from the door into which the boy disappeared. A secondter, a female did appear.

    "Good evening,dies and gentleman. Wee to Gauthama''s Inn."

    Her slightly tannedplexion was a sight to behold as An, Mia and Rue got attracted to it. It took them a few seconds to pull themselves out of the beauty. The female was about the age of 27 or 26, but had a face of a young girl. An and Mia began a conversation with her within no time, to which the female dly responded. Lee had no idea of what was happening, as the trio introduced themselves. Noticing Lee''s nce at her, she was about to start a conversation with him. Then, a male voice came from the inside, to which she responded-

    "Yes, brother."

    Lee observed her departing figure. She wore an attire that was simple and visibly polite. He was immersed in a number of torn and dismembered fragments of memories, when a male appeared from the inside.

 Chapter 114: Buddha, the Tubian of Serenity

    Chapter 114: Buddha, the Tubian of Serenity

    A 6 foot tall man came walking into the room. The aroma of drooling spices empowered by the presence of various vegetables seeded him. As the young man entered the room, the kid who was previously eating lollipop peeped through the tears of the curtain.

    The face without a moustache or beard was refreshing for eyes. His face that formed a handsome shape as it narrowed down, could have made him a yboy. The unusually dazzling eyshes attributed vigour to the face. At the first nce, anyone can find the presence of a faint, but permanent smile on his face. As if God itself had created, he had a nose and a mouth so wlessly fitting his being.

    Neatlybed ck hair of precise one and a half inches length gave evidence of hair oil. His strong build was easily outlined through the thin upperwear, which was full of faint stains of culinary skills. His half-pants looked old and was old, ording to Lee''s observation. The bright brown-ck eyes on a beautiful wheat coloured face was the first of its kind Lee is seeing. As his sight fell on the women, the young man bowed as he stationed himself behind the desk.

    "Wee to Gauthama''s Inn."

    A voice that is most appropriate for a receptionist came out of his mouth, and Lee was starting to doubt his gender. Even the antelope next to Mia found this man strangely peaceful.

    Yes, the man had a unique vibe of peace around him. Lee too felt this, as his thoughts and mind began to calm down. D was concerned about Lee''s safety, so he pulled Lee out of hisfort zone and advised about the situation. Lee regained hisposure and responded-

    "We need 4 rooms."

    As soon as Lee spoke, Mia overtook him and said-

    "No, a room with four beds is fine!"

    She made herself clear as she added an exnation with it. Lee could only nod to her suggestion as she gave priority to the unity of this family she has now. At the moment, the female from before came out of the door. The young man handed over a key to the girl and politely asked her to guide them to the room. She took the keys from his palm and led the women away towards the stairs.

    The building under the protection of the Cultivator''s Guild had an old stairway spiralling upward. The stairs originated from the same wall, on which the front door was also situated. Lee somehow did not look back and missed this information.

    "May I know your name?"

    As the women stepped away from him, Lee tried to establish a conversation between him and the young man. An and Rue saw his attempt, and left him alone to talk.

    Lee unconsciously nced at the kid standing at the door. The young man followed his line of sight and saw the little boy peeping through the tears of the curtain, and called him near to give a candy. As soon as he got the candy, he ran inside after giving a kiss on the young man''s cheek.

    "My name is Siddhartha Gauthama."

    The man straightened his body and smiled as he gave a reply.

    "Oh....wait what?!"

    Lee took a moment to realise that the name had striking simrity to a well-known personality from Earth. He recollected bits and pieces of the Siddhartha Gauthama he knew about. But the dissimrity between their facial features and hair consoled Lee.

    Lee was not satisfied by his evaluation, so he decided to throw a bait to find out whether this dimension has a simr naming sense.

    "You have an unusual name!"

    The young man smiled at Lee''s remark. He had nothing to respond.

    "I once heard of a man with a simr name. He waster called Buddha!"

    Lee put up an act of walking towards the stairs, as he was slowly turned from the desk. For his surprise, the response that came from his behind, stunned him.

    "It has been many millennia since I have seen an Earthling. d to meet you!"

    Silence and surprise hadpletely flooded Lee''s mind. He stood there like a statue for a whole minute, without blinking. D did not raise his voice, as it could interrupt Lee''s flow of thoughts.

    With wide eyes, Lee stared at the face of the Buddha. He found his features different from how the history and the stories depicted. Lee tried to speak out his amazement, but his throat swallowed the words.

    "You are really the Buddha?!"

    Unconsciously, Lee raised his doubt. His eyes could not confirm what they were looking at. The very usage of the term ''Earthling'' confirmed his hypothesis. This is the real Buddha!!!

    "How.how did you end up here.as a human?!"

    For the first time, Lee was notposed when he was conversing. He literally wanted to scream, but he suppressed the urge to its maximum. His eyes went wide as he immediately stared at the wooden lotus carved with unrivalled precision and beauty. The index finger on his right hand repeatedly pointed towards the flower and Buddha. Now, he understood the reason why that wooden lotus on the shelf was so familiar. Lee had lived in a monastery for a couple of years. Gauthama had an amused expression, as he witnessed an earthling almost freaking out. D evaluated the situation as ''what the hell'' because a man with 325 resolve was bloody restless!

    "Wait.what do you mean by many millennia?"

    Gauthama chuckled in reply and his words followed.

    "It has been almost 3000 years since I havee here. And I am not a human!"

    *gasp*

    Lee gasped as he took a step backward, with wide open eyes. He forgot to breathe for a dozen of seconds and was staring utterly surprised at the face of Buddha. Gauthama found the necessity of a brief exnation.

    "When my soul left the mortal shell on earth, I was not guided towards reincarnation, but to this dimension. Here, I was reborn in my previous form, the way I looked before epting the path of enlightenment. Not only me, but many people who had been enlightened in their native dimension, get simrly transferred to other dimensions. The pick is random. Here, I belong to a race called Tubian, and have been given the title ''Tubian of Serenity''. The title does not hold anything special, but it conveys the emotion or entity, in which you have attained enlightenment."

    *gasp*

    Lee nced over his shoulders and saw no one beside him. Then he realised that the gasp came from within. Yes, D gasped so loud that Lee mistook it for someone standing next to him. Gauthama told a few things, but the amount of information it had embedded in it, was muchrger for an immediateption. D got hisposure back and advised Lee not to mind him, as he would be going to take a few hours topile the information into a sequenced and organised one.

    ''View.''

    Lee felt an urge to use his system skill on Gauthama. He did not hesitate when the slightest desire arose.

    =====

    Name: Siddhartha Gauthama.

    Race: Tubian.

    Age: -

    Law: Serenity.

    -----

    Health: -

    Strength: -

    Vitality: -

    Agility: -

    Defense: -

    Endurance: -

    Sense: -

    Intelligence: -

    Resolve: -

    =====

    For the first time, Lee met a super powerful, yet serene being that even the system skill ''View'' failed to analyse. What is more interesting is that the person is also from Earth. He glimpsed at the wooden lotus and used ''View''. To his surprise, only a single line of information appeared.

    =====

    A Wooden Lotus.

    =====

    Gauthama had the same serene expression as Lee looked back at him. D, who also saw the iprehensible status panel, advised not to mess with this person. Lee did not want D to advise that, as he himself was pale at such an overpowering presence. Noticing Lee frozen up like a statue, Gauthama spoke-

    "Why don''t we continue our conversationter? Yourpanions might be waiting for you upstairs. My sister is not too good at keeping the customers entertained."

    Lee was knocked back to sense by these words. For a second, he remembered about the female from before.

    "Is she also a Tubian?"

    Siddhartha replied as he shook his head.

    "No. She was the daughter of a dark elf male and a human female. She was abandoned as they were exiled from theirmunities. The parents perished in the wilderness, but she survived, broken hearted. I came across her when I was travelling, and I took her under me. She is my sister now."

    "That boy?"

    "He is the son of the cksmith next door. Since his father is busy, hees here to y."

    Lee nodded as he heard the answer. He was about to ask something, when the hourly reminder popped up.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    24625 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Justpiled the information. What I found out from his exnation made sense. The doubts regarding the mysterious origin of Tubians and their powers are solved. His unknown status may not be a problem, as it will be uncovered eventually when you strengthen yourself up. I hope so. As a system, I still do not know the extent of my abilities, and I am still learning.

    Used a few Essence topletely upgrade the Water Affinity to Greater grade. Just reminding you, that you still have a lot to travel and earn.]

    Lee nodded at D''sment and excused himself from the presence of the Buddha. Before going up the stairs, Gauthama told Lee that the restaurant across the street serves good food, despite its old and dim appearance.

    Lee gave a smile and nod in return and ascended the spiral stairs. The inn only had a first floor and there were seven rooms. The second room to his left was illuminated from the inside, and he assumed that that was the room.

    Walking towards the door, Lee can hear conversing voices from the inside. As his figure appeared at the door, he saw four beds stuffed inside the 3 metres wide and 4 metres long room. Twomps on the opposite walls shed their light in the room. The women can be seen sitting on each bed and talking with pleasant expressions. As soon as they caught sight of Lee, Gauthama''s sister excused herself and left the room with an honest smile.

    Noticing the happy faces, Lee felt guilt as he had ruined their bonding moments. Noticing his frown, Mia went to the door and dragged him inside.

    "The inn owner, Gauthama, told me that the restaurant across the street serves good food. If you are feeling hungry, we can go there."

    Rue and An nodded as Mia jumped onto her bed. Though not asfortable and cozy as the Perrafin''s fur, it still delivered the punch. She felt into a molten state as her mind rxed. Lee at once remembered about the beasts and left the room as he gave a short exnation before leaving. Descending the stairs, the sight he beheld was amazing!

 Chapter 115: Pests & Pestering

    Chapter 115: Pests & Pestering

    *purr..*

    Like an obedient cat, the Perrafin stood by Gauthama and rubbed its head onto his torso. The elongated tail was fabulously sweeping through the floor. Fero, well known for his ferocity, was lying peacefully at Buddha''s feet, with his tail tucked between his feet. Lee was like ''What the hell?!''. But his concerns soon vanished as he remembered the ability of the Tubian of Serenity.

    The beasts did not even sense the nearing presence of Lee. They were so cozy that their perception skills were dampened, in a good way. Thefort and peace they were savouring were disrupted, when Gauthama saw Lee walking towards him. The hands that caressed the white fur like a gentle breeze were retracted as Gauthama received Lee with a pleasant smile. The Perrafin, for a second, exhibited hostility to the sudden sensation of the nearing presence. But when it noticed Lee, it could only show a disappointed face with discontent in his timing.

    Fero stood up and walked towards with a new found vigour. An energetic way of striding he has not exhibited yet, was suddenly noticed by Lee. ncing back at Gauthama, he witnessed the Perrafin rubbing its cheeks on the Tubian. Lee was developing a particr question regarding a Tubian''s speciality. But, he decided to keep silent for the time being, as he remembered that the Perrafin previously let out a hostile intention when he interrupted the care session.

    "Okay, now go to yourpanion. Be a good girl and never hurt others, unless it is very necessary."

    The Perrafin nodded with vigour and turned to step towards Lee. When the beast vacated his ce, Fero ran back to Gauthama and stood on his rear limbs, as his fore limbs were supported by Tubian''s human body.

    "You too, be a good boy. Do not eat everything you see. It will trouble your body."

    Lee faintly felt a sense of betrayal, as Fero leaned and licked Gauthama''s hand. Gauthama, in return, kissed the hyena''s forehead. A sense of joy enveloped Fero and he went back to Lee.

    "How did they get inside?"

    Lee was concerned about how the Perrafin came through the door, which can only fit humans. He pointed at the door and the beast, as his eyes shuttled between the two. Lee cluelessly peered at Gauthama, who slowly walked to him.

    "Perrafins are beings with Lightning and Airws innate in them. When agitated, their bodies will expand as they umte energy from the surrounding sources. The opposite happens when their troubled hearts are calmed. The stored energy is dissipated to the surroundings and they can shrink. The extent of agitation and serenity determines the result."

    Gauthama stood near Lee and his eyes were stered on the door. The hand behind his back gave him a boost in his posture, as Lee found him majestic.

    "So.it is a she, right?"

    Lee nced at the Tubian with a faint grin. Gauthama was quite surprised by the question.

    "When a beast bonds with a familiar, all basic information is transferred. You may have missed a few."

    Lee did not raise any more questions, as he did not want the Buddha to mock him. Though Buddha will not mock his ignorance, he considered D as a variable. So he kept quiet and stared at the door without any reason.

    A few minutes past, Gauthama enquired about the Earth. Lee began to start narrating almost all the historic events he had memory of, and gave a detailed ount of almost all personalities that made their mark in the history. His list included mythical personalities including deities and gods, natural phenomenons, cmities, religions, science, technology, advancements of the human race and the resultant bloodshed and pollution that followed them. The beautiful smile that decorated the Buddha''s face lost its luster as Lee narrated on. Buddha regretted asking about his home!

    ------

    The sound of footsteps descending the stairs caught Lee''s auditory sense. Turning his head, he saw Mia, Rue and An walking towards him. Gauthamas sister, Tera, as he introduced, also entered through the door behind the desk. Coincidentally, the system notified him that the time is 8 P.M.

    =====

    8 P.M.

    24625 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''D, you still alive?''

    [Why? You want me dead? Dream on, kid!]

    ''I was wondering where you have gone. You are awfully silent for a while!''

    [I can''t converse with you freely, with a Tubian in the vicinity. Who knows what powers they hide. I need toy low.]

    ''Okay, just don''t crawl on the floor!''

    [Brat!]

    Gauthama noticed Lee having an amused expression. Perhaps it is after seeing his fellowpanions, the Buddha assumed. Without dwelling in other matters, Gauthama turned towards his sister.

    "We are going to the restaurant across the street, to have our dinner. Would you all like to join us?"

    An answer was not necessary, as Mia''s stomach growled the very instant Gauthama extended his proposal. Mia slid and hid behind An in embarrassment. Gauthama took the gastric response as a yes, and asked his sister to guide them to the restaurant. As they walked to the door and to the outside, Gauthama went back inside to put out thentern. Swiftlying back to the door, he saw them standing right there, outside the door. Gauthama came near and saw that the troubles had already arrived.

    "Long sect elders demand your beast''s presence. Hand it over, or yourpanions will suffer."

    The perverted bulky man licked his lips as he finished his sentence. Seven underlings behind him wore outfits that looked simr to amon adventurer. The man, presumably their leader, wore a sturdy looking breastte with a pair of iron ws, which were his weapons. The pants made out of some beast''s skin was in good shape. The shoes on his legs were almost worn out, but they served its purpose. His bald head and round face with a pair of bullying eyes scared the nearby people. The underlings kept the passersby at bay.

    "So you want my beast? Come and take it."

    Gauthama, Fero and the Perrafin stood inside the room as the female trio had blocked the door. The Perrafin sensed the tension outside and wanted to go out and protect Lee, but Gauthama calmed her.

    "Be at ease, my friend."

    She could only listen to his words, as Lee was about to confront them. The beast knew of his strength, so her worries were greatly reduced. Fero, who was shorter in stature, poked Gauthama to pick him up, to which the Tubian dly nodded. Now, Fero could see the scenes outside.

    "Hm, dare to defy the Long sect elders?!"

    A Nascent Soul realm aura was released and it swept past them. The bulky man felt immense courage as he released his aura, but soon felt disappointed as he saw Lee''s nk face.

    ''Really? I need to fight this weakling?''

    [Just absorb him into the EsGen. We need to replenish our stocks.]

    Lee nodded in agreement, and a 100 Mana disappeared from the reserve. Lee promptly acted ording to D''s instructions, and instantly closed the distance between him and the bulky man. Before they could even register his movements, Lee touched the bulky Nascent Soul realm cultivator and he vanished. With the Mana buff still in effect, he redirected himself to the surrounding underlings that were drawing their weapons. Before they could seed, Lee connected them all with his insanely quicker agility, and handed them over to the EsGen storage.

    The Nascent Soul realm aura had scared the nearby people, so the surroundings were fortunately vacant. Before they could get back on their feet and walk back, Lee had cleaned the ce. The female trio stepped forth with Tera leading them. The stares of the nearby people were fixed on Lee, and Gauthama gave a pat on the MC''s shoulder as he guided him to the restaurant.

    ----

    Niqom restaurant.

    There was no namete on the outside, but Lee came to know its name from Gauthama. He also gave a very short narration about the current situation of the ce, which included the persecutions and misfortunes of the owner. The restaurant, which can be barely called so, had unpainted walls with kes of stering ready to fall off. There were only 4 tables inside which had 2 chairs with each. The dark and dim room was about 11 metres wide and 13 metres long, with a wooden roof half a metre above an adult human''s height. The lonely burning wick of amp on the desk could not illuminate the room sufficiently.

    The trio and Tera were upying the two tables nearest to the desk. They were conversing in a soft tone and suited the dim environment. Lee entered the room following Gauthama. Asking Lee to find a seat, he went towards the desk and tapped on it twice.

    "Nyra.."

    As Lee assumed, it was a feminine name, and the owner of the name came out of the door, next to the desk. A darkplexioned girl of about 4 foot height came in with two tes of cooked and sliced vegetables in her hands. She entered through the door and froze in her tracks, as she did not expect four more people. But Gauthama took the tes from her hands and smiled, as he said-

    "It is okay. Too much of good food spoiled everyone."

    Nyra nodded in response and went back inside. As Gauthama turned, Lee had already ced six bottles of Horned-Mow Milk with Eight loaves of Honey Bread. Somehow, Lee was much attracted to the simple, and worth-savouring taste of these.

    ----------

    =====

    9 P.M.

    25170 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Gauthama, Lee, An, Mia, Rue and Tera came back to the inn as the timer hit 9 P.M. The Perrafin and Fero were eagerly waiting for them. As they entered inside the inn, Lee threw 4 bread loaves as a bundle, at the Perrafin. A single bite and the bundle melted down into the beast''s tummy. Fero was given a kilo of Rain Rabbit meat, and he greedily gobbled it. Noticing the beast''s stare, Lee gave 3 kilos of meat to Perrafin too. When all were set and silent, Gauthama and Tera wished them good night and went back to their rooms. Thedies expressed their affection with hugs and kisses.

    [Lee, the long Sect will soon dispatch a group of people. We have 20 minutes before they reach here.]

    ''Got it.''

    *yawn*

    Lee faked a yawn and everyone brought it. He wished a good night''s sleep and went up the stairs. Rue followed him and Mia followed after giving a peck on Tera''s cheek. An gave a warm hug and waved bye, as she ascended the stairs.

    Reaching the room, she saw Lee peeking out of the only window of the room. Rue, who was arranging her bed took time to notice him, while Mia was already on the bed, with her face immersed in.

    "Hey, everybodye here. I have something to tell."

 Chapter 116: A New Interface

    Chapter 116: A New Interface

    Mia raised her head and stared at Lee, as Rue and An walked to him.

    "I will go and check the surroundings. Make sure to lock the door."

    Lee added a few details regarding the powerhouses of the city, and the degenerated system of ruling. He added his personal suggestion that he would like them all to stay in the city for a few days and that from tomorrow onwards, An and Mia can spar with him, and he might be able to help Rue in her training too.

    ''View''

    Lee used View skill on his femalepanions and three panels popped up side by side.

    =====

    Name: An Fenfang

    Race: Human

    Age: 28

    Cultivation: 7th stage Core Formation realm

    State: Healthy, Cultivation stagnant.

    -----

    Health: 66

    Strength: 63

    Agility: 60

    Defense: 49

    Endurance: 49

    Sense: 52

    Intelligence: 59

    =====

    =====

    Name: Kawahara Mia

    Race: Human

    Age: 17

    Cultivation: 4th stage Body Strengthening realm

    State: Healthy

    -----

    Health: 53

    Strength: 52

    Agility: 48

    Defense: 31

    Endurance: 36

    Sense: 39

    Intelligence: 41

    =====

    =====

    Name: Rue

    Race: Druid

    Age: 70

    Mastery: Rookie level

    State: Healthy

    -----

    Health: 72

    Strength: 43

    Agility: 28

    Defense: 23

    Endurance: 44

    Sense: 47

    Intelligence: 48

    =====

    [Hmmmm....To be honest, they are far behind you, and that means the necessity of training.]

    ''You said that the Essence cost for upgrading others is 2000 per one point, right?''

    [But, that will be a loss to you. There is a possibility that their new found enhancement may lead to an unpredictable explosion in power. So, my advice is, to help them seed in cultivation and mastery while giving one or two points as their hardwork''s bonus. That way, you will not deplete your Essence reserve and will be able to pull off an effective training session.]

    Raising his head, Lee asked D''s opinion on using ''Information Transfer'' for letting the trio know of their current state and stability. Upon receiving the Sovereign''s permission, Lee expended 80 Essence to transfer the information.

    The trio were astonished as a set of information came popping up in their head. Lee saw their visible expressions and gave an exnation, without exposing the system. Rue was amazed to hear about the existence of such an amazing information transferring skill.

    "As you know now, those are your current statistics. They might be enough to contend with an average adult of mainstream races, but are far too low for the basic criteria of our objective.]

    Mia and Rue stared at each other and their eyes expressed their reflections on the revtion. To make things clear, and to give a firm target to achieve, Lee transferred his stats into the trio''s head. 76 Essence vanished into the thin air.

    =====

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Cultivation: peak stage Core Formation realm

    Mastery: Rookie level

    State: Healthy

    -----

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    =====

    *gasp*

    Mia gasped at the information. Not only her, Rue and An found his stats confusingly surprising. The presence of both Cultivation and Mastery made them frown, but the uniform and abnormal figures that represented his stats made them visibly perplexed. As they made aparative study between theirs and his, the fact became evident.

    "Even my figures are not enough for the mission. So, I will begin to train from tomorrow. And for the time being, I will leave you three to decide."

    Lee turned around and walked towards the window, opened it and leaped out. Activating Flight mid-air, Lee drifted away towards the Long Sect. As he expected, the trio had already made their unwavering decision. Now all they have to do is to convey the decision to him, when he returns.

    -----

    [Your Flight skill iscking 30 minutes for upgrading to E grade. Just saying.]

    ''Okay, show me where the sects are situated.''

    [Oh.and by the way, Ipletely absorbed the Tubian that we caught previously. From its parasitic behaviour, I acquired some exciting data, and sessfully created a new system interface, which was designed from some of your memories. I hope you may like it!]

    Lee floated down andnded on a building silently, as D spoke. As he was eagerly waiting for something to pop up, his eyes experienced a sudden and intense pain. After a second and opening his eyes back, a few lines faintly appeared in front of his eyes. Lee was taken back as he witnessed these weird, but straight lines appearing out of thin air. He nced around, but the lines were not going anywhere. Even rubbing his eyes did nothing to it.

    [Be at ease. What I created was a visual interface for the Map. Now you can peek at the Map inside your head, while the new interface integrated to your eyes will give a much richer and deeper information regarding the surroundings. It is directly integrated to the Map, and will give a three dimensionalprehension. Let me demonstrate.]

    The two ovepping circles of the visual field became otherworldly with the lines and symbols of information. As Lee stared into the dark sky, a limited range miniature version of the Map appeared on the top left corner, inside a hexagon. It was inplete ck and white texture, and only provided basic information. A yellowish orange coloured clock setup that only showed the hour of time, appeared at the top right corner. Right below that, the Essence amount in green colour, and beneath it, the Qi and Mana reserve in grey colour, found its position. There was also information regarding hispanions and familiar beasts in tiny ck font at the bottom, inside a thin pale blue bar, which he temporarily ignored. Lee remembered not to savour the beauty of the interface and to concentrate on the task at hand.

    What he found fascinating, was the real time visual assistance fashioned from the digested parasitic Tubian. Five red arrows pointing in three directions caught his sight and he lowered his eyes from the sky. When he turned towards where one of the arrows pointed, he saw arge red arrow-like beacon at a distance, pointing at the ground below it. Simultaneously cross matching with the Map, he found that the beacon actually indicated the position of one of the five sects. His keen eyesight noticed the tall and proud manor of the Iron Shadow n.

    [Since this interface was an unprecedented gift from the Tubian, I still have notpletely ventured the extent of its function. You know, I used to be a sentient being just like you. So after bing a system, my homeworks had increased drastically. I might be busy and unavable at times, because I would be immersed in the study and research regarding the expansion of the system. For the time being, I will watch how you advance, as I do my own work.]

    ''Got it, D. And thanks a lot. This has been the best addition you have ever made after bing the system!''

    Lee nced around and saw the other four beacons at a distance. The nearest one was the Long sect. Simultaneously ncing at the Map inside his mind, Lee found the group of 28 people sent to capture the beast, advancing towards the inn. Lee jumped onto the next building as their estimated path would pass by that building.

    The street through which they are supposed to pass was next to the building. The presence of nocturnal stalls and residents restricted the possibility of violence. The rarity of burning torches and overwhelming envelope of darkness made most people stay out of the alleyways and inside their homes. Lee found his arsenal of skills temporarily useless. ncing at a specific affinity, his heart jumped up in joy.

    A smirk appeared on his face as he turned around and crouched on the ground. Extending his arms and converging them, a pitch ck Mana sphere materialised between his palms. Lee brought that dark sphere to his chest and it began to spread on his body. Within a dozen of seconds, his tall and handsome physique became one with the night!

    Nobody would suspect that a man was standing on that building''s terrace. A faint light of the doughnut moon seeped through the dense clouds and gave a hint of such an existence. Any normal person to see Lee would freak out and scream ''GHOST!''.

    [They are near.]

    Lee nodded and walked towards the edge of a side of the building and descended to the creepy alleyway beside it. The darkness covered Lee like a curtain, and Mana reserve was slowly reducing by each passing moment. Lee became restless as he saw the Mana reserve decreasing at a much higher rate.

    [The Dark element, which you are using now, is a powerful one, and thus is demanding when ites to Mana usage. As you are covering yourself inrge quantities of affinity, no wonder the usage is so high. But you will have its benefit in the form of progress points!]

    Lee walked towards the edge of the street and waited for them to pass by. His n was to creep through the shadows and snatch each one into his EsGen, stealthily and silently. But his n was temporarily disappointed as he saw the group approaching with an unexpected variable.

 Chapter 117: Yin Qi Wood Puppets

    Chapter 117: Yin Qi Wood Puppets

    ''View.''

    =====

    Name: Yin Qi Wood Puppet

    Quality: Excellent

    Threshold: Nascent Soul realm

    Description: A puppet powered by immense Yin Qi andpatible with Yin Qi cultivators. Muscle tendons made out of Metal Grass fibre, coupled with Iron Wood fists provide explosive power. The strength varies ording to the soul imprint of the cultivator.

    =====

    9 female cultivators and 2 male cultivators walked past Lee, who was one with the darkness of the alleyway. 17 Yin Qi Wood Puppets guarded the cultivators as they walked obediently next to them. The bald and hollow headscking facial features were annoyingly surprising. Lee deduced the material used for producing these things as some kind of wood, because except for the fists and feet, the puppets had a wooden texture.

    Their naked wooden bodies concealed the internal mechanism as well as the most vital part, the Yin Qi battery. From the information panel, Lee derived that the owner of the puppet he used the skill ''View'' on, is a Nascent Soul cultivator. But he was unsure whether there are more powerful cultivators among them. In fact, the most important problem for Lee was not the puppets'' strength or the cultivators, it was the Qintern burning inside ss chambers, which reced the position of the puppet heads!

    Lee stepped back into the alleyway silently. The Dark element remained on, but Lee was almost exposed by the bright light. Due to his stillness and position, they were unable to notice him. Even his breath was regted. He silently waited for the group to go past the alleyway. His n changed from snatching to luring!

    The group went over 9 metres, when Lee took out his bow and aimed at the torso of thest puppet. He shot out an arrow as he stood at the edge of the alleyway, poking his head and hands.

    *thuck*

    The puppet received the arrow on its back, and was thrown away by the explosive force delivered by the otherworldlybination of Vanadium-Titanium alloy. It collided with three more puppets and literally threw them off the feet, while flying away with a lodged arrow. With loud noise, it got pinned to the wall in its trajectory. The cultivators became alert and took out their weapons. Lee felt ecstatic, as he felt the aura of a Monarch Immortal sweeping past him.

    The Monarch Immortal cultivator scanned his surroundings, but found nothing hostile. Leeprehended that the Dark element has an intrinsic property to evade detection, and switched the Mana off. At once, the cultivator peered at the alleyway where Lee stood and found our MC''s presence!

    Lee poked his head out of the alleyway for a second, and an arrow came rushing at him. Lee was only alive because of his superior agility. The archeress who shot the arrow frowned as she had never missed her aim. The Monarch Immortal cultivator gestured at three women and one man to advance towards the pest in the alleyway. Seven puppets under their control also joined them. Together, they tiptoed to the alleyway. The archeress took a few steps forward with caution.

    Lee stuck out his torso again and shot another arrow. This time, the arrow shattered two Qintern chambers and flew past the Monarch Immortal cultivator. Their alertness went over the roof as they raged in annoyance and sprinted to the alleyway entrance.

    Empty! The Dark element covered Lee and hid him in the shadows. Theck of light made his concealment perfect. But the puppets marched into the alley and illuminated the area. The elimination of shadows caused trouble to him, as the puppets began to peek and check every nook and corner of the space. Lee was now a trapped mouse, with no escape!

    "That person must be caught!"

    The Monarch Immortal cultivatormanded as he swept his aura again. The culprit was not found by his senses. So the fellow cultivators beside him acted ordingly. They searched the alleyway with almost nothing in it. There was a wooden nk ced against one of the walls, in its shadow where Lee hid. Since the nk was only a foot wide and two and a half foot long, and visibly not enough to conceal a person''s body, the cultivators overlooked the probability. They were proud of their detection and sensing, so were more obsessed in finding Lee with their inted ego.

    The Dark element guzzled Mana like a greedy wild beast devouring its prey. When the reserve hit 23000, D sounded a warning. Lee realised that it was time for the second part of his n. Staying concealed inside the shadow of the nk, he extended his arm out a bit, not enough for the cultivators to notice. He retracted the Dark element from his hand, and it became visible to light. The next moment, ferocious strands of lightning empowered by Mana rampaged the whole alleyway!

    *bzzt*

    The alleyway lit up like a christmas eve for a second. The delicatebination of lightning with over 300 Mana was worth the try. The puppets were unhurt, but were frozen like a statue, because the lightning affected the cultivators and numbed them to the core. Seven women and three men fell on their knees, trying to resist the numbness, in vain. The effect was so intense, that their train of thoughts had derailed for a dozen seconds. As Lee saw their inted arrogance and self-esteem kneeling on ground, he came out of the shadows.

    =====

    10 P.M.

    25170 Essence harvested.

    =====

    With a little over 21000 Mana, Lee deactivated the disguise. As the Monarch Immortal cultivator witnessed, something rose up from the shadow of the nk that was ced against the wall. The human figure unravelled and it showed its back on them. Lee took out his mask and wore it instantly. To have them underestimate him, Lee gave out a few faint pants, enough for the cultivators'' recognition. With the numbness on their minds fading away, the cultivators focused on catching Lee, instead of using the puppets as a helping hand.

    The puppets advanced at Lee in a specific formation that brought forth attacks at an unexpected angle and moment. But, Lee was the worst match-up for them. Coupled with the Foresight, the new visual assistance interface unfolded a special feature - ''Guide''. It was as the title conveyed, a guide to move andmence attack with guidance. The Foresight disyed the trajectories of the actions and objects, but the Guide gave visual instructions that can be followed to use minimum energy to maximise the efficiency!

    The cultivators noticed a sudden change of pattern in Lee''s movement. It was as if his moves became much more fluent, ordered and less energy-consuming, that they more effectively evaded the strikes of puppets. The upgraded ''Foresight'' alerted Lee of the iing arrows. As he nced, 12 arrows flew at his vital points with precision.

    *swish*

    Hands moved like wind and grabbed onto the raging arrows. Within an instant, Lee caught the arrows barehanded. His foot sunk into the ground where they stood, and his hands sliced the air. His speed simply bbergasted the cultivator''s as all they saw was a single wave, and the arrows were in his hands!

    The 8 cultivators with bows took a step back and nced at each other. Without any choice, they peered at the Monarch Immortal cultivator among them. The man understood the intent of gazes and stepped forth.

    "Who are you? Do you even know who we are?"

    A faintughter originated from the mask as Lee broke the arrows into two by his bare grip. He raised his hands to his chest''s height and opened his palm upwards. The broken arrows lost the support and fell down to the ground. Freefalling broken arrows sprouted the seeds of fear in their minds.

    "Heh...Do you know what ''Do not desire others possessions'' mean?"

    A rough voice of mockery arose from the man wearing a corless off-white tee shirt. The eye slits of the mask gave off a repulsive feeling, to which the cultivators responded by taking a step back. The Monarch Immortal cultivator nced at the woman next to him through the corner of his eyes. She nodded slightly in response, and fled towards the sect. Now all they need to do is to stall the man, till the reinforcements arrive.

    "Silent Sealing Formation!"

    The head of the group shouted and the cultivators gathered together in a specific formation. The puppets moved towards Lee and positioned itself in an organised manner. Within a second, The Yin Qi from the puppets shot out to the sky and took the form of a harpoon. The puppets'' torsos opened and the massive Yin Qi reserves were exposed.

    [Lee, be careful of this formation. It is hazardous to you both physically and mentally. The harpoon might be lethal, but the puppets are more dangerous.]

    Lee nced at the puppets as he stared at the sky. The Yin Qi permeated through the wooden structure and condensed in the fists and foot of the puppets. For a second, the puppet at the front was blurred. Lee was astonished to see the insanely overpowered dash targeted at him.

    ''Shit!''

    Lee did not jump away as he was aware that the next puppet would make its mark on his torso. He was also interested to test the wooden non-sentient walker''s strength. So Lee firmly ced his footing and punched at the iing right fist.

    *BAM*

    The Iron Wood was worth the trouble. Lee felt an intense pain in his right hand''s knuckles, as his fist shattered the puppet''s arm. Unexpectedly, its left knee rose up and kicked Lee in his stomach.

    *thack*

    Lee rose up into the air by almost two foot, as his left palm defended his stomach to a great extent, by cing itself before the oing knee, in a split-second. But, the knee sandwiched the palm against his torso.

    ''F**K, IT HURTS!''

    [No wonder. That kick was packed with an immense amount of pure Yin Qi which gave enormous boost for a brief moment. Though the puppet may have drained a part of its reserve, it was worth the shot. The strength easily surpassed 300 for a moment.]

    When Lee was momentarily distracted by D''s exnation, the puppet twirled on its right leg and gave a swinging kick, which touched down on his left shoulder. It was so fast that Lee couldn''t raise his guard on time, and so powerful that he heard his left arm''s humerus bone cracking. Even his ribcage felt the pressure. With the supportless suspension in mid-air, Lee could only reluctantly fly and get lodged onto the wall on his right. Pain slowly numbed his being and reminded him of the long forgotten sensation.

    [Okay, that was definitely above 320!]

    ''Shut up. You are not helping, but distracting!''

    Lee barely freed himself from the wall, but he failed to sense the iing persecution!

 Chapter 118: Yang Counters Yin

    Chapter 118: Yang Counters Yin

    Came a fist soaked in Yin Qi at his face from his right, and made Lee do a mid-air twirl, while dislocating his jaw in the process. The utter helplessness crept throughout his upper torso as his teeth grinded in pain. The second puppet did not dy to deliver him to the opposite wall, while hurling him away like a tin can. Raising the head, Lee saw that the second puppet had a brokenntern chamber. ncing his eyes at the cultivators, he found them firm and immobile as a mountain, and he noticed a dark purple coloured circr glow on their foreheads.

    [Evade the strike!]

    As D shouted, a third puppet came at him from above. Lee rolled forward and evaded the puppet''s lethal leg strike as the ground below its feet cracked. Lee decided that these pests are more stronger than they seem to be, and pulled out his nunchuck. The cultivators maintaining the formation frowned as they saw this not-seen-before weapon dangling down from his right palm. They do not know how this weapon would function, but they were cautious in not underestimating their enemy.

    [Rely on the upgraded version of Foresight to counter. I will tell you something very vital for your victory, in the meanwhile.]

    Standing up, Lee brought his right arm to his left shoulder and released it with explosive power attributed by Mana empowering. The right arm drew a horizontal arc in the air and the nunchuck gripped tight in his arm swung with great momentum. With the umted anger and pain, his rage shot up and the puppet behind him lost its Qintern on its torso.

    *pak*

    The nunchuck cracked the back of the puppet and it fell on the ground. The instantaneous process was so quick that it only took a second more than the time Lee took to stand up!

    [The circr glow on their foreheads means that the cultivators are controlling the puppets. Brighter the glow, stronger and firmer will be the control, but the cultivator must stay immobile and undistracted. The cultivator moves, the connection weakens. Stronger connection enables the cultivator to use more Qi efficiently and thus increasing the damage delivered. Sometimes, cultivators sharing the same puppet canmand it harmoniously, and thus achieving a much higher state of control and performance.]

    The exnation was delivered as Lee dismantled the four puppetspletely. Tossing away the right upper limb he tore off from a puppet, Lee nodded and wiped the blood stains on his torso. The unarmed woodenbatants still managed to injure him.

    ''D, dont disturb. I''m going to experiment with something.''

    The nunchuck went inside the spatial ring and it was then they realised the presence of such a precious artifact on him. They locked their puppets onto him one by one, in harmony.

    D did not speak in response, as he stared at the usual amorphous blob suspended in Lee''s mind, with a nk face. He realised that Lee was onto something, and decided to wait for his innovative move.

    "I don''t know how those men have Yin Qi, but as a man, I have it''s opposite!"

    Lee skillfully evaded the strikes by a hair''s width. Using the upgraded Foresight and the Map simultaneously, he slipped out of the danger zone and took out his bow as he leaped onto a wall. While using the momentum to stay airborne, Lee instantly showered six Qi imbued Explosive arrows at the cultivators.

    *gasp*

    The cultivators could only gasp at the sight of rushing arrows in dilemma. They had two options for escape. One, use the puppets to obstruct the path of the iing arrows, which may or may not bepletely sessful. Two, sever the connection with puppets and actively evade the arrow, which also had a less probability of escaping due to the quickly closing in arrows. It took a split second for them to harmoniously choose the first option, and their desire to be protected by others sealed their fate!

    The Yang Qi explosive arrow closed in and all the puppets dashed toward the cultivators to protect them. Powered by despair and their ego to be served by others, the nimble puppets ovepped the trajectory and took the arrows on their torso. A proud smug crept up the faces of the cultivators, but were short-lived by an unexpected urrence.

    *BOOM*

    Unknown to them, the Yang Qi was embedded in the arrows, and it reacted with the pure Yin Qi of the puppets. The reaction itself was only powerful enough to violently shatter the puppets into pieces. But the ''system special'' explosive attribute went with a bang. The stacked effect caught the cultivators off-guard, as their own puppets turned into Qi bombs. With a loud boom, the cultivators were thrown away forcefully and were knocked unconscious. The least damaged person was the Monarch Immortal cultivator, who released his aura to soften the impact. Yet, he bounced off the walls and ended numb and upside down on the street.

    The violent Qi reactions died down, but the street rose into chaos with the visual and audio effects delivered by the st. Walls cracked and rubbles flew in all directions. The building on both sides of the alleyway trembled by the shockwaves. When the dust and smoke disappeared, the ce was empty. Many crowded at the spot within a few minutes and some local officials hurriedly approached the site. The absence of clues regarding the explosion made everyone wonder.

    Three cultivators from the Cultivator''s Guild arrived at that secured area within minutes. By their keen senses, they were able to unearth shattered pieces of wood which had traces of Yin Qi. Further investigation collected the shattered and torn apart pieces of Yin Qi puppets that are exclusive for the Long sect. The scene was soon sweeped of any potential evidence and the building owners were temporarily consoled by financial promises.

    ------

    =====

    11 P.M.

    28384 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee sat inside the room with An, Mia and Rue staring at him. He had not dyed a second in escaping, but did not forget to grab the knocked out cultivators. He felt disappointed as he could not save a single puppet for experimenting and research purposes, but was delighted after he saw an increase of more than 3000 Essence in extraction. Using the darkness of the night, he quickly flew to the inn and entered the room through the window. Lucky for him, the trio had not slept yet, as they were waiting for him to return, so that they can convey their wish to get stronger and to protect others, rather than being protected!

    Mia stared at the mask in her hand, which she took form his hand. The sight of it gave chills up the spine, so she gave it back. cing it in his Inventory, Lee asked D whether he should narrate the situation that just happened. His answer came back as no, but An raised a question that forced him to speak out.

    "Tell me that you did not cause the explosion!"

    Her nk face can easily identify the presence of pain and fatigue from his face.

    [No need hiding. You cannot fool a woman''s intuition!]

    *sigh*

    Lee gave a short description of what had happened after the sigh. The three did not exhibit any expressions other than a deep contemting countenance. Lee was unsure of what was happening, as he just came in through the window.

    "Soon after you left, Tera came up."

    Rue spoke as she crossed her arms and stared at Lee. This was the most unanticipated answer for Lee. For someone who does not have an affinity to either Qi nor Mana, she was very calm and collected. Lee recollected that her presence made the trio happy and excited.

    Lee frowned in response and leaned forward. His off-white tee shirt that looked like it went through a horrible week of work, almost got torn as he leaned. He sharpened his senses and awaited for further speech.

    "She told us that she was waiting for you to leave, so that she could talk with us alone. From what Tera said, her brother is a prophet-like personality and wishes to talk to you tomorrow. She also added to tell you ''be ready for training'' and we are also weed to the training session which is in the early morning."

    Lee could not find any useful information from it, except that Gauthama is way ahead of his thinking. As a Tubian, this should be expected, D said to Lee.

    "She also said that it is necessary to sleep plenty after a tiresome job. We did not know its meaning then. Now we understand what she meant."

    Rue stood up and lied in her bed and fell asleep within minutes. Mia also distracted herself as she yawned in a big mouth. An nodded at Lee, gesturing to take plenty of rest, and gave a smile before going to sleep. Within a few minutes, Lee was the only one awake in the room.

    [Perhaps the Tubian might have felt something about you. We still have to be careful because he might be knowing that we have digested one of his fellow beings.]

    ''I am more concerned by the words ''be ready for training''. I hope things do not turn hostile. For now, status!''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 4239

    Essence: 198437 (11 P.M.)

    Money: 7416 Gold, 2396 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Spouse: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+). Perrafin (+).

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 1023

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie level

    Mana: 21003

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6710/10000)

    Medium Air Immunity (4136/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2411/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15359/1000000)

    Greater Fire Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)

    Medium Ice Affinity (664/10000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Medium Air Affinity (2381/10000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)

    Medium Light Affinity (0/10000)

    Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Life Affinity (23/10000)

    Medium Time Affinity (0/10000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)

    ----------

    Skills:-

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - F (0/5)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ALTER:-

    ==========

    When Lee was skimming through the status screen after putting out themp, something else was happening.

 Chapter 119: Main Event of the Day

    Chapter 119: Main Event of the Day

    Up in the air, a Tubian and an Ensifer stood stationary. They were about 270 kilometres above mean sea level, and a beautiful lotus supported the Tubian in the air. Standing apart by almost 13 metres, Gauthama stared at the triangr eye of the Ensifer. An amused expression was visible on his face. Wind blew and his long sleeve robe fluttered in the air. The ck hair elegantly swayed in harmony. The silence in the air was too unbearable for any living being.

    "@#|&%$+!~:+=@&"

    The Ensifer spoke non-stop in its dialect. Even Gauthama had a tough time deciphering it, as his head slightly tilted to right. His hands went behind his back, in revtion to the meaning. As the being took a pause, with arms crossed, Gauthama replied-

    "I do not know you and I will not support your intentions. So I will have to ask you to leave this ce."

    Buddha stretched his hand and pointed at a distance. The Ensifer took a few seconds toprehend what Gauthama meant. It gave out a sharp shrieking noise in response and disappeared into thin air. A gust of air burst at Gauthama ferociously, but it simply brushed past him giving a gentle touch.

    "I wonder why these strange and unseen creatures are popping up now!"

    The next instant, the figure of Gauthama vanished and he appeared on the surface of the earth, outside the inn''s backdoor. Tera, who thought that her brother had gone for a walk, stood up as he entered.

    "Brother, I have conveyed the message as you asked."

    Gauthama nodded with a pleasant smile, and patted her head. It was Buddha''s behaviour to appreciate each and every act of goodness, be it small or big. He promptly conveyed her that the time iste and that she should not stay awake at such moments. Tera promptly nodded and walked to her bed and fell asleep within two minutes.

    ''Lee Shen, I hope for your victory in the future.''

    Gauthama walked to the bed, and took off his robe. After cing it on the small table next to his bed, he sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated. A few minutester, he woke up from his deep state and stretched his body andid down on the bed, hoping for a good future.

    -----

    =====

    5 A.M.

    28384 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Fero and the Perrafin were wide awake by 4.40 in the dawn. But as they sensed darkness outside, they suppressed their urge to make some noise. Silently theyid down and the unusual warmth of the wooden floor caught their attention. They jumped up on their four legs and inspected the coziness the floor gave off. Walking for a while, they rested their bodies on the floor. Hushedly, Fero began to speak with the Perrafin, and the beast would give response in a verbal or non-verbal manner. They enjoyed the conversation, but the antelope was annoyed by their hushed murmuring-like voice. It stood up and walked to both of them with angry strides, and stared into both of their eyes. Though small in stature, the disturbance in it''s beauty sleep made it super-annoyed, and it was reflected in the stare. Instantly, both Fero and the Perrafin went silent, and stared into each other''s eyes helplessly.

    Lee soon got out of his bed, a few minutes after waking up. His umon amount of Vitality helped him to restore the energy and topletely remove any presence of fatigue. His olfactory senses picked up the scent of sweat and he became aware of his state. As he was wondering what to do, a knock came from the door. Lee jolted up as he was not expecting a knock at this time of the day. An, who was almost awake, got out of her bed at once as she heard the knock. ncing at Lee, she walked towards the door and opened it.

    "Good morning!"

    Outside the door, Tera stood as she smiled at An. She wore a reddish ck coloured attire that resembled the medieval renaissance, decorated with white dots. An caught the sight of this beautiful dress and was absorbed in it. As Tera appeared, Lee woke up Mia and Rue, and gestured that it was time. They jumped out of their beds and caught the sight of Tera standing at the door, with a few white cotton towels in her hand.

    "Brother asked me to take you all to freshen up. Let me guide you."

    An nodded in response to Tera''s words and turned to look at the faces of herpanions. Mia and Rue came near her and gave a nod. Lee followed behind them and Tera led them downstairs.

    Gauthama was standing behind the reception desk with his eyes closed. His palms were firmly ced on the desk and his figure did not move an inch. The Perrafin and Fero sat in front of the desk and stared at his serene face with a peaceful smile. A single nce at it was able to calm a troubled beast''s heart. As they beheld the tranquil face, footsteps can be heard from the side. The beasts, including the herbivore, felt reluctant to pluck their sight from the face of Buddha.

    The trio and Lee witnessed the sight and were amazed to see the beasts showing such attention, that they did not move their tail, or twitch their ears. Tera brought them towards the desk and the beast sensed their approach, and gave way. As they stood in front of the desk, Gauthama opened his eyelid and exposed his beautiful pair of eyes. Rue felt a strange attraction from his eyes, so she immediately distracted her eyes towards the antelope.

    "My sister will take you to freshen yourself. Please follow her."

    Tera walked towards the main door and opened it. The darkness outside was not too threatening, but gave off an ominous feeling when stared into it. The trio and Lee followed Tera as she walked outside and turned to her right to walk. After taking a few steps, she paused her steps near the alleyway, and took another right turn and entered the alleyway.

    An and Lee nced at each other''s face, as they did not know where they were going. Mia and Rue obediently followed Tera, so they too followed the trail. The wooden fence at the end of the alleyway halted their progression. Tera extended her hand and pushed one of the wooden pieces, and a door swing opened from the fence.

    A small open area weed them with very little brightness, provided by a burningntern at the behind of the inn. A small wooden cabin-like structure came to their visual senses, as they took a few steps forward. It three people can barely stand inside it together. Tera opened the door and exposed the insides to them. There was an opening from which water would flow in and fill a bucket beneath it. A small seating arrangement and clean insides feltfortable to them.

    "This cabin is the bath that we use. Only one person can use the bath at a time. Take these towels. They can help you dry up faster."

    Tera handed over the towels into Mia''s hand and went to the fence and closed the door, so as to make them secure. The trio and Lee nced at each other with reluctance to enter. Finally, An decided to enter first, Mia after her and Rue as the third. Lee entered thest and took a bath within minutes

    ------

    After the bath, Tera led them back to the inn. Gauthama was standing at the same position and the beasts beheld his face with mesmerisation.

    "Shall we have our breakfast before training?"

    A nod, and Tera was signalled to guide them towards the door behind the desk. Gauthama waved his hand and the beasts got up and joined them. The door was slightlyrger than the inn''s main door. Still, the Perrafin had trouble squirming through it, and was slightly diforted.

    Another room was unveiled, and they saw the residing ce of the siblings. The darkness outside was slowly receding and the window to their left showed the fairly brightening outside. Two beds were ced nearby, with barely a metre apart, on the far right corner. Three tables can be seen dragged and ced next to each other, and six chairs arranged around it. A kitchen setup visible in another corner of the room had a steamy pot set on top of the burning stove. There were a few almirahs and shelves on the wall with various objects, but Lee temporarily dismissed attention to them.

    "Have a seat."

    Tera spoke and the trio acted ordingly. Lee too followed the women and sat on a chair. As they saw, Gauthama was bringing two tes in his hands. The steam rising from the te indicated the presence of food. When he ced them in front of Mia and An, Tera brought another two tes which she ced in front Rue and Lee.

    Pale red colour filled the central portion of the te where it is rtively deeper. The presence of broli, cabbage, carrot and other vaguely recognisable vegetables was not a delightful sight, but delivered a wonderful aroma worth drooling to. The thick soup was apanied with a wide and shallow spoon in the te. The smell of freshness arose from the tes and filled the air.

    "May this food make our day better."

    Gauthama spoke as he too sat at the table, with his portion. Tera sat next to her brother and nodded in agreement. A few nces around and the trio picked up the spoon to taste the soup. Though not as delicious as meat items, it still gave an unforgettable punch to their taste buds. Even the ferocious carnivores like Fero and the Perrafin ate with such vigour, that they continuously spilled it on the floor. Gauthama saw this and poured the soup to a muchrger bowl and ced it in front of them. It was a meal worth remembering eating!

    =====

    6 A.M.

    28384 Essence harvested

    =====

    [Just letting you know that you have 397125 Essence, and it only needs 149376 Essence to upgrade Ice Affinity to Greater grade.]

    ''Do it.''

    [And it only takes 155424 Essence to upgrade Sand affinity.]

    ''Okay, do that too. And anything else?''

    [Not at the moment. I will notify you when the amount needed topletely upgrade an affinity is amassed.]

    -----

    The delicious breakfast gave their tummy a workload to digest, while sessfully making them burp out loud. Lee found it interesting that even a Tubian can happily enjoy a meal with lower sentient beings.

    Gauthama collected the tes and took them to wash, ignoring the collective reluctance to let someone else wash their tes. Thedies and gentleman took a minute to chat, and this time was more than enough for someone with incredible agility and control over himself. Gauthama came back to the table and happily joined their conversation.

    When enquired, he let them know how he and Tera became siblings. He did not hide the fact that he is a Tubian, but none asked about it. Lee did not feel like mentioning it, so he too let Gauthama guard his identity. After an extensive conversation that ranged from likes and dislikes, to their political and social views, Gauthama pushed the chair back and stood up from his seat.

    "Since we are all full and happy, shall we move to the main event of the day?"

 Chapter 120: Piscerent Citys Tri-annual Tournament

    Chapter 120: Piscerent City''s Tri-annual Tournament

    ''D, any idea where he might be taking us?''

    [I did a quick survey through the city and found that cultivators and adventurers go to three ces for training themselves. One is the Folx forest of the north, second is the Herin grasnds to the west and third is the Ora coastal ins to the east. All these three ces have their own distinct features. I have no idea as to where this Tubian is taking you all!]

    ''Copy that.''

    =====

    7 A.M.

    28384 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [And I used your Essence reserve to upgrade the Sand affinity.]

    ''Depleted?''

    [Nope, 74 points more to go. And I had left 10 Essence left in the reserve.]

    Lee was standing near the reception desk with a dejected face. He did not know where Gauthama was going to take them, and felt speechless as the Perrafin kept staring at the door behind the desk. The Tubian had gone inside and it had been a while. An and Tera stood by the door and talked to each other, whereas Mia and Rue were outside the inn. The antelope was joyfully hopping on the empty streets that were slowly brightening up. With his head leaned on the left arm which was supported by the elbow on the desk, Lee''s bend over figure showed an annoyingly amusing posture.

    "Sorry, took some time!"

    Gauthama spoke as he exited the door. Lee stared at him as he saw noticable changes in him. The hair wasbed backward, yet some of the less obedient strands were misced, and added beauty to his face. The pale greyish green coloured traditional mandarin-cor long robe he wore had ck cuffs, and was the epitome of grandeur. The attire outlined his lean and optimum stature. Unknown to Lee, his lower jaw was hanging down.

    The Perrafin felt an intense attraction from this person. It extended its neck over the desk and reached Gauthama''s torso. Gauthama rubbed its forehead and came around the desk and walked past Lee with a smile. Lee nced at Tubian''s feet and saw a pitch ck loafers that simply was ''WOW''.

    "Let''s go."

    Gauthama patted Lee''s right shoulder and walked towards the door. Lee spontaneously followed and was astonished inside as he just did that involuntarily. D gave a notice to stay alert at the presence of Gauthama.

    An and Tera saw the men walking towards them and walked out of the inn, and gave them way. Lee followed Gauthama and reached outside. Just like how the Perrafin felt, the antelope and Fero, who was lying on the ground, too felt the same way. Buddha patted their heads and turned and looked at the fourdies.

    "Please follow me."

    Saying this, he began to walk. An and Tera followed him as they talked about something, and Mia joined by their side. Rue followed behind them and Lee selected thest position. The daylight was colouring the sky with faint red hue, and the streets were getting visible. Lee did not feel that letting Perrafin walk through the streets was not a good idea, so he absorbed her into the EsGen. He did the same for Fero,but after contemting on the necessity of doing so. His reluctance was overruled by D and sucked Fero inside EsGen.

    [I have toment that though he is a Tubian, he looks more handsome than you.]

    Lee took a moment to nce at what he was wearing. The brown leather armour worn over his off-white tee was sleeveless. Considering D''s suggestion, he had brought a cotton underwear and a copper-lined pants made from the hide of a troll, to wear. Though that was not the shiest looking outfits in the Shop, D told to stay low, and I quote ''for fuck''s sake!''.

    "Good morning boy!"

    "Good morning Gautha!"

    People greeted Gauthama as he walked, leading the group. Lee gave a warm smile and an appropriate response as he paused his steps to greet them back. The shops were all in the process of opening, and many missed him passing by. Lee scanned the neighborhood as he walked, with the simultaneous usage of the Map and Foresight. Other than the interface upgrade, Lee found that the Foresight can be activated whenever he wants. Lee found that as the best addition to that skill.

    ''D, anything?''

    (A.N. I mistakenly typed Tycoon instead of Typhoon in a previous chapter. I apologise for the mistake.)

    [I am as clueless as you. Rather than going to the outside of the city, we seem to be walking towards the Typhoon n, one of the five giants.]

    ''What?''

    Lee pulled up the Map in his mind and confirmed what D just dictated. His brows knitted together with surprise and perplexion.

    [Are you sure about this Buddha character?]

    ''I haveplete faith in him. He is benevolent and is the only enlightened one my dimension, till date. If he was to do something malicious, neither me nor you can even raise a pinky against his will!!''

    Lee gave hisplete conviction in Gauthama''s character. He refused to think the other way about someone who was titled as the ''Tubian of Serenity''. Not that he did not want to, but he simply had no reason to think so.

    [Okay. I hope you are right. I will go and take a thorough scan throughout the city. Maybe I can find something useful.]

    Lee nodded internally and D went silent, and began to analyse the Map. The Map was able to show the city as a whole, but could not show that one tiny clue. It took Lee some time to notice those pieces of papers stuck on the buildings here and there. Lee froze in his tracks for a second and stared at the wall to his right.

    "Tournament?"

    Lee was filled with surprise and curiosity that he did not notice the loudness of his own voice. His words caught the attention of thedies. They halted and turned around to see Lee staring intensely at a piece of paper stuck on the wall. It was then they realised the existence of these papers all around them.

    The poster was a four inch square paper. The word ''Tournament'' was written big enough to catch anyone''s eyes. Below that was given the venue of the event, the Typhoon sect. A few conditions regarding the Tri-Annual Tournament were also enclosed with it. The convoy read the posters and got a grip of the situation.

    "I was trying to keep it as a surprise, but the posters spoiled it!"

    Gauthama spoke while shaking his head, and distracted them from the posters. When the attention waspletely on him, he paced forward and continued to walk. Tera followed his brother and gave a nce at the trio. They briefly scanned the conditions and continued their strides. Lee also walked side by side with them, while asking D to let him know of anything important.

    [I got ya back covered, boy.]

    -----

    The Piscerent City was more than 6.5 kilometres wide and almost 6 kilometres in length. As a coastal city, the presence of harbours and shipyards were a major attraction. A major source of ie came from long range marine navigation andmerce done via it. The prestigious existence of qvier Mana Academy attracted attention from the nearby viges and settlements. The Cultivator''s Guild acted both as a tutorial centre for blooming Qi affinity children, and a ce for earning ie through quests. The qvier academy also supported earning of ie through various missions, but still gave prominence for learning and mastering magic.

    The presence of these two gigantic pirs of education were always a reason of dispute. The students of Guild would im that Qi is much better than Mana, and students from Academy would shout vice-versa. Both of these establishments came into existence at the same time. For the first decade there were no frictions, but after that period of peace, some stupid but precocious children sprang up and gave a boon to both institutions. This rise on both sides sparked a struggle to im the higher position of power, and the source of that friction is unknown even after almostpleting one third of a century.

    The rise of the four powerful cultivator organisations inhibited the growth of the qvier Academy indirectly. The equilibrium between the Guild and the Academy for about 30 years were shattered when the two sects and ns arose to power. They did not rise as mere political powers, but were pioneers in certain areas of cultivation. But how they became giants of Piscerent City within a time span of almost two years after establishment, is often narrated to children as a story of sess!

    The Long Sect was known for their proficiency in puppetry. The term ''Long'' was actually used to denote the sect founder''s dream, to live long. The puppetry of the Long Sect was initially used to extend the life expectancy of the already centuries old geezers, and to give them a much stronger and eternal body. They were sessful in such repulsive and painful techniques for about a decade, until the puppet in which their sect founder''s soul was kept, exploded and disintegrated the soul and everything in a radius of 25 metres.

    The sect elders came up with a solution after many hours of discussion and contemtion. They decided not to extend their already possibly long lifespan, but to increase their strength with soul imprinted puppets, with Qi energy batteries. The idea faced repulsion until it was proved to be easy and less harmful than the sect founder''s greedy thought. Soon puppet cultivators became the iconic figure of Long Sect. The name remained so, tomemorate their sect founder who worked hard to raise the sect to the level it is now!

    Iron Shadow is a n where brute strength coupled with agility are given importance. The n nurtures cultivators which are weapon wielders of any metal. ording to their doctrines, a Cultivator''s weapon is the cultivator himself. Through years of knowing each other, the weapon and cultivator forms a bond, which empowers the cultivator''s overall performance. The cultivator always stays close to his weapon and slowly imprints his soul into it. The n gives importance to strength and agility which whenbined, can throw the toughest opponent into despair.

    The Moon Water Sect has very strict entry rules. Though a female majority sect, men can also join, but if only they castrate themselves. This is due to a deep rooted hatred to men. The sect founder, who was a woman, barely escaped from the hands of a group of bandits who chased her for a whole day. You know why they capture women, don''t you? This near-death experience made the sect founder establish a sect for the empowerment of women. It also passively sowed seeds of hatred in their disciples. Thus the disciples and members of Moon Water Sect stay unmarried till they die.

    As a feminist sect, it was a sess. After a few months of relentless poking from other sects and ns, they made their stand firm as the sect founder turned a perverted rogue cultivator to pulp, on the streets. This marked their history in publicizing their strength, which coincidentally rivalled that of other sects and ns. Soon, the other three requested the Moon Water Sect to join their alliance. It must be mentioned that whatever cultivation techniques they are using at the sect, it makes even the ugliest of women to the beautiful. The women are noticed to grow their assets to a level where men have troubles to pluck their eyes off those melons! Many had tried to snatch or kidnap the members of the sect, only to get beaten and castrated ruthlessly, and in the most painful way possible!

    The Typhoon n is an exclusive n which migrated to Piscerent City from a far off ce. That one thing which makes them different from other cultivators and organisations are their affinity. As the name indicates, their unusually stronger affinity to Air is quite astonishing. The elders of the n im that they are the descendants of the mystical skyfolks, and through their blood flows the essence of the winged predecessors. They use their Air affinity to substantiate their ims. Some of the city dwellers are said to have seen ascending winged figures from the sky at the most unexpected times of the day.

    Like their high Air affinity, their agility is also off the charts. The n teaches about harnessing the air around them and using it as their invisible and all-powerful weapon. In the past decades, some prodigies of the n have exhibited their truly exceptional and delicate air control. When ites to tournaments, this n is the most dangerous and many pray to avoid them in a one-on-one battle!

 Chapter 121: The Unexpected Contestant

    Chapter 121: The Unexpected Contestant

    =====

    8 A.M.

    28765 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [Your Sand affinity is now Greater grade. Total Essence needed to upgrade the remaining 6 affinities to Greater grade will take 895497 Essence. Letting you know.]

    Lee nodded to the Sovereign''s voice.

    "How long do we have to walk?"

    Mia was restless and was slightly panting. Though they were walking slowly, they had covered quite a distance. They should have reached the n premises early, but Gauthama took a slightly longer deroute so that he could let them see the beauty and diversity of the city''s shops. Unknown to him, An and Rue also were feeling discontent. The twin stars had not reached its peak glory, but gave offfort, and slightly burdened them with warmth.

    The density of people walking around increased steadily as they walked towards the Typhoon n. Due to yesterday''s incident, cultivators officially assigned to oversee the crowd and maintain peace on the streets were positioned on the top of the tallest building in the vicinity. Lee counted 12 of them in his immediate line of sight and 7 more through the Map, as he nced around through the corners of his eyes. The decorative things hung from building to building showed the importance of the tournament, and craftsmanship behind it. The shops were rtively crowded and the sales of almost all things were on a good swing.

    "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

    A loud annoying shout made the crowd on the streets turn their heads towards the origin of the voice. The sound of horse hooves can be heard faintly and it grew louder. People can be seen sitting on the slowly moving horses, which were not actually horses. Those wooden structures created in the form of a horse made wooden clopping noise as it separated the crowd into two. The very nce of these smooth and familiar textures reminded Lee of somethingst night.

    "Long Sect."

    Lee whispered and Rue, who was also observing these horse shaped mannequins, heard it and nced at his face, before staring back at them. As the horse puppets were walking past them, Lee noticed that these puppets were actually not one single puppet, but abination of multiple puppet parts. Even without scanning, D and Lee were able to identify the mechanical contraptions inside it and the internal positioning of the vital parts.

    On 27 horses sat 16 men and 11 women. The one that led the group had a strange aura around him, which D identified as the concealed pressure of a peak stage Emperor Immortal. He also added to not mess with that person for the time being, for his puppet, on which he is presumably seated, might be able to shatter the bones of Lee. Lee skipped his eyes onto the next one''s in the queue and saw two persons who had their cultivation concealed, yet which were identified as third and second stage of the Emperor Immortal realm. The 24 people behind them were disciples of the sect and wore robes of the same colour and the design of Long Sect, a puppet in lotus position, etched on its back.

    They easily passed the crowd and disappeared into the entrance gate of the Typhoon n. The guards of the hosting n recognised them and let them pass after showing enough respect. Unfortunately for themoners and spectators, they were not allowed to enter before 10 A.M. and without paying 3 silver coins.

    "Let us also enter."

    Gauthama nced at the familiar faces among the crowd and grouped them together, and walked towards the gate. An intense rush of people was experienced, as they moved closer to the gate.

    [Lee, 30 degrees north-east to you, a thief is trying to steal.]

    Lee paused for a moment, and nced at the coordinates. Two metres away from him, a man was trying to steal the money pouch of a man who was desperately trying to move forward, and unfortunately, did not notice the presence of a thief.

    Without a second thought, 2 Mana materialised in Lee''s right palm with strands of lightning in it. It instantly transformed into a thin needle and dashed forward from his palm. Lee did not make any noticeable movements and continued his pace to push through the crowd, as the needle hit the man and gave a mild electrocution. The thief was perplexed and went pale from the unexpected strike. He immediately turned around, but did not sense anyone with hostility. By the time, he nced back at the money pouch, that man had already walked forward and was lost in the crowd. The thief cursed the person who made him lose his prey grinding his teeth. But was the curse in vain?

    Tera, Rue, Gauthama, Mia, An and Lee pushed through the crowd and reached near the gates. The cultivator trio did not get their weapons stolen, as Lee used Information Transfer to send the summary of the incident just urred. Thus thedies had their arms rested on the pommel of their swords, in guard. They were also alerted by the warning and took caution against any potential perverts and faintly released their aura. Though small and weak, Mia and An were immediately sensed by the nearbymon folks and this had a safe passage to walk.

    "Halt there! Only contestants can enter!"

    The guards at the gate simultaneously restricted the ess to the inside, while maintaining the passively chaotic atmosphere. The guards were given orders not to reject anyone who wants to be the tournament candidates, and was thus given a seal to mark the said person as a tournament contestant. This was to prevent people entering early to the matches by iming as contestants, and lurking and spectating around afterwards. There were multiple times where this had happened, so they decided to implement the seal system, which used the ink of Lion Lily to mark, and does not go off unless a special liquid is applied. But there was also a rule that if more than two contestants are ready to participate in the tournaments, half of their number can enter by paying the usual fees of a spectator, and can enter with them. If the contestants are odd numbers, then the maximum number of people permissible will be half of one number lesser than the odd number.

    "We are six in number, in which four people are to participate in the tournaments and two people to apany."

    Gauthama gave a concise response to the guard who spoke just now. Upon hearing the reply, the guard allowed them six people to move towards the gate. There was a desk next to the gate, where people registered as contestants. On it was the seal ced, dipped in ink. Next to it were a few pieces of papers with names of contestants went inside before them.

    "Who all are participating?"

    The guard who stood near the desk raised the question.

    "These four people are participating. We two are here to apany them."

    Gauthama made their roles clear to the guard. The guard immediately calcted the amount of silver coins needed for them to pay.

    "9 silver coins for each contestant and 4 coins forpanions. Total 44 silver coins."

    The guard spoke and stared nkly at Gauthama. He immediately reached into his pocket to take money, but Lee patted his shoulder and said-

    "Let me."

    44 coins materialised into his left palm as Lee ced his right hand on Gauthama''s shoulder. The guard took the coins and counted and made sure the authenticity. Though they were coins used by the Kingdom of Venus, the purity of the coins were greater than that of the Piscerent City. So the guard smiled at this revtion and put the coins inside the desk''s draw and closed it.

    "State your names and affinities."

    The guard grabbed the papers and took the ink brush from its holder. He nced at the faces of the trio and Lee, with an expectation of a sudden reply. Lee noticed the millisecond changes in his expression and answered without dy.

    "Lee. Mana affinity."

    "Mia. Qi affinity."

    "An. Qi affinity."

    "Tera. No affinity."

    *ba-dum*

    [What?!]

    Lee and thedies could not help but instantly turn their heads and watch the siblings standing like nothing had happened. For Tera to participate was beyond their expectations. Rue was feeling an ufort in her chest as she was the fourth person to state name and affinity. She was mildly happy to hear that Tera was the fourth person, but was bbergasted like the others to hear that she has no affinity!

    The guard did not notice their amazed expressions as he had to stamp the seal on the outside of their palms and then go back to his position. So he promptly ced the paper on the desk and brush on the holder, and took the seal from its holder. As they watched, he applied a little bit of Qi into it and the stamping surface changed its number. The number that was already on the stamp was the previously registered contestant''s number, so the guard appropriately applied Qi to change the stamp surface to the next number.

    "Hold out your right hands, palms downward."

    The guard spoke and An, Tera, Lee and Mia extended their hands. The guard first stamped on Mia''s hand, and then changed the stamp to the next number, and stamped on Lee''s hand. The process repeated, and An and Tera got their stamp seals. The guards waved at them to enter and nced at the guard next to the gate and nodded. The small door next to therge and wide gate was opened and thepany of six people stepped into the sect nicknamed ''Typhoon Tycoon!''

    [Lee, they had to be messing with us. Just look at your stamp!]

    Lee simply had nced over the stamp and did not pay much attention to it. Heeding D''s words, Lee raised his right palm and gasped at the number on the seal!

 Chapter 122: Teras Twin Hatchets & The Test

    Chapter 122: Tera''s Twin Hatchets & The Test

    "508?"

    Lee was astounded to see such a high digit on the outside of his palm. He stood there and inspected the stamp while rubbing it with his other hand. He confirmed that it was a genuine seal of the Cultivator''s Guild which depicted a majestic bird with name unknown, spreading its wings to take off from a branch. The number was ced beneath the branch and wasrger than the branch and bird. A circle made of scales encapsted the digit and the symbol into one single circle. There were some vague letters and unintelligible writings on the scales. Lee dismissed them as he thought that they may be something like a motto of the Cultivator''s Guild.

    Hispanions also heard hisment and took a moment to scan their numbers too. Mia had the number 509, An had the number 506 and Tera had the number 507 on the outside of their palms. A collective amazement rose up in their hearts, as they couldn''t tell how about 505 contestants registered before them that day, as the time was barely reaching 9 in the morning. Tera saw their clueless curiosity, and exined it to them.

    "The announcement about the tournament was first dered about 12 days ago. There must be contestants who registered by directly going to the Cultivator''s Guild. There is no other way they might have achieved such a high digit by a few hours."

    Those confused became content with the exnation, but An had another question.

    "Why did you join the tournament? You don''t have either of the affinities."

    Tera smiled at her and gave a reply.

    "I don''t think that an affinity is necessary for winning. All you need is courage!"

    Her smile did not falter as she gave an amused expression to Gauthama. He took it as his cue to take out her weapons, and raised his both hands and brought them down to touch the back of his neck. As he pulled them out, thedies and Lee were staring at it like a child staring at the vibrancy of a peacock!

    Two ck hatchets rose from his back and were presented in front of them. Gauthama extended them and Tera took hold off her familiar twin weapons. As the twin hatchets danced in her arms, Lee, An, Mia and Rue were speechless to see this little girl they know of, was actually so skilled in handling them.

    The hatchets were 36 centimetres long. It''s des were 11 centimetres wide and 4.5 centimetres long at the longest part. The iconic design of less length, where the de connects the handle was eye-catching. The thin de of the hatchets were barely 2 millimetres thick. The lightweight of the hatchets were due to the high quality of Pumice Steel used for production. D was freaking out to see a pair of hatchets which have it''s handle and de made out like a single piece from the material known for its difficulty to melt, and the potentially explosive nature when it is in molten state.

    There were designs of flowers carved onto its handle, which simultaneously chipped off a small amount of weight. The delicate bnce of hatchets Tera exhibited was more than surprising for them. Gauthama knew that they would spectate her skills if left for the whole day, so he was about to break the visual feast, when a guard spoke up from behind-

    "The tournament starts at 10. So, go and determine your strength so as to find a suitable opponent."

    Guard''s words attracted their attention and they realised that they were still standing at the vast and wide path to the sect. The guard pointed to their right and said-

    "That stage has an apparatus to determine your strength. Go before the queue for the strength testing grows any longer!"

    The queue the guard spoke about was already a few tens of metres long. Quickly thanking the guard, they hurriedly reached near the queue. They saw the 24 Long Sect disciples standing in the queue, and the three those who escorted them standing a few metres apart from them. The Emperor Immortal realm cultivators were talking about something in a soft voice. Them and the disciples turned their heads as they heard the approaching footsteps.

    "I will stand here with Rue. You four go and join the queue."

    Gauthama spoke as he decreased his pace. Rue heard his words and promptly followed his actions. Lee and thedies quickly joined the queue. They were internally excited for the test, but the despised stares caught Lee''s attention. ncing around, he deduced that his appearance of an adventurer is not liked by the cultivators. Mia and An who were wearing cultivator robes caught the sight of men and women alike. Though wearing an outfit not fond of, Tera was able to not get the detested stares.

    The puppet horses they came on were obediently ced in a neat and organised manner. The wooden horses had manyplex lines running all over it. At a nce, it may look like a design. But D found out that these puppets are not actually horse shaped, but that shape is one among many shapes these transformable puppets can take. Upon deeper scanning with Map from all sides, D found that these puppets should have another set of hands concealed inside their body and weapons along with it. As D narrated the possible transformations, Lee surfed through his memories and found a mythical being that is supposed to have the shape of a human-horse hybrid, a Centaur!

    The cultivators standing in queue wished to go to thedies and talk to them, but the change in theirposure was immediately detected by the peak stage Emperor Immortal cultivator. He released a sliver of his aura and the Long Sect disciples, as well as An and Mia, felt the pressure. Tera, who had no affinity, also felt the immense amount of unfamiliar pressure and her legs almost gave away, but Lee supported her on his shoulders. After giving a few pats and asking whether she is okay, Lee stared at that cultivator who released a very tiny amount of his aura. To Lee''s astonishment, he saw those three elders with a visible confusion on their faces.

    Rue was protected by the overpowered existence of Gauthama, as his single breath dissipated the aura into nothingness. Rue, who had no idea of something of this extent had happened, was having a conversation with the Tubian. Though a man of Qi affinity, Rue found that Gauthama knows about Mana Mastery more than it seems. The reaction of the Long Sect elders were also noticed by him. He intentionally distracted Rue from that matter as he made her busy with her own experience narrations.

    The elders silently scoffed at Lee''s nk reaction to the Qi wave whereas Tera who stood next to him felt it. They judged him as someone who cannot even sense the basic energy of nature, and went back to their normal talks. The disciples decided to chat with thedies after they impressed them with their power disys on stage.

    -----

    =====

    9 A.M.

    28765 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The 24 disciples from the Long Sect tested their strength and got immediately allocated to a suitable opponent. They did not leave immediately, and waited for the four to have their strength tested. Lee could hear their annoying hushedughs, and he simply ignored it.

    Soon after Lee and his party had joined the queue, a lot of contestants came in to join the tournament. The queue went beyond 170 metres. People were anxiously waiting for their chance to get their strength tested. As Lee came closer to the stage, while standing behind An, Mia and Tera, he saw the simple yet effective apparatus.

    The apparatus for testing the strength was a veryrge greyish ck stone block that measured 4 metres in length, width and breadth. It''s smooth surface was devoid of any scratch marks and cracks, even after all the sword strikes and spear thrusts provided by the Long Sect disciples. Those who used bare-hands felt their fists going numb for over a minute. At the very first nce of it, D recollected some of his memories and spoke to Lee.

    [This is a Mi Stone. It is well known for its property to oppose any force it counters and nullifies it. If it ever happens to crack, it will begin to pulsate and the crack will disappear within no time. Mi stones are naturally urring stones in the depths of the ocean, and the waterfolks guard it with their life. If that thing is here, that means there once lived a hero in this city, who earned the waterfolk''s trust so much that they presented a perfect Mi Stone.

    Mi Stone nullifies all blunt and mundane force and only concedes to the energies of nature. Attacks imbued with necessary amounts of highly pure Qi and Mana can scratch the surface of the stone, and if more added, the stone can crack up. But the consequences will be greater, as the time it will take to heal itself will go beyond weeks and months.

    See that mechanical setup next to the stone?]

    The question was raised and Lee nced to where D pointed. A few mechanical contraptions and a meter disy was organised next to the stone, touching its sides.

    [Yes, as you have guessed, those are for disying the strength score. The opponent will be decided when two or more people have simr or near simr values as strength.]

    When D finished his exnations, Mia was already standing on the stage, right before the stone. As everyone was given only one shot to exhibit their strength, she mustered all her strength and drew her sword in a sh. The katana grazed the stone and it came back into the scabbard after a second.

    "Score 46."

    Mia quickly descended the stage and went near herpanions. Those who were standing in the queue appreciated Mia''s quickness in sword draw. The score from 40 to 55 was considered as an average score. Anything below it was achieved by people with no affinity, and anything above 55 signified the presence of genius among the crowd. If the score goes below 20, that person will have his stamp removed and could only spectate the matches. The money will not be refunded!

    Next was Tera. She stepped on the stage as her hands firmly gripped the hatchets. Since she had only got one shot, she decided to make it count. She raised both of her hatchets and brought it down, drawing an X on the stone. The stone was still unyielding, but the spectators saw sparks originating upon the brief moments of contact.

    "Score 38."

    When Tera came down, Mia embraced her in joy. Gauthama saw this from a distance and felt proud in his sister''s achievement. Rue, on the other hand, was trying her best to evaluate the Mi Stone. Some hooligans did try to approach her, but the presence of the Tubian of Serenity calmed their minds and dismissed such thoughts without a trace!

    An ascended the set of steps and almost all men who stood in the queue had a beat skip in their hearts. Her beauty contributed by the system feature ''Alter'' made her 28 years old face look like a 24 years old girl. Her physical appearance was not top notch, but was ample for any man who finds content in optimum requirements.

    *huff*

    An ced her right foot before and tilted her torso, and attained stance. Her legs firmly footed from the other, was slightly bent as her posture was leaned forward. Channeling all her strength to that one strike, she unsheathed her sword and it made a shallow, but visible cut in the stone.

    *zing*

    The voice of the stone grazed by a longsword which changed its de''s colour to faint pink, was a moment of awe and surprise. An took aplete 360 degree turn to bring the power she exerted to a halt. After the twirl, she unsheathed her sword as she beheld the mark made by her sword. She told herself that her contribution in the strike was less than the sword, and prevented herself from being so full of her.

    "Score 57."

    *gasp*

    A united gasp arose from the crowd before the stage. A genius had been born, many thought in their minds. An slowly descended the steps and walked towards her femalepanions. A group hug was unveiled as they shared excitement and praises. Some men and women stepped forth to establish a rtionship with An. But speak of the devil, that one person whom they all wished not to have here stepped forth with pride!

 Chapter 123: M脿i Stone & Strength

    Chapter 123: M��i Stone & Strength

    "You seem to have a very good future ahead of you. Why don''t you join us?"

    The prideful feminine voice disrupted the excitement shared by the trio. An looked over her shoulder and saw a woman in her early forties with an arrogant smug stered on her face. The immense repulsion An felt from that face made her remember many painful memories. Contrary to what the woman had expected, An ignored the woman like she was nothing. The woman began to rage up, but instantly calmed down as she remembered that she is the person in want, and the fake smile came back upon her face.

    "My name is Chu Hua, the current sect leader of Moon Water Sect. We stand as a beacon for the betterment of women''s lives. Join us and grow stronger. Make others be afraid of you. Let yourself be aware of-"

    "Stop!"

    *hushed gasps*

    The enticing speech of the Moon Water Sect Leader had brought many prodigious women to their side. Those that went with her hadter turned into a sleeper cell for their doctrines to spread vast and wide. While indoctrinating the superiority of women, they passively stamped on masculinity. Their higher rate of realm advancement after joining the sect attracted many women. A few men also joined them after abiding to their conditions. If it is about achieving strength, some would sacrifice their testicles!

    "I do not know you, and we have never met before. Please leave me alone."

    An gave a firm statement and politely declined her. The crowd around her was astonished. They inwardly felt pity for the genius girl who declined, and talked firm to the Moon Water Sect leader. Lee saw this, but he could not intervene, as it was his chance to go up the stage and test strength. As Lee walked to the stage, An smiled at him and gave a warm smile. Mia and Tera were also excited. Chu Hua saw this and made a rude remark.

    "Don''t tell me that this puny man is your friend. He is a pathetic weakling, and is evidently visible from his being!"

    Several Moon Water Sect disciples were standing behind Chu Hua, and they agreed andughed out loud. The crowd and those who came to test, also underestimated Lee from his attire. He did not mind what happened till now, and ascended the stairs.

    "Ladies, see how a pathetic young man wet behind his ears, is going to embarrass himself!"

    Chu Hua raised her voice and spoke to the disciples. A proud and arrogant smug appeared on their faces. They stared at Lee, just like how the Long Sect disciples were staring at him from a distance.

    [Don''t mind that jealous bitch, and I have some interesting facts to tell. Did I not mention the pulsating behaviour of the Mi Stone? I think that EsGen might be able to extract Essence from it!]

    ''What? Really?!''

    [It is a guess I arrived at, after considering andparing the behaviours of both EsGen and Mi Stone. ording to my calctions, it should work! But you will have to acquire quite a mass of Mi Stone for sessful experimenting.]

    ''Will a fistful be enough?''

    [Dream on, boy. It''s Mi Stone we are talking about. But, I won''t discourage. Try your best.]

    ''Then let''s get some stone!''

    Lee slowly walked to the stone so as to adjust his conversation with D. Chu Hua continuously spewed out mocking and discouraging words and tried to dishearten An''s belief in Lee, so that the prodigy would feel helpless and join the sect. For a leader, she was as cunning as a fox, and as lethal as poison.

    Many pairs of eyes judged Lee, who felt their piercing stares. He stood before the stone, an arm length from it. He was about to take out his de from the Inventory, when he saw the Iron Shadow n elders approaching An. The ill intent stares of surrounding men at Mia, An and Tera made him realise that he needs to do something to make them aware of his presence.

    *CRACK*

    Unexpected noise was unfolded on the stage, and everyone paused their actions and turned their heads. Chu Hua went pale and took a step back at the sight. The cultivators who underestimated Lee as a novice were wonderstruck. Those standing in the queue rubbed their eyes in awe. Tera and Mia were assured by An, that Lee would be able to score higher. But they never expected Lee to punch a hole in it. The stone at close range had his hand embedded into the stone to the elbow!

    Standing a foot away, Lee punched the stone with all his strength. An insane amount of 19000 Mana was used to cover his right arm as it went into the stone like butter. This feat was due to the immense amount of Mana he used, and the purity of the Mana produced by the system. Yet it gave his hand numbness so intense that Lee felt his right forearm frozen and immovable. After a dozen seconds, Lee pulled his hand out. The unscathed hand slowly got exposed to the daylight as it slowly came out. As soon as he pulled his clenched fist out, slight cracks spreaded around the hole. Lee raised his fist and brought it in front of his chest and opened it. His palm opened up towards his face, and crumbled Mi Stone dust fell from his grip.

    [Congrattions Lee. It''s a win-win situation. I carved out a 3x3 metres of Mi Stone from the inside of it and ced it inside the storage. EsGen produced 12 Essence in the first second. So I estimate that about 43200 Essence to be produced from this stone alone!]

    A grin crept up Lee''s face as he was still staring at the palm. The crowd went pin-drop silence and witnessed this anomaly. Lee nced at the spectators through the corners of his eyes and then turned his torso towards them. His eyes scanned over the presumptuous n heads and sect leaders that wanted to rope An into their establishment. His eyes gave a re that unconsciously made them take a step back.

    "Score 143!"

    ''Damn! It is indeed a win-win!''

    Lee descended the steps with a proud smirk stered on his face. The crowd automatically gave way to pass and he reached near hispanions unhindered. Mia couldn''t believe her ears and repeatedly nced at him and the disy. The man who shouted out the score had already fled the spot, and was running towards the Cultivator''s Guild. The crowd temporarily, andpletely forgot about the strength testing, and peered at Lee with utter amazement.

    "This is my wife, this is my sister, and this is the sister of someone you should never mess with!"

    Lee said as he pointed at An, Mia and Tera respectively. The crowd immediately moved away from the trio with a tinge of fear. As thedies saw this, Lee walked towards Gauthama and Rue. The trio promptly followed him and approached them.

    "You are full of surprises, brother."

    Gauthamamented on the unbelievable strength exhibition. He smiled at Lee and congratted the trio next to him with joy.

    "Since you all got your strength tested, let us go to the sect arena. Lee might not get an appropriate opponent, because I saw the man who stood next to the meter running out through the gate. So let us not stand here."

    Rue nodded in response and others agreed in response. Together, they walked towards the sect arena.

    The Typhoon Sect stood in a vast amount ofnd. The path to the sect from the gate was almost three hundred metres long and aplex of buildings waited at the other end. The disciples quarters were beginning to be visible on both sides of the path, after they covered half of its length. Male and female disciples had their rooms separated by the wide and long path running to the mainplex.

    The sect''s main building had two partitions, the core and the inner. The inner disciples are only admitted till the inner part, while the core disciples can have limited ess even till the elder''s assembly room. The strict hierarchy made many fall out in their journey, while many took it as a challenge. Those who strived and worked hard earnestly became core disciples and got many privileges.

    At the front of the main building, arge elevated tform can be seen. At the first nce, they saw and understood that it was the arena. Two sides of the arena had seats arranged, which were meant to be seated by the contestants. The pre-registered contestants had their names written on the seats, while the unnamed ones were for those arriving on the day of the match. Lee, An, Mia and Tera took seats in thest row. Gauthama and Rue went to the area which was specially dedicated for the spectators and found front row seats there. Lee asked D to scan the entire sect and to sketch out the it''s blueprint. For the next 20 minutes, Lee observed his surroundings, as the contestants, both registered and unregistered, came walking in and found seats.

    =====

    10 A.M.

    50365 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The notification came up and Lee unconsciously nced at the gate. The crowd was squeezing inside after paying the fee. As time went by, the crowd increased to a great amount, as well as the count of seated contestants. Long Sect, Moon Water Sect and Iron Shadow n took seats at the respective positions, but their eyes regrly nced at Lee. The disciples nced at him and the trio next to him. Thedies did feel the stares, and Mia almost unsheathed her sword in annoyance, but Tera restricted her. She gave advice not to do anything reckless, or they will be thrown out of the sect, without refund!

    *Gonggg...*

    A sonancy followed by a long hum originated from the sect building and the host of the tournament descended on the arena. He solidified his footing and turned around as he skimmed over the faces of the contestants and the spectators.

    "We thank you for joining us today in this Tri-annual Tournament. The Cultivator''s Guild president has not arrived yet, and I thank you all on his and the Guild''s behalf. Without any further ado, the preliminary rounds will be started. Bets can be ced, and no kinds of cheating are allowed in the matches. The contestant wins when the opponent is knocked out or admits defeat. Any weapon of choice is allowed, except those which can cause trouble to the spectators. Excessive use of affinity will also be restricted if those beyond the arena are affected by it. I will personally referee the matches. Hope I have made the rules clear."

    Turning around, the Typhoon n head descended the arena using the steps. He went to the host seat, near to which the Cultivator''s Guild president seat was situated. It was vacant, but the matches were scheduled to start by 10, and so it would start. Without any dy, the first pair of contestants were called on the stage.

    "Tera, Park Minzhe."

    The contestants were called for the match from the weakest to the strongest. Thus it became clear that she may or may not be the least powerful person among the contestants. Mia and An assured her and wished her luck, while Lee gave a confident smile. She rose up from her seat and walked towards the arena. As she reached on stage, a rtivelyrger frame rose up from the contestants. Tera literally heard her heart increasing the pace as she caught the sight of her opponent!

 Chapter 124: Tera vs Park Minzhe

    Chapter 124: Tera vs Park Minzhe

    Park Minzhe was an orc who left hismunity as he found his Qi affinity at an early age. He travelled for many years and amassed wild experience, and was finally introduced to the world of cultivation by an old shopkeeper as he wandered into Piscerent. The old man was a solitary cultivator living in the city, because he failed to pass the entrance tests of the four major giants at a young age. Keeping his shop closed for the weekends, the old man and Minzhe would go to the Cultivator''s Guild to take missions. It was for earning money, but it also gave teen Minzhe a lot of practical knowledge. He lived with his mentor for about 28 years, and the old man died at an age of 91.

    After his death, Minzhe went back in search of hismunity, but did not find any. So he came back to the city after dropping the search. He took the shop as his own and took great care of it, until the city had to renovate a great deal and the shop had to be demolished as a part of the development. Topensate with demolition of the memorial shop, he was given the membership of Cultivator''s Guild, which could only be acquired after a series of tests. The Guild took his mentor''s and his contribution in thest 8 years and thus granted the identity.

    After officially receiving his membership, he began to finish missions and acquire reward at a much faster pace. Though the missions he took were all hunting or gathering, he took great care to use his orcish sense of smell to detect the surroundings. Many times had he escaped death by the width of a hair, just because he trusted his olfactory senses.

    The reward for the Tri-annual Tournament were 1500 gold coins and a spatial ring. The demand of gold as the highest level of money transaction allured many, but it was the presence of a spatial ring that made them fight all out. Minzhe was looking to buy a new weapon as his double headed battle axe had some cracks from continuous usage for about 22 years.

    As he stepped onto the arena, the battle axe on his back was taken into his arms, andid horizontally on his shoulders. Tera disyed her Pumice Steel hatchets. After they firmly stood on the arena, Typhoon n head who was also the referee, shouted-

    "Fight!"

    To strike first was equal to stealing the win. Thus Minzhe cautiously stepped forth with his battle axe in his arms. It was ced in his arms in a way that he can swing it with ease and in almost all directions. Tera too gripped her hatchets and held them in front of her. Both of them took a few steps forward, yet there was still a lot of space between them on that 20 metres long and wide stage!

    "Haa.."

    Minzhe was tired of waiting, and he stepped forth with vigour. He swung his axe at her chest, which she easily evaded by stepping backward. He did not let her go as he twirled and brought down the axe with an intense amount of momentum from the 360 degree twist. Tera found that the speed of the axe had at least be twice. She couldn''t evade it, so she held her hatchets up and confronted the metal axe de.

    *Creak*

    A short shrill sound rose up as the twin hatchets grated against the axe de. The force pushed Tera backward, but she found a firm footing instantly. The axe passed and the orc''s backside was visible. She pushed herself with everything she had and aimed her hatchets at the backside of his fiery red robe. Just as her hatchets almost scratched the robe, Minzhe twisted the axe''s trajectory and it went up. Without any dy, he turned around and saw his target. The axe came down with immense strength and gravity did it''s part. Tera found herself in a troublesome situation. She stepped to her right, and missed the axe by an inch from her shoulder. The hatchets creaked against the axe de as it drew a straight line on it.

    *Bang*

    The sound of the axe hitting the arena floor was loud and clear. But there were no dents on the floor. The smooth and polished surface was reluctant to be deformed by the likes of a simple battle axe. The spectators and other contestants were aware of the material with which that arena was made. But Lee, An and Mia did not know that it was made out of Spirit Obsidian Rock. D quickly gave a short description regarding the properties of the special rock. Lee was surprised to hear that this rock is unyielding once it hardens into solid state from molten state. He nced to his left and saw An and Mia curious about the arena, so he promptly send the information into their heads. At once, they turned their heads at Lee and saw him giving a nod. With content with the information obtained, they focused back on the match.

    Minzhe was relentlessly attacking Tera with abo of attacks, which she evaded by a slight margin. He did not exhibit the arrogant attitude of screaming out his technique''s name, which was usual with cultivators. His breath was calm and his actions were fierce. Lee saw her attempts to evade nearing its limit as the axe began to scrape and tear her dress. He wanted to help her using Information Transfer, but he realised that it would only spoil her talent. So he decided to sit tight and spectate.

    A few secondster, Tera fell on one knee and admitted defeat as she rubbed her left shoulder. Her opponent made her twist and turn so much that she felt her own body crying from fatigue. Without waiting a moment, she epted defeat. Yet, she was happy that, she, who had no affinity was able to stand against an 8th stage Qi umtion realm cultivator, only by her courage. She immediately sprang up onto her feet and went back to her seat. The spectators did not lose the bet as they had bet on the cultivator rather than the girl.

    "You did great!"

    An and Mia were excited to see Tera fighting with no tinge of fear. They leashed their voice and congratted her, without being a disturbance to others. Lee too was surprised and happy to see someone with no affinity bravely fighting a cultivator. Tera sat on her seat and the next contestants were called into the arena.

    "Lian Mingyu, Xiu Fu."

    ---------

 Chapter 125: Drake Godson from Alaqvier Academy

    Chapter 125: Drake Godson from qvier Academy

    =====

    3 P.M.

    71965 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The heat wasparatively less prating, as Lee felt the clouds pacifying the intense daylight. The twin stars in the sky shone it''s light upon the whole and brightened the day. Food stalls were set-up by the Typhoon n to provide some refreshments for the spectators at a cost of bronze coins. Due to the lesser cost, almost all 23000 baked potatoes got converted to a heap of bronze coins. This was one way through which the hosting party can get an ie from the tournament.

    When the 302nd match finished, the time was past 3 in the noon. Most matches were knock-outs and instant defeats, but some were very interesting. A few female disciples of Moon Water Sect thrashed their male opponents and broke their limbs even before they could shout out defeat. The rules only restricted fighting after admitting defeat, so breaking their limbs before conceding was within the rule. After every match, the Moon Water Sect disciples would re at Lee for a moment before exiting the stage. The stare of repulsion was also visible in the eyes of the Iron Shadow n and Long Sect.

    Mia fought in the 121st match and won against a Typhoon n disciple. The air affinity cultivator was slightly perverted and tried to lift Mia''s outfit, but her agility helped her evade. She was able to repeatedly confuse the opponent with her nimble movements, and the pervert used his air affinity to disrupt her rhythm. The Typhoon n disciple admitted defeat as she strategically closed in on him and ced her katana at his neck. The de pressed to his neck as he was reluctant to lose. But her intense re of hate and rage unconsciously gave him a shiver up his spine.

    An had to face an inner disciple of the Iron Shadow n in the 187th match. But the fight was short lived as that female cultivator underestimated An who had a longsword with her. Unbeknownst of its strength, the Iron Shadow n disciple dashed at An. The sword was swung at An''s neck and the longsword''s de drew an arc in the air, while cutting the opponent''s weapon in two. The cultivator went pale at the aight, but she could not evade An''s sidekick which came like a sledgehammer. The kick and loss of confidence finally resulted in trembling limbs and shattered self-esteem. Staring at her sword which had a de cut in half, she reluctantly admitted defeat while grinding her teeth. An sheathed her sword and walked away, but a lot of eyes had found that luxuriously decorated and mysterious sword as their target to steal. An did not mind those annoyances, as she was confident to keep her own sword safe and sound.

    A few wizard disciples of qvier Academy also participated in the tournament. Their unique uniform robes were eye catching, but their skills took a few seconds to chant. One or two among the wizard disciples used Mana to strengthen their physical attributes, so as to evade the strikes of cultivators. Except for one who ran out of Mana and lostposure and concentration, all others won against the cultivators.

    Even after almost two hours, Lee was not called for a fight. D assumed that his immense strength had made him a unanimous winner. As Lee too epted that suggestion, an old man in robe approached him.

    "Good day gentleman. Are you the person named Lee?"

    "Yes I am."

    Lee answered involuntarily even before he could notice the man''s face in detail. He was of medium height and was lean. He wore a robe that had ck and green threads intertwined and gave off a strange aura. Before exploring further details, D spoiled his observations.

    [He is a wizard.]

    Lee scanned him from top to bottom as he stood next to him. As there was no hostility arising from him, Lee turned to his femalepanions and said that he will be back within no time. Hearing this, the trio saw the wizard next to him and scanned the appearance. Their observing stares made the man ufortable and asked Lee whether he can spare a few moments with him.

    "Okay."

    Lee had no reason to deny his request so he stood up from the seat and followed the man. They walked a little away from the chairs and began to converse.

    "I was able to know that you have Mana affinity. Is that true?"

    "Yes. It is true."

    The man introduced himself as Drake Godson, the H.O.D of Spell department in qvier Academy. He extended his right arm, and Lee received a firm handshake. He gave a short introduction about the academy and then enquired about Lee.

    "What elemental affinity do you have, son?"

    Lee paused for a moment and went into thought as he asked D which one he should tell. D gave him a suitable answer which he was to repeat.

    "I do not have an affinity to any element. I can use Fireball, Waterball and Windshots."

    Drake was astounded to hear and toe across someone who has no specific affinity. He did not probe any further and ask him about his source of knowledge, but was very much interested in his strength score of 143. He wanted to ask how he did it, but decided not to as curiosity may ruin this talk.

    "I came to escort my students and to spectate the matches. Even if you lose, I would like to extend an invite to join the academy. I am here with a few of my students who are participating in the matches. You might have noticed them on stage. Thank you for sparing your time."

    Drake gave a warm smile and slightly gave a bow. Lee took his respect appropriately, and bowed his head in response. Just then, an announcement resonated through the air.

    "About three decades before, a peak stage Prime Immortal realm cultivator scored 89 in the Mi Stone strength test. The record stayed undefeated until today, when a person with Mana affinity scored 143!!"

    The crowd plunged into utter chaos of awe. The silence was totally reced by loud noises of curiosity. Except for the two ns and sects, all was in astonishment to hear the score 143. The stagnant and discontent aura enveloped around the n heads and sect leaders as they nced at the announcer.

    "As he did not have any opponents, the rules were slightly changed to ''Anyone who defeats the person is the winner of the tournament''. The rule also added that the unrivalled person can only be on his/her defense. The cultivator was defeated by a Qi Sensing realm cultivator who tricked him to fall into his trap from his blindspot. Thus that cultivator acquired the prize money and the spatial ring.

    The same shall be done. The person must try to defend and evade attacks from others while maintaining his position in the arena. Any offensive movement will be counted as defeat. This is not a one-on-one match, but a group event!"

    The cultivators went ecstatic and cautious as they heard the announcement. They were happy to hear the favourable change in rules, but were cautious as the person whom they are supposed to attack has a 143 score in the strength test. As they were eagerly waiting, the announcement called for him.

    "Lee, please step onto the stage!"

 Chapter 126: Against The Punks Alone

    Chapter 126: Against The ''Punks'' Alone

    ''So be it!''

    Lee excused himself from the conversation and took steps towards the arena. The crowd and the contestants saw the handsome ck haired man walking towards the arena. As whispers and hushed doubts arose, Lee reached the arena.

    [Piss them all off, as usual. But make sure not to let go of the price.]

    ''Okay. But you know that I don''t know the spells Fireball, Waterball and Windshots, right?''

    [All it takes is a little creativity for you to have those skills and techniques.]

    ''Hmm.... So I am to weave spells and knit together martial techniques myself!''

    [You catch up very quickly. Now go and make some enemies.]

    Lee was ncing around as he was talking with D. His eyes skimmed over the faces of men and women around the arena. In an event where even the crowd can participate, the chances of winning the prize were never zero. As he nced at the announcer, he gestured back at him to introduce himself.

    "My name is Lee, and I am here for the reward. Fight me if you have pride in you, punks!"

    The aura of peak stage Soul Condensation realm cultivator erupted and swept across the arena, and Lee turned his head in the direction. The cultivator sprang up and jumped from where he stood. As the man descended, his figure appeared above Lee, with his leg ready to shatter our MC''s head.

    Lee stepped forward calmly and the leg brushed past his hair and descended right behind him. Within a fraction of seconds, the cultivators, both male and female came homing in at Lee. An and her sisters did not move as Lee had told them not to intervene.

    Like an acrobatic disying spectacr and daring nimbleness, Lee simply was jumping all over the arena. The stage soon began to fill in with more and more people. So Lee decided to piss each one and use their punches to throw others out of the stage, and it worked like a charm. Whenever he evaded a hit or punch, it wouldnd on someone who was either behind or beside Lee. The simultaneous usage of Foresight and the Mapade this endeavour simple as pration!

    [Lee, I think this is the best atmosphere to learn something new.]

    ''Enlighten me.''

    [The EsGen is your only means to extract Essence. But if you have enough focus, you might be able to use it outside the storage.]

    ''Now is the perfect timing. Teach me how.''

    [Like I said, concentrate. The EsGen might try to take people in, but you will have to resist the suction and extract the Essence. Make sure you have ample contact with people so that enough Essence can be generated. I leave the rest to you. Find it out yourself.]

    Lee did a somersault as a spear and a sword tried to attack him from his sides. Right after Lee raised and straightened his body, a woman''s palm hit his chest and made him take a few steps back stumbling. An immediate twirl made him regain his bnce and saw the face of the woman.

    Chu Hua grinned like a greedy animal as she saw him stumbling for a moment. The cutthroat atmosphere made her pounce on him like a hungry tiger, but Lee evaded and went past her like wind. The overall atmosphere turned more hostile as Typhoon n head joined the fight. Intense air currents swept through the arena and shed to Lee''s body. As he expected, his Air immunity began to develop at 3 points per second rate.

    *sh*

    Finally, a cut managed tond on Lee. The Iron Shadow n head sessfully tore his sleeveless wear. The intense windmade everyone go on the defense and nobody noticed that the cut couldn''t made a scratch on his skin. After a minute, the leaders panted as they withdrew, so that others may take this chance. But Lee was quicker.

    His foot pressed to the obsidian tform and charged forward. Seeing him charging ahead, many swords and maces came down on him. A certain umted irritation erupted as Lee swung his arms. The collision of his forelimbs to the swords made them bent and break. The maces bounced back after hitting his body. It must be said that he was enduring all his pain for a while.

    There were moments when Lee would lose it, and his fist would extend at the surrounding crowd. But the realisation that he must stay on defense, always resonated in his mind. D also reminded that these are all part of the training he must go through. He urged to focus not on the pain, but more on the flow of the surroundings. Lee restrained his anger and converted that erupting pressure to empower his resolve, and the result was amazing. Even the peak stage Emperor Immortal cultivator felt that his movements have be more organised and minimalistic, while achieving higher efficiency andposure.

    Lee began to lessen his running around and slowly came to a halt at the center on the arena. His moves were incredibly organised and developed to evade innumerous strikes and punches. The hits no more touched him and were merely brushing past him body. Chu Hua thought that he is going into ''Battle trance'', a rare state in which a person bes one with his surroundings through his senses and movements.

    "Use elemental attacks."

    She shouted at the heads and leaders and everyone who heard her found the situation moving towards difficulty. They observed his being and was astonished to see not a single drop of sweat on his forehead or cheek. No signs of exhaustion were present, and they felt an imminent need to unleash their Pzy.

    [Beware, Their Pzys are about to manifest. If you are lucky, you might acquire an immunity or two.]

    Lee nodded and took guard as the cultivators took a distance from him. Slowly, their affinity souls began to materialise.

    [We have Fire, Water, Ice, Wind and Rock around us. Make sure to benefit from them.]

    ''Can I use them for extracting Essence?''

    ''No. Once it is severed from its host, the soul disintegrates. You might have to take both the soul and the cultivator inside to extract Essence.]

    Surrounded by elemental souls called Pzys, Lee scanned them with caution. His eyes did not detect the presence of any invisible Psy, as only a very few affinities can create such marvelous and overpowered souls. Lee did not feel much happiness as he can increase his immunity with his own affinities as he had them beforehand. The necessity to fight back and relieve stress was at the verge of flooding his mind.

    But fate did not let his hand go. Drake Godson mentioned something to the announcer and he remembered something as he raised his brows in agreement. As all the sect leaders and n elders were trying to harm Lee, the conscience of the announcer spoke up involuntarily.

    "....."

 Chapter 127: Veil Of Whiteness

    Chapter 127: Veil Of Whiteness

    "Umm...There was something that I forgot about. In the fight three decades ago, the unrivalled man was given permission to fight, after being subjected for about half an hour defending the attacks. It was after this half an hour that he was tricked into being thrown out of the arena. The half an hour given to contestant lee ends....now!"

    The announcement attracted the attention of everyone. But the content of the announcement disturbed everyone. It took everyone a second toprehend what the announcement was all about, and those who understood the underlying meaning had their eyes going high and wide. This was like releasing a jailed prisoner to run amok. The bristles of those who stood on the stage stood up as they readied themselves to face the resistance. They raised their guard against the dragon that got its choker unscrewed!

    "Veil of Whiteness!"

    A happy smile spread over his face as Lee had his head and shoulders drooping in joy. His stance was well footed, and his knees were slightly bent to lower the centre of gravity. As he uttered these words, those around him felt the waves of unknown depth rushing at them.

    An astonishing disy of lightning filled the arena to the brim. Like a holy angel descending on to the ground, the arena was too bright to behold. Around 86 people who surrounded Lee in the arena disappeared into the brightness. After a dozen of seconds, The border of the whiteness erupted and a wave of flickering lightning leaped out and dissipated into thin air. Those who were lucky enough to jump off the arena as soon as they heard the message thanked fate for letting them do so, as he saw the spasming bodies on the arena. A few spasmed, but many were immobile and still like a stone. Numb and knocked out figures fell onto the arena floor like tree logs falling off the truck. The faint smell of roasted meat and a wave of hot air greeted those who neared the arena.

    At the centre of the arena was a man. His drooping figure and slightly bent knees luckily enabled him to maintain his posture even after intense electrocution. Lee thanked the same fate that brought him to Zaxaluke, as he did the most reckless and dangerous thing.

    You might have guessed it right. Lee released the Law fragment of Lightning and the Thunder from his EsGen storage and showered it''s blessing on those who stood on the arena, including him. He knows well about the behaviour of thew fragment, so he used all the Mana he had to create a thick insting cover around him, which also acted as a conductor to transmit lightning to all directions. In addition to this, he also channeled his own affinity to the Mana, which made him go mildly numb, while giving immunity!

    The spectators were in awe. Like that one tree unyielding to the forest fire, Lee stood there and gave people a new perspective to look upon. Like the others, Lee too had the charred looks and burnt smell from his body. It''s just that Lee''s was a lot milder whenparing with others, who got roasted to their core. Many of them had their clothes disintegrated by the energized lightning.

    *hushed audible voices*

    For over a minute, Lee stood there like a statue, and then began to move. He sluggishly walked to the steps of the arena, descended it and headed towards where An, Mia and Tera were sitting.

    *k-dak*

    With a controlled fall, his ass kissed the chair with a faint voice. The crowd went bananas and began to chant Lee. Even with over two hundred people chanting out loud, nobody in the arena woke up. They were knocked out deep and would probably suffer from imbnce and difort, D assumed and let Lee know.

    "I won!"

    Lee straightened his spine and raised his head, and his eyes caught the sky. After a brief moment of stretching, his numbness had subsided by a great extent. Seeing the respective sect and n disciples removing their mates from the arena, Lee gave 9ut a muffledugh. The trio saw this sight, but restrained their urge. He turned his head at An and skimmed his eyes through the faces of Tera and Mia before bringing his eyes back to the face of his wife. She was, at the moment, checking his face and hands, as she saw the charredplexion and the smell rising from them.

    "I am okay."

    Lee saw the concern in her eyes and let her know that he was perfectly okay with what that had happened. She let go of his forearms and observed him. As Lee heard a pair of footsteps approaching, he turned his head and saw Drake Godson along with another old man. The second man wore a cultivator''s robe, and the sword in its scabbard hanging from his waist confirmed Lee''s visual assumptions. A noticeable resemnce between Drake and this cultivator caught his observations.

    "The winner of the Piscerent City Tri-annual Tournament is Lee!"

    That cultivator was Xavi Godson, the president of the Cultivator''s Guild, and coincidentally the twin brother of Drake Godson. He shouted out aloud and the winner was decided. He also said that this is a historic moment for the first time in the history, because a Tri-annual Tournament was concluded without semifinals and final matches, and in one day!

    =====

    4 P.M.

    71965 Essence harvested.

    =====

    [The vitals of the bodies of those who are rescued are in good condition. That means all of them are alive and we canter pay them a visit so as to steal them and their affinity souls. I have ced locators on the high level cultivators we came across, so we can track them easily. Don''t worry about them for now.]

    The crowd soon dispersed from the n premises and the area became vacant, except for a few cultivator disciples ring at Lee and hispanions. Lee felt the re and stare right into their eyes, which made them twitch and turn around to break the eye contact. The qvier Academy disciples came next to Mr. Drake and stood, while scanning Lee''s charred attire.

    "Can you introduce yourself? I am curious about your identity!"

 Chapter 128: Hall Of Fame

    Chapter 128: Hall Of Fame

    *huff*

    Lee stood up casually, and dusted him off of the ck marks. The unscathed skin below the ck hue made Xavi and Drake frown in surprise. Three lone cultivators approached Xavi as they saw him standing near Lee. They were also wondering about the identity of this young man.

    "My name is Lee. I have Mana affinity with no specific element."

    Peter turned his head around and nced at An and Mia.

    "She is my wife, and that is my sister. She is the sister of my friend."

    He pointed at An, Mia and Tera respectively and conveyed the rtionship between the trio and him. Gauthama and Rue were slowly approaching them, and their footsteps were silent. Thedies caught the sight of theming closer and moved towards the druid. They exchanged words of excitement and joy immediately.

    The Tubian came and stood next to Lee. Lee gave a nod at him.

    "The umtion of rage and pain helped you a great deal. But it was your resolve to end the fight without dy, that brought you victory."

    Gauthama made a short remark as a response for Lee''s nonverbal enquiry. The twin brothers heard the remark and nodded in appreciation.

    "May I know who you are, sir?"

    Xavi asked Gauthama as he noticed the attire that is simr to a cultivator. He introduced himself as an inn owner, and added that Tera was his sister.

    "I would like to talk to Mr.Lee privately. Could you spare a moment?"

    Drake extended his request to Lee, hoping that he might not get rejected. Lee was about to say yes, when Xavi interrupted.

    "Why don''t we finish the formalities of the tournament and reward the prize first?"

    Hearing this, Lee nced over his shoulders and saw the vacant ground in front of them. He nodded in response as he turned his head to nce at Xavi.

    ------

    =====

    5 P.M.

    71965 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The Cultivator''s Guild.

    Xavi Godson led Lee to the Guild, while Gauthama took his sister, Mia, Rue and An to the inn. Drake excused himself and departed from the tournament premises with his students. Before leaving, the academy students introduced themselves to Lee and sowed the seeds of friendliness.

    The Cultivator''s Guild was arge building, much bigger than the Adventurer''s Guild he saw in the Lorin city. It would be an understatement to call it a building, because it was a wholeplex of shops and the guild rted rooms. The twin storeyed building had a vast area for practice and sparring, and also for evaluating the realm.

    The shops were not exclusive for cultivator and Qi rted stuff, but had Mana rted potions and artifacts, as well as armours and weapons of all kinds. For these purposes, the previous guild presidents took great effort in bringing dwarves and elves into the city and residing them here. The dwarves made excellent weapons, while the elves made potions and pills for living. Though everyone is allowed to make trade individually, the Guild can passively promote your products when they are being disyed in the guildplex shops. Thus a major portion ofmerce is through the Guild.

    As he was following the Guild president, Lee scanned the entireplex with the Map and his eyes skimmed over a number of objects. D reminded him that there was nothing here worth noticing. After a few minutes, as Lee was walking behind the Guild president, D noticed an anomaly in the vicinity.

    [There is a weapon in the vicinity with an immense amount of resentment in it. On your 9. You might be able to feel its very faint repulsion. Take a note on it, and continue walking.]

    Lee slightly turned his head to the weapon shop on his left. It was not too luxurious nor dull. As Lee concentrated, he was able to feel a slight pressure emitting from the inside of the shop. Others don''t seem to have noticed this. He kept his pace and walked away, and asked D to ce a pin on the shop, in the Map.

    Xavi Godson walked to the second floor of the building, with Lee in tow. Many noticed the good-looking and ragged man behind the president and had many doubts arise in their minds. Some scanned Lee top to bottom and some felt repelled from his adventurer outfit. But these were not worthy of his notice, as he continued to sweep the entire area with his senses. Apart from the resentful weapon, only a drooling fragrance was able to turn his head.

    Both of them entered a room that wasbelled ''Hall of Fame'' above the door. The purpose of the room was self exnatory. The twin doors opened as the president directed his Qi into the door handle. Stepping inside, the wooden floor gave off a warm brownish golden hue. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling was majestic and feast to the eyes. Entering the door, Lee found themselves standing at the right most corner of the wide room. Turning his head to the left, arge array of portraits decorated the wall. Right below those portraits were a metal b giving a brief introduction about the person above.

    "This Hall of Fame is the record of the winners of the Tri-annual Tournament. And it was here that all the previous champions received their prize and established a rtionship with the Guild."

    As Xavi waved his hands, a small door opened on the ceiling and a golden tray descended. D identified it as an artifact that works on a predetermined set of rules and conditions. He found it harmless and conveyed it to Lee. On the tray was a ring with faint red and blue stripes running diagonally on the grey surface. It was made out of an alloy of Vixen Phoenix''s bone and Gargantua Rock, andter annealed in Fire Smander''s blood.

    But the rolled up contract ced next to the ring caught Lee''s attention. He remembered Xavi telling something about establishing a rtionship with the Guild. D advised to stay calm and let the time unroll the information. Lee threw his assumptions in the trash bin and eagerly waited for the president''s exnation. Xavi nced at Lee, and only saw his nk poker face.

    [But I am having an ufortable feeling from that rolled piece of paper. So be on caution!]

    D sounded his opinion, and Lee raised his guard inside and sharpened his senses to the maximum. The regr and rhythmic heartbeat of Xavi Godson became audible to him. As each second passed, Lee was ready to face anything!

 Chapter 129: "Who made this scythe?"

    Chapter 129: "Who made this scythe?"

    The daylight was painting itself with yellow colour. The window panes let the evening warmth fill inside of the room. The long rectangr blocks of light reached till the skirtings of the opposite wall. Guarded by the blockade of light, Xavi and Lee stood there in the shade of the wall.

    "This is the promised Spatial ring, and inside it contains the 1500 pieces of gold."

    Xavi picked up the ring and handed it over to Lee. The alloy with which the ring was made, was something only exclusively avable in Piscerent city. Not only that it is exclusive, it needs a bone taken from the body of a Vixen Phoenix while it was still alive, to forge this tiny trinket. If a Perrafin can fight toe to toe with Lee, then it will take almost three Perrafins to bring down a single Vixen Phoenix. The incredible regenerative ability of this ferocious green blooded bird is something worth apuding. There are some cultivators in the city who specialize in poison, which is the bird''s weakness.

    The Gargantua Rock was another troublesome thing to obtain as it has a property of swallowing up energy from its surroundings. If you ever get in contact with the stone, it will start to suck your vitality dry. There had been many reports of people almost being sucked dry of their energy. The stone does not have any peculiar physical feature, but it can be located where there is a huge deficiency of energy in the atmosphere. Somerge deposits of these rocks can be found out by sensing the flow of Qi or Mana in the vicinity.

    [Feel the Space Law and the gold coins in it.]

    Lee held it with his index and thumb fingers and sensed the Law of Space inside the ring. D exined that the Law of Space violently active in the Gargantua Rock is pacified and moderated by the Vixen Phoenix''s bone. The blood was to seal the forged product''s quality, D added.

    After confirming the presence of 1500 gold coins inside it, Lee slipped it into his pocket. What Xavi saw was him safely cing it inside his pocket, but that ring had been stored in his Inventory. Lee patted the pocket of his leather pants, as an act of securing it. He let his eyes wander around and saw the portraits of the previous winner. The existence of elves, dwarves, orcs and even a waterfolk, an ''Amphisapien'' to be exact, was present among the long queue of records. While Lee was acting busy with the scanning of portraits, D was observing Xavi as he picked up the rolled paper piece on the tray.

    As the paper was taken from the tray, the artifact immediately left and disappeared into the slit on the ceiling. Xavi slowly unrolled the paper. D scanned the paper at once and found out that it was an agreement. No wonder he felt ufortable, as it was in apletely foreign script. Lee gave his ears to D''s review and averted his eyes from the portraits,to the scroll.

    "This is a scroll that every winner before you had acknowledged. The contents are simple. Join the guild, be aw-abiding citizen and follow the rules."

    D felt that there is more than what he said in the uses enclosed in the agreement. Even before he suggested, Lee had spoken up.

    "I am a Mana user. I cannot join the Cultivator''s Guild."

    The statement was firm and solid, and the president was slightly ticked. Covering up his displeasure, he smiled and continued.

    "But you will have to abide by the rules of the city."

    "That, I shallply."

    The conversation ended and Xavi led Lee out of the room. Exiting the Hall of Fame, the president gave a firm shake of hand after advising to go through the shops of theplex.

    Lee gave a nod in return, and left the scene. As his figure moved away and disappeared, the smile on the president''s face faded off. His face reflected an immense sense of caution and repulsion towards someone. Unbeknownst to him, D was able to sense these concealed emotions.

    [Looks like the past was not pure for the Guild. Lucky that we showed your Mana affinity. It was because of that we escaped the possible threat. But the problem does not end. You as a Mana user, is a thorn in the eyes of most cultivators. Try contacting Drake Godson quickly as possible. Gauthama will confirm the safety of yourpanions. And don''t forget about the weapon I mentioned downstairs.]

    A lot of things were said by D as Lee descended the stairs. As Xavi rmended, he decided to stroll through theplex. Weapons, potions, pills, artifacts, talismans, dresses, jewelleries, herbs and raw materials for almost every job could be found inside of this gigantic architectural masterpiece.

    ''D, the spatial ring has spacew, right? Can it be considered as aw fragment?''

    [No. Law fragments are pure and endlessly potential. They maintain a connection with their respective Amortals. The spatial ring, on the other hand, is a bag of spatial extension where the Vixen Phoenix''s bone and Gargantua Rock co-operate to form a spatial pocket with an area inside. The ring only mimics thew to an extent, while thew itself can bend and bind the space. I hope the resultant form of your soul and it''s sentience does not give birth to a monstrous entity.]

    ''Whatever! Update the money stat, and spot a good clothing shop.''

    [Okay.]

    Lee walked towards the cksmith shop D had pinned on the Map. He can faintly sense the consistent resentment of the weapon originating from the inside of a ss box set on disy. Lee entered the shop and a young girl of about Mia''s height approached him.

    "Hello sir. How can I help you?"

    Lee immediately greeted her in return and spoke.

    "Oh hi. I just caught the sight of that one from the outside. I am only here to take a look at it."

    "Oh."

    The girl followed Lee''s pointed index finger and saw the weapon he mentioned. She immediately made a remark of appreciation and took a step back as he was only here to inspect it. She was at ease, as she knew that that weapon can easily attract people in because of its unique shape. As she expected, Lee took a step forward and inspected it closely.

    [Lee, this thing has an unnatural amount of resentment in it. If this weapon stays here for a long time, there is a chance that those in the shop may get their souls corrupted. First, find its source. Ask the girl who made it!]

    Lee gave a nod at D''s opinion and turned his head to look at the girl. She was staring somewhere else, but as soon as she noticed Lee looking at her, she assumed his question.

    "Who made this scythe?"

    The girl gave a smile as she assumed right. Taking a step forward, the girl began to unravel the story of the scythe.

 Chapter 130: Kiramium, The Scythe Of Souls

    Chapter 130: Kiramium, The Scythe Of Souls

    "The scythe is named ''Kiramium''. The name is etched on the handle itself. The origin of the weapon is unknown as we obtained this through an auction about 8 years ago. The person who auctioned the scythe found it inside a cave, wrapped by vines."

    Lee nced at the girl''s face with a raised brow, and then turned towards the scythe. He scanned the unique shape in detail. The sandy brown colour designs running on the ck background of the handle, and the deep grey curved de with a design of few holes on it, was spectacr. The thirty centimetres long handle embedded sophisticated craftwork. Lee wanted to touch and feel the texture and material of the scythe, but D warned not to.

    [The de is made out of Sironite Metal. It has been corrupted to the core with all these wailing souls in it. The metal itself is an inducer of nightmares, so I can only assume that the person who made this weapon is a psychopath who would not even want to let the souls go free. If I am correct, Spotless might be able to liberate them from the torment.]

    Lee heard the report and acknowledged the fact. D added that it is okay to buy it, because he is immune enough to its effects. So deciding to buy, Lee turned around and neared the girl.

    "I would like to buy it!"

    Unlike all the previous customers, Lee decided to buy the scythe and the girl was amazed. Many were attracted by the strangeness of the scythe, but not one exhibited their wish to but it. Maybe it was waiting for the right owner, she thought.

    "Great choice, sir. Please follow me to the desk."

    The girl enthusiastically spoke and led him to the reception. There was an older woman sitting at the desk and the girl conveyed Lee''s wish to buy the scythe, to her. She nkly scanned him top to bottom and nced at the scythe.

    "It has been sitting there for a while and has been a major attraction to the customers. Judging from the delicate artwork on its body, it will cost about 190 gold coins."

    Lee gave a frowned look at her. She understood what he was thinking and rified the situation.

    "It has been on disy for over 8 years and it has not shown one sign of aging or corrosion. It will probably stay razor sharp for the next century and may even till the end of the times. That is why the price is high."

    Lee nodded and asked D to do something.

    ''Transfer 200 gold coins into my original ring.''

    Lee poked his fingers inside his pant''s pocket and pulled out the ring he first brought when he was in Eturt vige. He wore it in his left hand''s ring finger and took out 190 coins from it. The coins started to fall on the counter and made ng noise continuously. The sound attracted the other customers inside the shop and they witnessed this sight. Lee stopped the flow of coins as the leftover gold inside the ring was reduced to 10.

    "That is 190 gold coins."

    The prize was pretty high for a normal weapon. The woman did not try to bargain the rate again, but she regretted underestimating the poor attire of the man. She would have added a few hundreds more, if he was in good attire. Without sparing a nce, Lee walked to the scythe and took it into his spatial ring. The souls embedded in the de of scythe screamed more vigorously as the weapon went into the ring. The scream was audible tomon folks, and many panicked upon hearing this. The whole ground floor of the Guildplex became chaotic, but none were able to pinpoint the origin of the screams. The woman at the counter had a slight doubt as to its origin, but Lee too acted being panicking and averted her assumption to the darkest night.

    Putting up an act of caution and alert, Lee stepped out of the shop and moved towards theplex entrance. He consciously maintained the act and blended with the truly panicking bunch of people. He joined the flow of people who were rushing to exit the supposedly ghost haunted building.

    [Lee, I have analysed the scythe and found some interesting facts. One, the souls trapped in the scythe''s de ranges to a diverse variety of animals. Two, all of these souls have one or more affinities and almost all kinds of elemental affinities can be sensed from them. Three, the de acts as a container for housing the souls and theck of attention and maintenance are what is causing the souls to wail continuously. Four, if you can calm and befriend them, then they could act as your army when necessary, and might even provide Essence when dormant.]

    ''Jackpot!''

    [But you will have to do a lot of things before stepping into that stage. You see, it is utter chaos inside. The scythe is not in its best condition and if it is ever to break, then the trapped souls will go rampaging through the city.]

    ''Looks like we need to find someone immediately.''

    Lee stepped towards the inn and his pace increased slowly. As he walked through the streets, the yellowish orange light of the day was inclining on the horizon.

    =====

    6 P.M.

    71965 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Disy my stats please.''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 4412

    Essence: 111005 (6 P.M.)

    Money: 8916 Gold, 2352 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 1023

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie level

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    Immunity:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6784/10000)

    Medium Wind Immunity (4172/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2411/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Affinity:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15384/1000000)

    Greater Fire Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Ice Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Greater Sand Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)

    Greater Air Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)

    Greater Light Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Death Affinity (0/1000000)

    Medium Gravity Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Space Affinity (1004/10000)

    Medium Life Affinity (23/10000)

    Greater Time Affinity (0/1000000)

    ----------

    Mastery:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)

    ----------

    Skills:-

    Flight - F (4/5)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - F (0/5)

    ==========

    A number of doubts began to rise in his mind as he leaped over the buildings and did acrobatic stunts in the flow. The people did not see his shing figure because of his high speed, which was the visible expression of his train of thoughts. D inside his mind was doing some math when he immediately shouted out in rm!

 Chapter 131: "I sensed a Law fragment."

    Chapter 131: "I sensed a Law fragment."

    [DUCK!!]

    Lee instantly dodged the arrow that came from his right, as he curled and rolled forward with momentum, and came to a halt like spiderman!

    The Map exposed the position of the ambushers on the nearby buildings. They were hiding behind the parapet walls on the terraces. Lee stood up for a brief moment and two arrows came from behind. Lee instantly twirled his body and avoided the arrows in fashion.

    [There are a total of 16 people around you. 6 of them are archers, and the left are all closebat cultivators. Most importantly they are all Moon Water Sect disciples.]

    Lee smirked at the report and lied on the floor of the roof. He took out his bow and drew the bowstring, and a bunch of sixteen arrows materialised in the bow. Lee simultaneously locked on all the 16 people and attributed the arrows with lightning and let go of the sizzling twigs.

    *whish*

    A faint gust of wind flew away and the arrows departed to the sky with immense initial velocity. Though the bow threw the arrows high up into the air, the homing nature made those arrows to lock in on their respective targets. The cultivators did not notice the arrows as they soared into the sky with extreme quickness. But the arrows precisely came down and made a non-lethal wound on their bodies while numbing them perfectly. The spasming bodies of the Moon Water Sect disciples were immediately collected by Lee.

    [Nice. Even I had forgotten about the necessity of Essence.]

    ''How much can they give me per hour?''

    [The disciples range from Soul Condensation realm to Immortal Master realm. After doing some calctions, those 16 are supposed to give about 5170 Essence.]

    Lee jumped up from where lied down and nced around. Confirming that nobody saw these sights, Lee activated Flight and fled like a shing light. By the time he reached the inn, a notification weed him.

    =====

    ''Flight'' upgraded to E grade.

    Progress: 0/30 hours.

    =====

    ''About time.''

    Lee descended to the alleyway next to the inn and walked out of it casually. He headed towards the door and pushed it, but it did not budge. Lee assumed the inn was closed, but wondered where Gauthama and others might be.

    Peeking at the Map, he saw six green dots behind the inn. Lee then remembered the portion ofnd concealed by the fence, and walked to the other alleyway. As he followed the same procedure, the fence opened up and a different view was unveiled.

    Standing there like a statue, Lee had to rub his eyes to make sure that he was not dreaming. The small wooden cabin was the only thing he saw therest time. But now he was not looking at a cabin in a small space, but a 55 metres long and 24 metres wide ground. Lee looked around and scanned the area multiple times, as he couldn''t find such a vast areast time. D assured him that the ce indeed is real and not a construct of the Tubian.

    Mia and Tera were sparring at the centre of the grassy ground. Rue was sitting cross-legged at distance from them, and her palms were facing the ground before her. Her face showed faint struggle and tension, and Gauthama was standing at a distance from the three, and was observing the sparring and the practice repeatedly. An was standing about 7 metres from where Lee stood, her back towards him. She was holding her sword in front of her torso upright, and her concentration reflected in her stable and firm posture.

    Lee walked to her consciously trying not to make any noise. But the footsteps brushed the short one inch grass bristles and made a faint rustling noise. An heard this noise and and once made a 90 degree turn to her left and her sword stood perpendicr before her face with alertness. The de rested on her left elbow as her arm supported the sword. Her intense re widened up as she saw Lee.

    "Oh, it was you."

    She rxed her posture and lowered her guard, while thrusting the long sword into the ground. Gauthama heard An''s words and nced over his shoulder to see him near her. He had a smile on his face as he turned his attention to the sparring duo. Rue was starting to sweat with ufort, so he neared her and advised to take a break. She let out a gust of air from her mouth and leaned on her arms supported by the ground behind her. Her tired pair of eyes took a glimpse of Lee. She wanted to go and ask him about the Veil of Whiteness, but her fatigue from channeling the Mana made her weak. The duo was sparring without any knowledge of Lee''s presence.

    Lee and An were standing very close to each other and talking about something intimate, when Gauthama called him and her. They walked towards him as they brought their talk to a stop, for now. Mia saw Lee and his wife, but she was curious about the blush that was evident on her face. Guessing that it must be some ''private'' matters, she averted her eyes to Gauthama, who called the sparing to a halt. Rue was also gestured to stand up ande closer.

    "We all spectated the tournament today. It should be a two day event, but due to the overpowered strength of Lee, it was concluded early.

    Tomorrow morning before the sun rises over the horizon, we will go to the Ora coastal ins near the city. We will do some exercises there everyday until you are all qualified to fight Lee one-on-one. To physically prepare for tomorrow, we shall eat food early and go to bed without any dy."

    Gauthama briefly paused and scanned the faces before him. The nod of appreciation weed his eyes. Tera was given a slight nod, and she took Mia, An and Rue to the inn for rest. When thedies left, Gauthama turned to Lee. A frown decorated his face and his smile had slightly faded as he asked-

    "I sensed a Law fragment in you. Can you exin?"

    The sky reflected its reddish orange hue to the ground and a faint breeze flew past Lee''s face. A deadly silence overshadowed them. D sounded words of caution as he sensed the micro-expressions of the Tubian changing slightly.

 Chapter 132: Soul Bone Seal

    Chapter 132: Soul Bone Seal

    "When I transmigrated, I somehow acquired thew of Lightning."

    Lee decided to trust D and repeat his words. As far as he knew about Buddha, he was someone who had never even hurt an ant. Thus he betted on Gauthama''s tolerance to lies and kept calm. Hearing the honest ''lie'', the Tubian wore his smile back and spoke-

    "I can tell that it was notpletely correct. I don''t know why you conceal the truth, but I respect your choice. If you need any help, feel free to ask. I will try to be useful."

    Gauthama patted Lee''s shoulder and walked past him towards the fence. Lee immediately remembered about the Kiramium and turned around.

    "Then can you help me with something?"

    Gauthama paused in his steps as his hands were behind his back. He slowly turned and gave a nod to Lee, saying-

    "It is getting dark. Let us go inside."

    Gauthama resumed his steps without a dy, and Lee followed him. D was continuously scanning the scythe and researching more about it, but the amount of information he was able to unfold was too small. Thus, he was also eagersome about the powers of the Tubian of Serenity.

    ----

    Through the backdoor, Lee followed Gauthama and entered the inn. Feminine voices of conversation could be heard faintly. The Tubian walked to the table at the centre of the room and stood beside it. He looked at Lee with a pleasant curiosity. Lee understood the intent, and brought out the Kiramium.

    The souls did not wail as it was brought out of the spatial ring. He gently ced the scythe on the table and shuttled his sight between Gauthama and the weapon.

    "I sense anger, sorrow, misery, defeat andmentation from it. Who does this belong to?"

    Buddha took a few steps forward and hovered his right palm over it. With a single nce, he summarised the state of those souls. As soon as he finished speaking, a faint circr aura slowly formed between his palm and the scythe. After making it dense enough, Gauthama lowered his palm and let the aura touch the Kiramium. The waves of negative energy flooding out of the scythe gradually slowed down andpletely came to a halt.

    "These souls are bound to this object against their wish. It is a must to liberate them."

    Gauthama raised his head and peered at Lee, who nodded in response.

    ''D, do I need to activate the title manually or?''

    [Say the title name in your mind and it will be activated.]

    Lee took his eyes from the scythe and stared at Gauthama.

    "Can you maintain the atmosphere like this?"

    "As long as you want."

    Lee received the answer he wanted, and extended both of his hands in response. A faint glow appeared in his palms as he said ''Soul Liberator'' in his mind. A tingling sensation began to creep up his arms and almost made him retract his hands instantly, but D said not to.

    [The tingling sensation you felt was the souls trying to reach out of the barriers of the scythe, as the Soul Liberation was taking effect. We are looking at about 300 souls of different beings with unique characteristics. Not a single one is in pairs.]

    Gauthama felt the need of a higher dose of ''peacefulness'' and closed his eyes and ced his palm over the other. He slightly raised his head and went into meditation. His body did not move an inch, and an invisible sphere surrounded them.

    Lee felt the rxing sensation that indiscriminately calmed the souls too. D said that a few amount of Essence is necessary for the operation, to which Lee replied-

    ''Do not deplete my reserve.''

    A few momentster, Gauthama opened his eyes and stared at the scythe. Secondster, a red chain appeared around the scythe and it was wrapped tight around the scythe. The malicious looking chain with spiky surfaces was baleful. An object that looked like a lock was also visible and it looked particrly more reddish than the chain. Several unintelligible inscriptions appeared on the lock, and it began to violently tremble as time went by.

    [That is the chain that binds the souls to the scythe. Notice the thorns on the chains. It is a torment spell of 7th grade. That lock is a Soul Bone Seal , something only an expert necromancer can sessfully pull off. Under no circumstances can we let this menacing object torment souls anymore.]

    Lee heard a few terminologies he had not previously heard of. He temporarily decided to take notes about them forter questioning.

    =====

    7 P.M.

    77131 Essence harvested.

    =====

    About 15 minutester, the notification popped up and disappeared instantly. Lee noticed that the number had risen to an amount D had predicted. Before he could say something pleasant, D said two things.

    [You have 43629 Essence left, after upgrading the Gravity element. And the Essence consumption is steadily increasing, so I am converting the rest of your Essence to Mana for efficiency.]

    *CRACK*

    A rough and unpleasant sound rose up from the scythe, and the chain was slightly cracked. The closed eyelids of the Tubian opened up and saw a favourable result. But as Gauthama and Lee were staring, the crack healed up and the screams slowly picked up its strength. Gauthama assumed the meditation stance and closed his eyes again. Lee quickly summoned his attribute panel and confirmed the Mana amount he had.

    ''D, this Soul Bone Seal is a real deal. Looks like I need to slow down its speed!''

    As D got a gist of his intention, the Time activated Time element began to guzzle up Mana. Lee had no other way, except to slow down the time around the seal so as to counter it''s self-healing.

    [The Time is using about 156 Mana per second, and your n is working. The interiors of the seal are breaking down at a fast rate. Stay calm andposed. Your vitality is also being used up.]

    Lee nodded as he consistently released Time element onto the scythe. The scythe slowly changed its colour toplete red. It''s handle and de without any discrimination, was soaked in blood red. The scene was too menacing for an average person, but Lee and Guathama had their advantages to resist this gruesome sight.

    "Lee, something is rising up from the inside."

    Gauthama spoke out and Lee too felt something forcefully trying to break out of the bondages. D reminded to stay calm and cautious, in case it is the evil necromancer''s soul itself.

    *Shatter*

    The insanely cracked up chains and seal was at the verge of being blown to smithereens. Secondster, the Mana guzzling affinity finally threw the seal into chaos. The instability from the inside caused it to crumble from within. With a st, the seal shattered. The chains disintegrated into air as the souls began to fly out of the scythe in a rush. Those wisps of tormented souls found refuge near Gauthama, because his soothing presence gave an unexinable rxation. Vaguely visible amorphous figures neared him and stuck itself to his body. Gauthama was amused by this.

    *huf*

    Lee let out a mouthful of air as he deactivated the affinity. After doing mental math, he asked D.

    ''Almost 4 minutes, 156 Mana per second. Please don''t tell me that I used more than 37000 Mana.''

    [37440, to be precise.]

    The happy moments did notst long. The souls stuck around Gauthama began to show restlessness. Evading a Tubian''s senses, an apparition rose up from the scythe and nced around. Seeing the tired Lee, it pounced on him instantly. The ghost-like figure went into Lee and he fell on the floor writhing in pain.

 Chapter 133: All Is Well, I Think So

    Chapter 133: All Is Well, I Think So

    ''AAHHHHH!!!!''

    The pain caused by the strange apparition was not small and tiny. Lee, who had unrivalled stats, and D who was his guide and part of his soul, could not resist the iing disaster. Grinding teeth like a maniac, he fell on the floor and twitched uncontrobly.

    Lee''s mind was in turmoil. D was battling against a ghost like figure as it simultaneously scratched Lee''s consciousness little by little. The old man was wounded pretty badly and was barely standing up. The apparition immediately pounced onto D, with its mouth wide open to engulf him.

    *pak*

    A palm came down on Lee''s back as he was lying upside down while showing extreme signs or ufort. The rtively stronger pat brought peace and stability to his being, and Gauthama raised himself on his legs. The ghost was about to eat D when the pat came in with a wave of blinding light. The ghost got its powers overshadowed by arge rxing energy, and settled down lifeless and immobile.

    Witnessing this, D assumed what had happened and immediately began to restore the consciousness chamber back to its peak. With his cultivation knowledge, D chanted and brought forth the highest level prison seal formation called ''Silent Singrity'' and trapped the dormant ghost in it. A faint resistance he felt from the ghost signified that it was slowly umting strength for the next strike. D did not care about anything else, until he sessfully ced the ghost inside the sealing formation.

    As the consciousness chamber was being restored, D called forth Lee''s soul into the chamber. The badly hurt and wounded soul was a painful sight to watch. The soul of Lee looked nothing more than a simple man rampaged by a bunch of hungry stray dogs. The soul had lost a major portion of its colour, indicating that the entry of the apparition was lethal enough to do so much damage.

    After confirming that the Silent Singrity ispletely established, and the malicious thing cannot escape anymore, D began to drain himself so as to provide soul nourishment to Lee. Time went by a lot, and D was still draining himself to bring back Lee to consciousness. The very slow rate of healing made him frown with a critical assumption.

    ----

    Outside, in reality, Gauthama was carrying the unconscious Lee to his room upstairs. But before that, he did not forget to store the scythe somewhere safe. The souls were sticking onto his body, so Gauthama opened the gates of his soul and weed them in. Due to continuous torment and adversities, even the soul of an eight storey tall Eleven Headed Hydra was as small as a tennis ball. The endless overflowing tranquility did not actually give any nourishment, but it gave peace which those souls longed for.

    Gauthama was continuously pouring in arge amount of energy into Lee''s body. As the Tubian of Serenity, he could only calm the troubled minds and chaotic psyches. With this revtion and clear understanding of his helplessness, Gauthama still hoped for the best and enveloped Lee in an invisible nket of rxation.

    This boosted the soul''s healing. D was joyful as he saw the wounds closing up faster than before. He also noticed the resistance put forward by the bloody apparition, but did not take it into consideration. After providing an immense amount of his own soul vitality, D reclined onto the floor. Even when he was slowly slipping into sleep, his resolve made sure to keep the prison seal running without a hitch.

    *tok tok*

    Gauthama knocked on the door and the conversations from the inside went t. A few secondster, Tera opened the door and saw Gauthama with Lee on his shoulder.

    Catching the sight of Lee hanging powerlessly from the shoulder of Gauthama, An and Mia rushed to the door. Rue was running right behind them. Gauthama stepped through the door and took Lee to his bed, andid him down there.

    "What happened?"

    Mia sounded her concern.

    "Lee said that he is not feeling well and then fainted."

    Though a lie, Gauthama felt the need of saying so. The facts about the scythe were simply unbelievable and thedies would skew Gauthama if they came to know what happened downstairs. So he spoke so and quickly left the room. Tera also excused herself and followed her brother.

    An tried patting his torso, but no reaction came. He was in a deep sleep state. Rue and Mia sat at the edge of his bed, and scanned him.

    "He will be alright."

    Rue gave Mia a reassuring nod, as she did not sense any kind of irregrities from him. His heartbeats were rhythmic, and his body was at its optimal state. No variation in temperature was registered by An as she checked him thoroughly.

    "We have to go for training in the morning. So if we stay up at night, it will not do good."

    An spoke as she stood up. Without sparing another nce, she walked to the door and closed it. Then, she walked to her bed andid down without saying anything. Mia and Rue saw her actions and gave a nod at each other and followed her lead. Somehow, they did not feel any hunger or weakness. When the clock hit 7.45, the trio was asleep.

    ----

    The apparition was snarling like a mad beast as it tried to break out of the formation. But, pain and suffering weed it at each attempt. D, who had given most of his own soul''s vitality as a nourishment to Lee, can be seen reclining on a couch. His eyes were heavy with fatigue, but the sight of the intruder trying to break out of the formation and getting painfully taught a lesson in the process, brought a smile on his face.

    Turning his head around, he saw the suspended soul of Lee a little away from him. It had regained its previous luster and vibrance, but was still in aa. As he was scanning him, Lee showed slight movements. D assumed that those are part of the healing process, because they were reactions caused by deep restoration of his soul.

    Assuring himself that all is well, for now, D slipped into a peaceful slumber. Hours went past as he slept and restored his strength. Thus, within a wink of an eye, it was 3 in the morning.

    *growling*

 Chapter 134: Encyclopaedia To Greatness

    Chapter 134: Encyclopaedia To Greatness

    =====

    3 A.M.

    77131 Essence harvested.

    =====

    *Growling*

    "Shut up or I will burn you alive!"

    Lee shouted out as he was recuperating. His suspended consciousness was now able to walk. He sat cross-legged on the floor and red at the apparition kept inside the prison seal. The prison seal was simr to a ss cube. The transparent, yet unbreakable ss like substance had foreign scripts inscribed on it. The unintelligible letters in the unknownnguage were slowly vibrating from where they stood. The dark reddish amorphous figure had a menacing and threatening atmosphere around it.

    But the inside was not as transparent as visible from the outside. The interiors were decorated with spikes made out of Light-Splitter fragments and tormented the apparition eternally. The darkness inside obstructed the visibility of the ghost, and multiplied the horror suffered by it. More fierce growlings and high pitch screams were produced from the inside and Lee witnessed how the fragments periodically pierced the ghost, while scraping away its devilish energy.

    "Are you awake?"

    Lee heard a voice from behind and turned his head. D was sitting upright on the couch and had a mocking smile stered on his face.

    "Shouldn''t you be crying for help?"

    D stood up and walked to Lee as he said these words. Lee scoffed at him and stared at the prison seal.

    "So this is the thing, eh?"

    D turned to nce at the seal formation. He extended his right arm to it, and clenched the fist. As D brought his clenched fist towards his shoulder, the cube rose from the floor for about an inch and floated towards them. The ghost was annoyed by the motion as it got continuously scraped by the fragments.

    "So only the one who casted the formation can use it, right?"

    Lee supported his torso on his knees and stood up straight. D nodded in response, and a sinister smile appeared on the consciousness'' face. Without wasting a second, Lee grabbed onto D''s fist and began to shake violently. The cube followed the trajectory of the fist and cry of agony rose from the inside of the seal.

    Lee enjoyed the fun activity for a few seconds and let go of the fist.

    "Did you get anything from this apparition?" (Lee)

    "I found out that this is the soul of the necromancer who casted both the Soul Bone Seal and the 7th grade torment spell. The person used the mortal body as a sacrifice for the ritual and then bounded own soul to guard the setup. I think the person who created this was trying to experiment a poison jar apparatus." (D)

    "The necromancer wanted to create a hybrid soul by absorbing or assimting the other souls inside the scythe. But as a sentient being, the soul had a limit. He might have tried to push the limits in vain. And naturally, the anger and frustration of the failure was released on the trapped souls. They were tormented for a long time. The necromancer thus was waiting eagerly for someone powerful enough to break the barrier so that he can take over the body with a critical strike." (Lee)

    "Precisely. And the apparition was almost sessful in it. If not for Gauthama, I and you would have been that hideous figure''s meal." (D)

    "Anything else you found out?" (Lee)

    "The desire to cast such a troublesome and disastrous spell was stemmed from anger and vengeance. The reason is not known, but we might be able to find out if wemunicate with it." (D)

    "Can the corrupted Mana be nullified by Light affinity?" (Lee)

    "Light is the pr opposite of darkness, but it would be helpless in treating vengeance and resentment." (D)

    "Then Life and Nature affinities stacked with Spotless might be enough." (Lee)

    "The Mana usage might skyrocket to unbelievable heights, but it is worth the shot." (D)

    A translucent sphere of Mana began to materialise in Lee''s palm. The circting stands of Nature and Life affinities gave a faint milkyplexion. The sphere began to develop and Lee reformed it into a thick and long ribbon form. The long tubr offwhite coloured thing suspended in the air, and Lee gave a nod to D.

    As his palm expanded and distanced the finger from each other, a hole of an inch radius appeared on the ss surface. The apparition roared wildly as the hole let in light. Instantly, Lee directed the long tubr Mana construct into the hole and filled the inside of the cubepletely. The moment the corrupted soul touched the Life imbued Mana, it started to scream and writhe in agony.

    *SCREAMS*

    Lee and D had to distance themselves from the cube, because of the unbearable noise. The moment the Mana constructpletely entered inside the cube, the hole was closed and the screams vanished. Lee and D witnessed the corrupted soul violently reacting with the Life affinity imbued Mana. The Nature element actively pacified the explosive oues from the apparition and channeled it into the Mana for nullification. Like a rat trapped inside a flooded cage, the ghost fought against the scorching effect of Mana.

    "The Mana will do its job for a while. You will have toe in here regrly and repeat the process. I need some time to restore my health too."

    D spoke and walked back to the couch andid down on it. A wave of rxation swept on his face as he became one with the couch.

    "How much Essence do I have?"

    Lee sat facing the prison seal, and asked loud to D. Sovereign understood the question, but waszy to answer, so he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers with a nk expression. At once, a panel came in front of Lee.

    "So all affinities are at Greater grade, excellent."

    Lee skipped his attributes and went straight to the affinity panel. His joy was countered by the vast amount of points he needed to amass in order to reach the Absolute grade. As he noticed the Rookie level of Mana mastery, a few terminologies were remembered and Lee turned his head to D.

    "D, exin the Mana mastery and rted things in detail."

    D was annoyed and he turned to the other side of the couch, and ignored Lee''s question. But after a second, he raised his left forearm and snapped his fingers. A faint mumbling of annoyance was audible from him.

    What appeared in front of Lee was not a panel, but a 2 inches thick book with a solid hardcover. It was 30 centimetres long and 5 inches wide. The hardbind was sewn to the pages. Lee picked up the book and confirmed that the book is heavier than what it seems to be. He opened the hardcover and the italic words that weed him skyrocketed his curiosity.

    "Encyclopaedia To Greatness."

 Chapter 135: Secrets Of The Scythe

    Chapter 135: Secrets Of The Scythe

    =====

    5 A.M.

    77131 Essence harvested.

    =====

    " 1."

    *huff*

    The book fell from his grip and Lee let out a mouthful of air. For almost 2 hours, Lee was reading the basic introduction of Mana Mastery. As the smallest chapter of the book, it contained concise descriptions and pictorial representations about everything rted to magic.

    *Yawn*

    Just as Lee was supporting his tired body on his arms extended backward, a yawn fell in his ears. Like a toddler, D yawned and sat upright on the couch with heavy eyes. He scratched his belly and stood up and stretched his limbs. Lee immediately stood up and picked up the encyclopaedia into his arms.

    "Finished it?"

    Lee extended the encyclopaedia at D and walked towards him. The question faded away the smile Lee had on his face and he said-

    "Really? This book, In 2 hours?"

    The conveyance of the reply had the summary of what Lee wanted to say in a nutshell. D effortlessly took the book from Lee''s hands and held it near to his chest.

    "It''s 5 in the morning. Gauthama is going to take us all to the Ora coastal ins for training. Do me a favor and narrate me from chapter 2 and till the end."

    Lee disappeared from the chamber and his body in reality woke up. The darkness outside the windows was not a warm sight to behold. Lee moved his limbs and feeled the blood rushing to each and every cell in his body. ncing around as he raised his torso on his elbows, the trio was sleeping peacefully. Mia was faintly snoring and it indicated her deep sleep.

    Lee removed the nket over him and he realised the absence of his torn sleeveless upperwear. Instinctively, he nced at the table near him and saw it ced over there. Without making any noise, Lee sat on the bed and stealthily stood up on the floor.

    *creak*

    The floor beneath his legs creaked unexpectedly and his actions froze. The noise was short and dull enough that none would wake up. Lee straightened his body and stood firm on the floor. He breathed air in and out through his mouth, and was careful enough not to wake up anyone.

    "Are you awake?"

    From one of the beds, a dull voice was heard. Secondster, An lifted her torso from the bed and sat up for a second, before walking towards him. Her outer robe was resting on the table near her bed. She silently walked to him and hugged him.

    "You were unconscious all night."

    An had concern in her voice. Her hug conveyed her loneliness and desiring for affection. Lee wrapped his arms tight around her and replied softly-

    "I was unconscious because I did something."

    Within a minute, Lee gave a concise report of what happened both outside and inside of him. An expressed visible discontent in all the events happened without her knowledge, but Lee had the trick to soften her heart. As his arms coiled around her torso, their lips touched with passion.

    For about 3 minutes, both of them cuddled in each other''s arms. Lee reminded him that these fervent moments should not be continued any further. Tera mighte up to wake them all. She was gloomy as she heard this, so he added that the moments will be continued soon enough. He also mentioned her wish to bear a child, and she blushed with a shy smile.

    *tok tok tok*

    As Lee predicted, Tera came up and knocked thrice on the door. An quickly gave a peck on his lips, before walking to wake the sleepyheads.

    *tok tok*

    The knock came again as a pair and Lee walked towards it with the intention of opening the door. An Immediately grabbed his hands and reminded that he was naked above waist. Lee nced at his naked torso, and immediately bought a sleeveless leather jacket from the Shop.

    Before the next set of knocking came, Lee opened the door. An and Lee were expecting Tera to be at the door, but it was Gauthama who was standing there.

    "Good morning Lee. d to see you conscious. Did you feel any ufort?"

    Gauthama brightened up as he saw Lee aware and alive. His curiosity was answered with a smile as Lee shook his head sideways. The reply satisfied Gauthama and he asked Lee to wake up hispanions and send them for freshening up, and then to meet him downstairs in half an hour. Lee closed the door as the Tubian left. Mia barely opened her eyes, when Lee was caught in her sight.

    "Brother Lee."

    Mia beamed at him as she saw him unscathed and perfectly fine. Her worries flew away as he walked to his bed and sat on it, for a few minutes of meditation. Rue took some time to raise herself from the bed, but as soon as she sat up with her messed up hair, she also saw Lee sitting up on his bed. She hushedly enquired about his health, to which An replied-

    "He passed out from exhaustion."

    Mia found the answer highly unconvincing, and gave An a doubtful stare with a brow raised. An gestured that she is a kid and only needs to know that much. Mia pouted with her arms crossed, and Rue chuckled at her cuteness.

    Without wasting any time, the trio got out of their beds and went downstairs to freshen up. Tera was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs. She received three warm hugs as her guidance fee.

    -----

    Inside the room.

    Lee was conversing with D on the reaction of the Life affinity imbued Mana to the apparition. D reported favourable results, but he also estimated that a lot of Mana would be lost in the process.

    ''The amount of Mana is not a problem. I have more than enough to cure the soul. By the way, any new conclusions you arrived at?''

    D was silent for a moment, and spoke-

    [There was something that I noticed recently. Normally, any object has a threshold amount of souls that it can contain, or else the object will either lose its properties or explode, depending on the object. Even if spells or soul collecting formations is casted, the number would not change. For a lower Iron grade scythe, more than 300 souls is definitely an anomaly.]

    ''So what you are saying is..''

    [Yes, something was maintaining a livable habitat inside the scythe!]

 Chapter 136: Torture Inside, Training Outside

    Chapter 136: Torture Inside, Training Outside

    ''If something is to be maintained consistently, then arge amount of energy is needed for sustenance. From the sizes of those soul wisps, it is possible to assume that torment alone was not the culprit.''

    [The brutality is off the charts, but I must apud the person who made it a reality. It is very hard to kill some of the animals in the collection, like the Octori and Twig Walker. Many more like these are exclusive for a single ce on Utopia and it is entirely up to luck whether you might meet one or not. And this person just mocked fate in its face and killed, and collected those beast''s souls before it is dissipated. A round of apuse, boy!]

    Lee was staring at the opposite wall with a poker-face expression. Though he was expressing outwardly, D understood the intent behind it and went silent. Lee took a second to confirm this pause of apology and spoke-

    ''Do you have any clue about how it was maintained?''

    [I only got to scan the scythe when it was wrapped in chains. So I was not able to identify anything special with it. My bet is on the apparition. As the soul which knows most about the scythe, we might be able to get some vital info if itmunicated with us.]

    ''So the scythe and the souls are with Gauthama, right?''

    [Yes, but I did not sense any such presence on him. Maybe they went back in the scythe.]

    Lee spoke with D, and was arriving at some conclusions, when the prison seal showed depletion of Mana inside it. The affinities did its role wlessly and a lot of devilish aura was scraped from the apparition. Theck of corrupted Mana atmosphere and regrly piercing Light-Splitter fragments made its healing as slow as a sloth.

    ''Time for round two!''

    Lee withdrew his consciousness into the chamber and created a much more denser andrger Mana construct imbued with the same affinities. The apparition began to scream at the first nce of the opening hole. As it feared, the Mana entered the cube and this time, the pain was tripled.

    *SCREECH*

    The audible expression of agony it suffered made both Lee and D feel pity for it. But they had to do it for a good cause. The scorching sensation that the Mana delivered made it numb and fell unconscious. As the duo spectated, the ghost sunk into the Mana pool. Slight changes were beginning to happen, and Lee went back to the reality while telling D to notify if anything urs.

    ----

    Lee nced out of the window and guessed that the trio might have came back downstairs, so he quickly surfed through the Shop and brought a good set of undies and pants. Them he exited the room and went down the stairs. Gauthama and thedies were standing near the reception desk and were eagerly waiting for Lee, while having a group chat. The footsteps of Lee walking down the stairs attracted their attention.

    "Am Ite?"

    "No, we got here a minute ago."

    Lee was about to apologise for beingte, but Tera gave an answer which rxed his worries. Gauthama quickly went into the room and came back with the scythe. As he handed it over to Lee, thedies were staring at it with appreciation and liking. Lee received it and stored it away in the spatial ring. Gauthama skimmed through the faces and spoke as he slowly stepped towards the door.

    "Let us reach the destination before sunrise."

    Gauthama opened the door and a chilling breeze swept across their face. He stepped aside and let the women exit. As Lee came outst, he locked the door and led the group away.

    ---

    =====

    6 A.M.

    77131 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The fairly bright light conquered the horizon and moved forward to the city. Birds greeted the morning starshines with a beautiful choir. Very few people were on the streets, but a major portion among them recognised Lee. As the unrivalled champion of the Tri-annual Tournament, many pairs of eyes observed him. Through the Map, he noticed hostile beings scanning him and his group from a distance, and then disappearing from his sight. It did not take too much time to deduce that they belonged to the four giants of the city.

    The soldiers on the city walls also recognised Lee from a distance. As cultivators and somehow rted to the four giants, the guards closely observed his movements and those around him. With an order not to engage him in direct fight, the guards held their stations while their eyes followed the group.

    "Where to?"

    A guard stopped them before exiting the gate. Three more armed guards came behind him and disyed solidarity with the obstruction.

    "We are going to the Ora coastal ins."

    Gauthama gave a warm smile and replied appropriately. The guards were not content with the answer. Not that they are not satisfied, but they wanted to test the strength of the not-so-bulky champion. ording to those stupid guards, how big you are determined your strength.

    "We cannot allow you to pass."

    The guard who raised the question took his sword out of the scabbard. Though not in a hostile manner, he brandished his sword at them. An and Mia touched their sword pommels, but Lee walked past them and reached right next to Lee. He deduced that their actual target was him, from their micro-expressions and facial movements.

    "We mean no harm. Please let us pass."

    The nk expression and in tone irritated the annoyances in uniforms. At once, he shouted at Lee and tried to harm him. But the Tri-annual Tournament champion grabbed the sword by its de.

    "I said, let us pass!"

    The sound of metal cracking inside his left palm made the guard pale. His grip loosened from the sword handle and jumped backward in terror. Lee opened his palm and the de, curled and crumbled, with an impression of his palm, fell on the ground. The three who stood behind him had fled long ago. The guard who got his sword deformed, ran to the gate. Just when the gate was being raised, a much more serious and firm voice came from their right. A temporary tent caught their sight, and a figure emerged from it.

    "So you are the so called ''champion'', eh?"

 Chapter 137: Seii Taishogun

    Chapter 137: Seii Taishogun

    "So you are the ''champion'', eh?"

    A high orc wearing a heavily armoured outfit emerged from the tent. He was the very incarnate of the term ''Seii Taishogun'' and was tall enough to literally look down on the humans. The ck armour tes with golden border lines was a spectacr sight to behold. The triple horned helmet had a menacing appearance and even the guards shuddered at its sight. The traditional red mask was unnecessary, as his red face with upward pointing overgrown canine incisors amplified the visual disturbance of his face. The scars on his intimidating face made D assume that he was still single!

    A pair of dachi decorated both sides of his waist. Their ck and red coloured leather handles were alluring, and disyed his vigour to fight. At a nce, the worn out scabbards indicated his ruthless and barbaric mode of fighting. Metallic nging noises were produced at every step he took. Maybe it was because of the armour''s weight, his foot left a faint impression when lifted off the ground.

    Towering almost 8 foot tall, that behemoth bipedal walked with an unspeakable elegance. The guards came running from all sides and bowed as he passed them. Their respect did not stem from reverence, but from fear. Taking leisure steps, the high orc reached in front them. Mia and An silently reached for their swords.

    "You? Champion? Don''t make meugh and get lost!"

    For the first time, Lee is looking literally up to someone. The mocking was evident in his words and in those green pupils. The high orc bended his torso forward and brought its face before Lee. The green pupils red at him with intense waves of threat, which was not enough to make him cringe. Witnessing the unwavering spirit inside the champion''s eyes, the armoured orc straightened his posture, and said-

    "Looks like you might be the champion. Fight and prove that you are one!"

    =====

    Quest generated.

    ''Defeat the High Orc.''

    Reward: 3000 Essence, 1 Weapon Upgrade Token.

    =====

    [I was wondering why there were no quests. Turns out it was looking for a worthy opponent.]

    The invite to fight became official, when the high orc released its aura of 6th stage Soul Manifestation realm. Gauthama took a few steps backward and gestured at thedies to step back by a good distance. Leaving Lee alone, his fivepanions retreated to more than 9 metres. They were doubtful as to whether this distance would be enough, as they saw the guards moving much away from the high orc. Taking them as an example, the five people moved even further from him.

    "Are you trying to tell me that you don''t have a weapon?"

    The rough voice of mockery roise up into the air, and the guardsughed in unison with the high orc. D immediately reminded to take out the scythe and acquire it''s mastery. With a smirk, Lee pulled out the Kiramium from the spatial ring. The thin sandy brown diagonal stripes on the ck handle unconsciously invoked a sense of caution in the orc in armour. It was amazed to know that it had involuntarily reached for the handles of the dachis.

    "Does he know how to use it?"

    Mia asked Gauthama, who gave him the scythe. Rue and An were concerned about his proficiency in such an umon weapon. More than that, they were clueless as to how he was going to defeat the high orc with two dachis, with a short scythe. They had no choice, but to watch the fight.

    "Timur Adiuvat, Brigadier inmand. 5th stage Soul Manifestation realm."

    "Lee, adventurer. Rookie level melee weapon user."

    The high orc introduced itself and Lee followed him. The cultivation of the orc was actually 5th stage, but the aura was thick enough for a breakthrough to the 6th stage. Timur intentionally added his position and cultivation stage to scare Lee, but it in turn made him more eager to fight. The smirk on Lee''s face gave a green g to the high orc, to go all out. A ferocious smile crept up on Timur''s face as his right hand swung to his left and instantly gripped on the sword handle. Within an instant, the dachi shed horizontally at Lee.

    Upgraded Foresight skyrocketed his sensory reception and showed him the trajectory of the sword in detail. The sword cannot reach Lee, but it disyed strength enough to make any average person cringe.

    ''D, let me show you something I learned when you were asleep.''

    A ball of Mana materialised around the palm in which he held the scythe. Lee twirled backward on his left leg and simultaneously lowered his torso forward. The sword slowly drifted above his hairs, and he extended his arm with palm open. The short scythe flew away from his palm,but the Mana acted as a thick thread and swung the scythe as he turned 360 degrees. With each passing moment, the Man elongated and the scythe moved away from his palm.

    Before Timur realised what was happening, Kiramium was swinging and it''s trajectory was sure to chop of the high orc''s neck. Lee simultaneously used Map and the Foresight to precisely adjust the length of the Mana construct.

    The brigadier high orc saw the arrival of death''s scythe. His left hand immediately let go of the swinging dachi, and grabbed the handle of the other one at the waist. He did not get enough time to defend, because as soon as he unsheathed it partially, the scythe de was near his cheek. So he took out the sword in an almost vertical manner, and blocked the scythe''s strike by a hair''s breadth. The momentum contributed by the instant twirl and the swing pushed the partially unsheathed sword to Timur''s face. He saw his own eye''s reflection on the de!

    The sword drifted over Lee''s face and he straightened his posture. To not stand out too much, the Mana flow was deactivated and the scythe fell on the ground. Timur was frozen for a second as he faced an unexpected threat from an unpredictable angle. Slowly and steadily, he sheathed his twin dachis and nced at the scythe and Lee. ncing back to the unique short scythe, he picked it up and walked towards Lee.

    "You are the champion, because you have skills. You and yourpanions may pass."

    =====

    Questpleted.

    Weapon Upgrade Token stored in Inventory.

    =====

 Chapter 138: Ora Coastal Plains

    Chapter 138: Ora Coastal ins

    "Since when were you proficient in scythe weapons?"

    The brigadier let them pass with ease. The gate was raised and they came out of the city walls. As they walked a little bit forward, An came near him and asked. Mia was also eager to test this weapon, so her attention was caught by the question.

    "I can use almost all weapons."

    Lee gave a short answer with a smile, and continued walking. Mia raised her brows as she appreciated her brother''s versatile talent in weapons.

    Walking almost half a kilometre to the east, the solid path began to loosen up and disappear into the brown ins. Daylight was lighting up the atmosphere and the warmth was shed on the ground. As they further walked, a number of huts came into sight.

    "Ora coastal ins are vast. Three viges on the Ora ins thrive on fishing. Many adventurers and cultivators reach here toplete quests and refresh their minds."

    Gauthama narrated the specialities of the Ora coastal ins. The extensive shallow region of ocean around the coast made safe fishing and diving a reality. Rarely are dangerous marine animals seen in this region. Spear Sharks are periodically known to invade the shallow regions for a change in delicacy, and one or two humans are always unfortunate to be its food.

    ---

    =====

    7 A.M.

    77131 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Gauthama walked further forward and the viges disappeared far behind them. Coconut trees outlined the sides of their path. Familiar faces of Foura Monkeys appeared on the trees and watched them passing by. Unlike the forest version, these monkeys had a sandyplexion and fluffy fur. Lee saw them and immediately remembered about the Perrafin and Fero, and brought them out of the EsGen. The differentndscape appeared in front of them temporarily made them cautious, but Lee assured them that the area is not hostile.

    *sniff*

    Even before catching the four armed monkeys in sight, the Perrafin caught its scent. As the Perrafin turned to the trees drooling, Fero caught a different scent. The intense meaty aroma made Fero step towards the sea. Perrafin took a second to notice it, and its expression turned aggressive instantly.

    "Fero, back off."

    The olfactory senses of Lee were not slow to pick up the unusually alluring meaty aroma, but the changes in Perrafin;''s demeanor made him alert. Fero, who had stepped towards the sea, was called back. Instantly, the hyena took steps backward. Lee''sment made the others frown. Observing around, nothing other than the loosely packed sandy soil was in the vicinity. Then, a gentle breeze from the sea brought a strong sensation of this meaty aroma. An, Mia, Rue, Tera and Gauthama were surprised to smell this drooling aroma.

    The truth was unfolded as Lee took a peek at the Map. A little farther into the water, a lump of fresh meat floated aimlessly. It would periodically drift towards the shore in rhythm with the waves. Nothing about it was suspicious, and the ferocious carnivorous beasts were at the verge of dashing towards it.

    ''Don''t!''

    Leemanded the hungry beasts and boughtrge quantities of skinned Golden Gazelle meat from the Shop. The beasts immediately became busy with the delicious and tender meal.

    "Is anything wrong?"

    Tera asked Lee, because she felt that something was off with his behaviour.

    "That lump of meat floating on the water, is actually a bait."

    Their eyes went wide as they focused on therge b of meat drifting on the waves. No matter how many times they scan it, there was nothing wrong with the meat, because they could not find what was underneath it. Lee nced at the faces and understood the reason for the question. The clueless expression as nothing suspicious could be found about it, was visible on their faces.

    "Let me show you what I meant."

    Lee took out his bow and aimed at the sky. A sizzling arrow with lightning running over it materialised as the bowstring was pulled. He released the string and the arrow rose into the sky and dived nose down towards the meat lump. Like a solitary strand of lightning, it pierced the floating meat and simultaneously delivered the electrocution.

    The meat instantly sunk and the water began to show turbulence. As they witnessed, arge marine beast leaped out of the water, and into the air. It was a Blue Stringtongue Fish. Measuring over 6 metres, the behemoth had blue coloured skin which was ample for blending with the water. The fully grown fish was sure to weigh more than 375 kilograms, and had small circr scales that effectively concealed its presence in shallow water. The razor sharp tiny tooth hiding in its mouth was exposed as it disyed its anger.

    [Don''t let it go back into the water. It''s a good addition to the EsGen.]

    Instantly, Lee shot off towards the fish rising into the air. Flight was activated and he effortlessly closed in on the fish. Many string-like thin tentacles shot out of its mouth to catch Lee, but it failed spectacrly. Lee smacked his palm on its body with immense force, after he skillfully evaded the tentacles. The fish disappeared in mid-air and Lee used the brief contact on the fish to reach back on the shore. The Flight helped him to descend in a manner that was evidently a freefall.

    The amazed faces of thedies and Gauthama''s smiling countenance greeted him as he walked towards them. The entire stunt of Lee jumping towards the fish anding back after making it disappear, took no longer than 4 seconds. Questions and curiosity almost came out of their mouths, but Lee cut them off and stated-

    "If you are as strong as me, You too can do it."

    His words acted as a satisfactory answer and a reason for them to get stronger. The reflection of their mental resolve was evident on their faces after a few seconds. By this time, the Golden Gazelle meat worth 1904 Essence waspletely consumed.

    "We are almost at the ce. Lets keep walking."

    Gauthama interrupted their train of thoughts and spoke in an encouraging tone. After walking for a few more minutes, Gauthama and those following him reached a much vast in field. The loosely packed sand had turned toparatively firmer ground. The trees were not growing in that ce. Gentle breeze from the sea swept past them and went away. Lee peeked at the Map and found that the terrain and the area was suitable for training. The almost circrnd area was apt for training the mind and body. As Gauthama led them to the centre of the ground, D came up with a very important message.

    [I found traces of spatial engineering!]

 Chapter 139: Sinorite, The Dream Inducer

    Chapter 139: Sinorite, The Dream Inducer

    [I found traces of spatial engineering!]

    Lee halted his steps as he heard D. His pupils dted and a wave of goosebumps went over him. Thedies stepped forward, leaving the statue behind.

    "Wut?"

    Instead of mentally delivering the reply, Lee unconsciously spoke out his thoughts and the heads turned to him. The unseen expression on Lee''s face made thedies curious. Gauthama noticed a slightly increased pace in his heartbeats.

    "I will be right back."

    Lee turned around and stepped towards the shades of the trees. The long green leaves of the densely packed Coconut trees casted it''s shadows on the ground and Lee found a seat beneath them. The Perrafin and Fero came near Lee and sat close to him. Cross-legged, he saw Gauthama teaching thedies a set of gentle evasive movements.

    ''D, speak.''

    Lee rubbed Perrafin''s forehead as Fero ced it''s head on hisp.

    [It is as I said. I have detected very extensive spatial engineering from the soul and the scythe. It took me a while to identify and piece together the clues. If I am not wrong, then the soul and the scythe cooperatively manifested the livable sub-space.]

    Lee withdrew his consciousness into the chamber, while keeping an eye on the surroundings. As Lee materialised, he saw D standing next to the prison seal while rubbing his chin.

    "Do you need more Mana?"

    D took a glimpse of him over his shoulder and focused back to the cube.

    "It would be helpful if you can provide some. The Life and Nature affinities you refilled before, has almostpletely faded away. The soul is no longer fighting back or resisting the Mana."

    D opened a small hole on the upper right portion of the cube face. Lee increased the Mana usage and created a highlypressed and denser construct with Life affinity. Like ab rat which had realised it''s situation, the ghost nced at the small hole and saw a much denser Mana construct flowing in. A painful moaning arose from the inside, but it did not slow down the refilling process.

    The one-way transparent surface of the cube viewed Mana filling the insides of the cube. The fading reddish hue left the apparition almost colourless and translucent. The previous aggressiveness and hostility was non-existent. The Light-Splitter fragments were retracted and did not poke on the ghost anymore.

    "Slowly, we would be able to put up an intelligible conversation with the apparition. But how long will it take to achieve that stage, is a mystery for us."

    Lee nodded at D''s statement. Then he remembered about D''s initial statement that froze him in his tracks.

    "How did you detect the traces of spatial engineering?"

    "Oh that..!"

    D replied, and waved his hand. A table rose up from the floor, and the scythe appeared on it.

    "Do you see any difference from how it looked before releasing the seal?"

    Lee took the scythe into his hand and observed it from every angle. He couldn''t find any changes, except the de had a red hue.

    "The de has a tinge of red colour."

    D nodded with a smile.

    "Exactly. The de''s colour was previously grey. That change is of great importance, as the souls were trapped to the de." (D)

    "So the colour change and spatial engineering are rted, right?" (Lee)

    "The Sinorite is actually a pale red coloured metal, and has an innate characteristic to induce dreams. When corrupted, it induces nightmares and turns grey." (D)

    "So the spatial engineering you mentioned was to materialise the nightmare into a reality, and the corruption was the apparition." (Lee)

    "Yes. And coincidentally I detected Spacew from the ghost in prison. It was dim, but well hidden. The concealment fell off when it became weak after reacting with the Life affinity imbued Mana."

    Lee shuffled his sight between the apparition and the scythe for about a minute.

    "How do you know about spatial engineering?"

    Lee doubted the sovereign''s intellect. In fact, he was curious about the boundless pit of D''s knowledge.

    "Remember a bunch of books you acquired while looting the ve trading facility in Alls city?" (D)

    "Yes, one of them was Codex Fero. Why?" (Lee)

    "After bing a system, acquiring knowledge became much easier. So I digested those books, except Codex Fero." (D)

    "That is good to hear. Did you pick up anything about how to do spatial engineering?" (Lee)

    "I have acquired deep knowledge about it. But the faint chances of sess and its unpredictable consequences cannot be taken lightly. A slight mishap and we all will seize to exist." (D)

    "Then we can only wait andmunicate with that soul." (Lee)

    The ghost was slowly turning translucent as it sunk in the Mana. Lee noticed the change of air around it. The menacing atmosphere had been reced by tranquility. The amorphous figure was slightly moulding itself into a meaningful form. Sensing Lee''s intense observation, D assured him.

    "I will let you know when anything happens."

    Lee nodde without looking at D, as his focus went on to the scythe.

    "D, upgrade the scythe to Mid Iron grade, and change its name to Reaper."

    Lee vanished from the chamber as he ced the scythe on the table. His consciousness came back to reality, and he opened his eyes to see An and Mia sparring. The Perrafin sensed Lee moving slightly, and it raised the head to look at him. Noticing his stable and immovable physique, the Perrafin deduced that the slight movement was unintentional.

    [I don''t know whether you need them or not, but there are a lot of spikes and clubs in EsGen. You can sell them to the Shop, if they are useless.]

    ''Then sell them please.''

    [47 spikes and 53 clubs sold. A few other things were also present. Total 146 Essence earned.]

    Lee was silent for a few minutes, as his mind went into deep contemtion. His eyes went beyond hispanions and stared into the horizon.

    ''D, calcte the probability of sessful spatial engineering, and creating a stable habitable sub-space.''

    [Currently, it is far too low to even think about it. But that does not mean that it is impossible. We have a spatial ring made of Vixen Phoenix''s bone and Gargantua Rock. It is Lower Silver graded and can barely sustain such an intense operation. The Sinorite metal from the scythe is far from being enough to sessfully manifest a habitable sub-space. The demand of the metal will increase exponentially for even an inch of space. And most importantly, without the knowledge of the soul in prison formation, I will be inadequate to execute such a dangerous mission alone.]

    Lee was focused on the possibility of creating a livable sub-space. Though the chances are small as a sliver, he wanted to grab onto that strand of hope. His thinking capability has proved that the existence of a subspace will only do benefit for him. In any way the EsGen can be fused with that sub-space, the harvest of Essence can be upgraded to good extent. The Perrafin and Fero will have space to move, while it needs to be suspended in EsGen. In much simpler terms, the friendly units can be inhabited in the subspace, while hostile beings can be stored in the EsGen.

    ''Personal Status.''

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 4434

    Essence: 622796 (7 A.M.)

    Money: 8726 Gold, 2352 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Health: 320

    Strength: 320

    Vitality: 320

    Agility: 320

    Defense: 320

    Endurance: 320

    Sense: 320

    Intelligence: 320

    Resolve: 325

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 1023

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie level

    Mana: 39909

    ----------

    IMMUNITY:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6784/10000)

    Medium Wind Immunity (4172/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2411/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1791/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    AFFINITY:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15384/1000000)

    Greater Fire Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Ice Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Greater Sand Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (12060/1000000)

    Greater Air Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)

    Greater Light Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Death Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Gravity Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Space Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Life Affinity (76/1000000)

    Greater Time Affinity (0/1000000)

    ----------

    MASTERY:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)

    Lesser Scythe Mastery (1/100)

    ----------

    SKILLS:-

    Flight - E (0/30)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Information Transfer

    Taming - F (0/5)

    ==========

 Chapter 140: of Encyclopaedia To Greatness

    Chapter 140: of ''Encyclopaedia To Greatness''

    Lee stared at the Affinity panel while regrly ncing at the Essence count. Math disappointed him as he found out that he needed 252061696 Essence to reach Absolute grade in Lightning affinity. The realisation that the journey of wless cultivation is like scaling Mount Everest naked, made him let out a deep sigh. Fero sensed his mental hopelessness and let out a consoling noise. Lee smiled at the hyena and patted its head.

    ''D, dictate the chapter 2 of Encyclopaedia to Greatness''.

    [Why don''t you practice a few moves while I narrate it? I won''t rmend sitting idle, as yourpanions are also training.]

    ''That is correct.''

    Lee removed Perrafin''s head from hisp and Fero jumped up in excitement. The hyena thought that he was going to y in the warm daylight, but Lee conveyed his desire to practice. Fero sat near Perrafin and found coziness in its fur.

    ''I have not done an upgrade in years. D, increase my physical attributes and mental attributes to 400.''

    [Physical attributes will consume 16800 Essence and mental attributes will take 9300 Essence. Do you wish to spend a total of 26100 Essence?]

    ''Yes.''

    [Reminding that after reaching 600, the conversion will again be multiplied six times.]

    ''Oh, then upgrade all attributes to 600. Use 66000 Essence.''

    Lee walked out of the shade and took out ck. As he slowly began to move ording to his memories from Earth, D in his mind opened the book and started narrating in a soft tone. The pleasantness in his voice had aforting effect.

    [Mana is the basic of magic. It is less condensed than Qi, because Qi fills all sentient beings and thus forms a stable and rich foundation. While Qi cannot be corrupted, Mana can be, as it is the breeze that circtes through nature. Thus Mana gives more prominence to outward boosting, rather than inward growth. Unlike Qi, Mana can augment objects and peoples.]

    ''D, you are reading chapter one.''

    Lee disyed an upward sh, and the breeze produced as it''s aftereffect caught Gauthama''s attention. Mia also sensed the wind passing her by. An and Tera did not notice it, because they were sparring each other.

    [Okay. Chapter two, Mastery. Mastery is the core of operating Mana. It is defined as the systematic and efficient handling of Mana. Everyone born with a Mana pool in their body cannot exercise Mastery at the same rate. It is dependent on focus, intent and maniption. The surroundings y a major role in the rate and efficiency of Mastery.

    Mana is theponent thatys the foundation for Mastery, while the user/host is the second half which develops the mastery to the pinnacle. With enough Mana, Rookie level mastery is easily attainable. But the rest of the progression needs to be carefully executed, or the user will experience Mana deviation and can lead to unpredictable disasters.

    After Rookie level is attained, the user must introduce Mana to all of his/her internal and external organs and make it familiar with the whole being. The saturation limit of each organ differs from individual to individual. The maximum Mana that a body part can demand to saturatepletely, will be the same amount of Mana used to reach the current mastery level.]

    Lee unconsciously stored ck in his Inventory as he turned around swiftly, and in style. He was sure that he did not hear wrong, but this criteria was a little too much.

    ''D, I hope you are not messing with me.''

    [No, I am not. This is how the Mana Mastery has been developed.]

    ''Okay, please continue.''

    Lee took out ck and bnced it by its pommel on his right hand''s index finger. As he attained bnce, his body stayed unflinching and unyielding. Whenever a breeze tries to topple down ck, Lee would adjust his posture or take necessary steps to restore the bnce. His footworks were quick and gentle.

    [Complete saturation of all the organs with Mana is essential as any unevenness in the process can greatly shunt the benefits of Mastery. Uneven saturation can also lead to Mana deviation at unpredictable times and can explode a body part or the whole being unanticipatedly.

    The user must be very cautious not to oversaturate, as Mana, when clustered together above the limit, can create vitality copse and disintegrate the body part instantly. Thus the user must have an in-depth understanding of his/her own body beforemencing such actions.

    An important information regarding saturation is that condensed Mana should not be used to saturate body parts, but must only be used to level up in Mastery. The uncondensed Mana soaked throughout the body will act as a catalyst in smoothening up the painful process of upgradation. This soaking up is also the trigger in expanding the Mana pool inside the person.]

    Lee jumped up, did a flip and twirl simultaneously in the mid-air, beforending with ck in fool''s guard stance, only an inch away from the ground. He kept his pose intact as he was eagerly waiting for more narration.

    [Lee, looks like you have found trouble.]

    Hearing this, he instantly swept his senses across the ce. No visual, auditory or olfactory senses were picked up, and Lee became at ease.

    [Not that trouble, you fool. I meant trouble in Mana Mastery. I was talking about elemental affinities.]

    ''What about it?''

    [Those with innate elemental affinity need to oversaturate their affinities with uncondensed Mana. This is to nurture the affinity identity,monly known as Ego. Through oversaturation, the affinity bes drunk with Mana, and cleanses itself. After each cleansing, the Ego will be more alive and conscious. When using skills above level 4, the Ego can directly manifest and provide explosive empowerment to the user.]

    ''Where is the saturation limit?''

    [That is the problem. There is no fixed saturation limit for affinities. It varies on individual Mana capacity, purity of affinity and extent of possible growth. So, I am afraid that Mana consumption will skyrocket for sure.]

    ''The book says to oversaturate. It is a good thing, to be honest. We will know the limit when the affinity cleanses itself. But I am not confident in discussing the amount of Mana that will be expended in the process.''

    [What I finished saying is the summary of the second chapter. It is also written that the upgrading in Mastery level will slightly increase the saturation limit of body parts.]

    ''Make a list of the body parts. The lesser the numbers are, the better.''

    [On it.]

    Lee raised his sword and rested it over his right shoulder. At once, his keen senses picked up something whistling towards him from the right. ck shed with a record breaking swiftness and the arrow made out of Iron Wood got sliced to two. As he turned to his right, around 8 adventurers and 12 cultivators walked out of the vegetation. The sparring duo, Mia and Gauthama picked up their presence, but realised that their intent was towards Lee.

    One of the cultivators stepped forward and took out a roll of paper from the inside of his robe. He unrolled it and showed it to Lee. Without wasting a second, a new quest had been generated!

 Chapter 141: Popular Enough To Have Bounty On Head

    Chapter 141: Popr Enough To Have Bounty On Head

    =====

    8 A.M.

    76738 Essence harvested.

    =====

    =====

    Quest generated!

    ''Capture those who came to kill the host.''

    Reward: 4000 Essence, 1 Skill Token.

    Failure: You better not!

    =====

    The words disyed by the quest panel were more threatening than the surrounding bunch of people. Lee got the gist of the situation, as the cultivator showed a piece of paper taken from the quest board of Cultivator''s Guild. His name was evidently visible as it was written after the following words - ''Bounty for killing''.

    "I never knew that I was popr enough to have 30 gold coins as a bounty on my head!"

    Lee sounded excited, but mocked them in disguise, as ck was flipped from his right hand to left. The sword was raised and rested on his left shoulder, as he said-

    "I don''t have all day, so line up and get purified!"

    The bnced male to female ratio among cultivators and adventurers amused Lee enough to make a ''meaningful''ment. His words ''I don''t have all day'' felt like an insult in those 12 cultivators'' ears. The archer and archeress among them released their bowstring and Qi imbued Iron Wood arrows dashed against Lee.

    [Do not fight head-on. Evade and make them go crazy.]

    ''Then strike the iron!''

    Without any offensive movements, Lee easily avoided the iing strikes. ck drifted in the air and always left the opponent''s at its mercy. Lee slipped through thework of attacks with agile movements.

    ncing at the Map, he saw a few of them surrounding thedies. But they had to give in without a fight, as the Tubian let out a wave of numbing rxation, and they fell on the ground, slouching. Thedies did not let Gauthama have all the fun, and decided to join. Without much dy, they found their suitable sparring partner. Rue, who was a druid, had to stick with Gauthama for shelter.

    *ng*

    Lee showed sluggishness so that he does not lose his role as the central attention. He figured out that more than enough evading will make the opponents grow weary of him, and hispanions might be targeted. Slowly, ck began to collide with homing swords and axes, while acting as if Lee was being pushed to defend.

    *huff*

    Lee let out a mouthful of air to decorate his acting, but his opponents were cautious. The Veil Of Whiteness served as a reference for others to know about his power. Thus, everyone was careful not to close in on him recklessly.

    *Unintelligible chanting*

    A barely audible chant fell in his ears and he immediately swept his eyes around. The person was hiding in a bush, out of his sight, but the all-powerful Map disclosed the person''s location. Lee did not try to make an attempt of attack, as he wanted to see what kind of spell that was.

    The woman behind the bush brought her palms down and thrusted it to the ground. A faint crack advanced towards Lee and he jumped up instinctively. Within a fraction of seconds, where he stood became a pool of sticky quicksand.

    [That is a quicksand spell of level 1. She is probably a Rookie or Official wizard.]

    Lee made his descend realistic and rolled on the ground as his footing ''went'' uneven. His leather jacket had sustained a few cuts and shes. The messy hair fell on his face, and he tried to move the locks, when a pair of fireballs made contact with him from his left.

    *boom*

    The strike was an unexpected one, even for Lee. He flew and rolled away for some metres, before trying to stand up on his legs. The unexpected delivery of the fireballs left a glimmer of trembling in him.

    "Now we''re talking!"

    Swords and axes at close range, archers and wizards at long range. The battle experience Lee had longed for came to him. But their coordinated attacks were nothing against Foresight''s assistance. The Stacked effect of Nature, Sound and Gravity amplified the situation. As the bncing power of Nature acted hand in hand with the disorienting audio vibrations of Sound, Gravity gave a burden of unforeseen and momentary downward exertion.

    ----

    Five minutester, the fireballs stopped chasing Lee. The swords did not disy it''s former vigour. The adventurers and cultivators were almost at their limit, when Lee straightened his body and let out a mouthful of air.

    "It has been fun ying with you."

    "What?"

    In the sequence of actions, the tired bunch of men and women forgot to keep distance from Lee. It was all part of his cleverly executed n, as tired ones tend to forget the most important safety measures. It was necessary, as the quest did mention the term ''Capture''. When the melee fighters recognised their collective nearness to him, it waste. The lightning stiffened their muscles as it went past them.

    *zzt..*

    A short, but thicker dose of lightning and a few of them fell on their knees, spasming, while the major portion was knocked out. Lee went to each one of them and dragged them towards the centre of the ground. He personally administered another dose of lightning, ording to how the person reacted to the first collective dose. He made those who were reluctant to go unconscious, spasm like a man holding jackhammer.

    =====

    Questpleted.

    Rewards stored in the Inventory.

    =====

    "Now, about this..!"

    Lee took out that piece of paper which had the Guild''s seal. It was a thicker version of paper, and did not show marks on rolling or folding. The pale yellowish hue gave off a feel of originality.

    "Bounty for killing Lee! 30 gold coins upon presenting his head. Host: anonymous."

    Lee read the details written on the paper out loud. An came near him and took the paper from his hand.

    "Cowards. Can''t fight you, so posted a mission request. That too, anonymously."

    An made ament as she red at the faces of the cultivators and adventurers. She wanted to ask them about the mission, but decided not to, as she too saw them twitching.

    "Can I kill them?"

    Mia had her katana unsheathed and held in front of her. Her intent to kill was visible. Pointing it to the crouching bodies on the ground, she raised her question. Those who were barely conscious jolted by her question. It would be pathetic to be killed like cattle!

    Lee walked to her and took the sword from her hand and sheathed it.

    "They did not do anything wrong. As people chose many different ways to earn a livelihood, so have they selected a path suitable for them."

    He patted her shoulder and turned to the unconscious. As those who were awake and aware witnessed, theirpanions went disappearing into thin air. Terror and fear swallowed their hearts as they too ended up in an iprehensible space.

    [Oh, that was unexpected.]

 Chapter 142: Soul Sigils & Saturation

    Chapter 142: Soul Sigils & Saturation

    [Oh, that was unexpected.]

    Lee heard the voice and was momentarily dazed as the sound was as sweet as that of Mia''s.

    ''What is it, D?''

    [One of the people you absorbed into EsGen shares 29% of her Soul Sigil with the apparition. She was the one who hid behind the bush and used the Quicksand spell!]

    ''What is Soul Sigil? I am hearing it for the first time.''

    [Soul Sigil is the unique signature of a soul. Like how fingerprints and DNA never ever repeats in history, one Soul Sigil is exclusive to one individual, and it will never be repeated or can be recreated.

    The Soul Sigils of the parents are transmitted to the child. The child will take 80% from both parents and will form a new and unique Soul Sigil for itself. As generations extend, the Soul Sigil of the grandchildren will lessen the concentration of the forefathers. In rare cases where incest is applied, the Soul Sigil''s purity can be preserved.]

    ''Not so much different from Earth, eh?''

    [Different dimensions, same sets ofws.]

    Lee couldn''t help but smirk at the resemnce. Taking a peek at the Map, about arge radius around them did not contain any individual other than six people. Turning around, he saw the mission request paper being passed from individual to individual.

    "What does it feel to be popr?"

    An asked as she saw a faint amusement on his face. Lee averted his eyes from the dynamically moving mission request paper and it collided with his wife''s line of sight.

    "It feels annoyingly funny."

    Lee shrugged along with his verbal reply. She sensed some sort of disturbance on his face, or she thought that she saw it.

    "Can I have a look at it?"

    Tera and Mia were holding two opposite edges of the paper when Gauthama requested to take a nce at the paper. He promptly handed over the paper, and he walked towards Lee.

    "I think you need to go and enquire with the officials about this paper. Perhaps it could be a mission request forged with the Cultivator''s Guild seal."

    Lee nodded and scanned the paper in Gauthama''s hand. The probability of what the Tubian said was not small, so he decided to take a walk to the Guild. Making enemies with the four giants was enough to substantiate Gauthama''s words.

    ''D, are the list of the organsplete?''

    [Yes. I did a deeper reading of the second chapter, because I was slightly confused as to what was the criteria of choosing the organs and body parts. I was fortunate to have done that, because I found what those aforementioned body parts were. It includes 206 bones and 639 muscles, along with a bunch of internal organs like brain, heart, liver, stomach, both lungs and kidneys, dder, the intestines and skin. The skin is multiplied by 7 for some unknown reason, and the total count is 862 human body parts!]

    Lee gulped down his saliva as his eyes went wide. The unfocused eyes aimed beyond Gauthama.

    "Are you okay?"

    Gauthama was concerned by his sudden change of conduct. The words brought Lee back to reality as he instantly suppressed the amazement with acknowledgement of the info.

    "Yes, I am fine. I shall visit the Cultivator''s Guild after training. For now, let me take a seat in the shadows."

    Lee turned around and walked to the Perrafin, who was peacefully taking a nap. His footsteps made it open her eyes, but soone closed after registering his identity. Fero was in deep sleep with the warmth of the shades and gentle breeze.

    ''D, how is the Soul Sigil rtion beneficial for us?''

    [There is a possibility that the apparition, which has been in the scythe for too long, might have no recollection of his memory. So we can use her Soul Sigil to provide a kickstart to the apparition''s memories. It is simr to remembering something done ages ago, after taking a nce of something, or picking up a particr scent.]

    ''Okay. Don''t rush on the apparition matter, and leave it at ease for the time being. Do me a favor and calcte the amount of Mana that I need to saturate my body.''

    [Total 862 parts to saturate, and each part must need exactly 2100 Mana to saturate. That means you need exactly 1810200 Mana toplete the process in one go.]

    ''We can oversaturate the affinities after this, can''t we?''

    [Actually, that is the way it should be done.]

    ''So I still need 1770200 more to execute. Okay, convert all Essence to Mana.''

    [Done. Your Mana reserve is now 1254735.]

    ''Perfect. Now let us buy a skill!''

    Lee summoned the Shop interface and he was excited to surf through the Skill section. But he was confused as to which subsection to select.

    So he began to open each one from the top. The Offense and Defense skills did not fancy him. The Agility was Lee''s talent of disy, so he simply skimmed through the first few ones. The supplementary skills of Auxiliary were not bright enough for his notice. He hesitated for a minute as he hovered his focus over the Mastery section, but decided to skip as those were not of imminent necessity.

    ''I have Map and Foresight for Perception, but nothing for Deception. I have Flight from Nonbat, Home nning from Lifestyle and Information Transfer from Mental subsection.''

    Lee selected the Deception skill section. A number of skills came down like an endless scroll. The first one, Adaptive Camouge, had a price tag of 97000 Essence and each usage of the skill was like a hungry behemoth. Lee felt an urge to immediately hit the purchase button, but suppressed it. As he scrolled down, he saw a weird skill named ''Underwater Disguise''.

    ''It is useful for underwater divers, as surface beings are very vulnerable in water. This skill wille in handy, but not any time soon.''

    The further he scrolled down, more and more interesting skills he saw listed. Many among them were based on maniption of elements and affinities. But after understanding theplexity of executing these skills by himself, Lee apuded the skill and the system who created it.

    But most of them had perception skills that could counter them. Underwater Disguise could be easily broken down by Sonar Waves, avable in the Perception. Lee was about to exit the Shop itself, when he saw the name of a skill. He simply raised the skill details after being curious about the name, but he never expected such a description!

    ''Wait! Can that be counted as a Deception skill??''

 Chapter 143: Cant Handle Three At Once

    Chapter 143: Can''t Handle Three At Once

    [What are you talking about?]

    D asked as he heard Lee raising his voice, which was rather umon.

    ''D, how is Anaesthesia a Deception skill?''

    D was sleeping on the couch inside the conscious chamber, when Lee raised the doubt. The sluggish and heavy eyes opened wide and D stumbled out of the couch, and stared at the info panel through Lee''s eyes. With excitement, he spoke up.

    [That is a highly underestimated Deception skill. Read the description.]

    =====

    Description: Anaesthesia creates short term sensory dys in the target. Theg is so tiny that the target does not sense anything wrong with the sensations. After a prolonged period of skill use, the dyed sensory impulses umte in the target andter creates distorted sensations.

    =====

    ''I understand why you regarded it as a highly underestimated one. The description gives a concealed negative image. The very short period ofg and necessity of prolonged use makes it discouraging. But the effectiveness of the skill is no lesser than the Sense Scramble skill.''

    Without buying any skill, Lee closed the Shop interface, as he sat cross-legged. His eyes were aimed at a distance as he recollected the names of the skill.

    ''D, saturate 597 muscles of my body with the Mana.''

    After a second, Lee felt a sensation covering up his lower torso. A sense of relief and bliss came to his mind as he sat, with his mind lying on a cotton bed.

    [Complete. 42 muscles of your upper torso are left to saturate. The saturated muscles seem to have gained more sturdiness. From what I have found out, the saturation also reconfigures your physique to withstand the strain and pressure of higher level spells and augmentations.]

    ''I felt that too.''

    Lee leaned onto a tree trunk as he rxed his body. His hands rested on his hips without a strand of strain. An noticed his calm and rxed countenance and gave a re, saying-

    "Lee,e here. Spar with me."

    Lee obediently raised himself off the ground and took ck from the Inventory.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    83004 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Upgrade ck to Lower Silver quality.''

    [Used 49000 Essence to upgrade ck.]

    As Lee waved his de in the air, a faint aura was around it. The faint afterimage it produced was caught in sight by Mia. She was alert by the strange view, and unconsciously reached for her katana.

    "Our first andst spar was unsessful. Hope you have be stronger."

    Lee hovered his left arm''s index finger over the de, and ced his right foot behind. ck was near his face, when he slightly bended his knees to attain a stable posture.

    "Let''s find out."

    An dashed towards Lee, who was observing each and every change of her. The removal of poison greatly increased her Strength, Health and Vitality. But as Lee sensed the burning spirit in her eyes, he got ready to evade her strikes.

    *sh*

    The pink coloured de of the longsword shed and Lee took a step backward. With the help of Foresight, Lee briefly observed the vibrating de as it passed in front of his face. The unyielding sharpness was caught in his eyes, and he appreciated the maintenance given to the sword, by her.

    Left, right, duck, repeat. Lee has been evading An''s strikes with minimal movement and resulted in maximum efficiency. Gauthama evaluated that An alone cannot touch Lee, so he raised a question.

    "Can they two join the spar?"

    Lee glimpsed at his face as he executed a side-flip in air, while dodging the long pink de. D approved the request and Mia and Tera pounced on Lee. But the katana and the twin hatchets sliced the empty air behind him.

    In the first ten minutes, the coordination was pathetic. Mia, Tera and An repeatedly ran into each other and formed confusion and breakage of rhythm. Lee found it amusing and suppressed his chuckles, but the tides turned soon enough.

    The next eight minutes were a period of adjustments and avoidance of collisions. The trio found their equilibrium, and the density of attacks began to increase gradually. Lee, who was untouchable, soon had his leather upperwear with cuts and scratches. Soon, a bond of interdependence and independence connected Mia, An and Tera. Lee had no other option, but to actively evade the strikes, as his breath began to roughen.

    Lee does not have the leisure to peek at the Map, but the circumstances made him. He was aware that the weapons cannot wound him, lest scratch him, but he was also aware that every opponent he was about to face in the future was not weaker than him. The understanding of himself as nothing more than an organic being, bound by thews of Dimension, urged him to act and react like a normal Utopian.

    And that was tiresome! Half an hour into the spar, Lee found himself breathing heavily, while being chased by two swords and two hatchets. D was amazed by the trio''s energy efficient coordination, and silently watched the earthling''s effort to evade.

    ''D, are you limiting my Endurance or Agility? Because I feel heavy.''

    The question was unanswered, as Lee had a smile stered on his face. The torn upperwear danced in the air and was in the process of being chipped away.

    ''D, what is Gauthama teaching Rue?''

    [Focus on the des around you!]

    Sovereign shouted and Lee stepped to his right and jumped up while ticking in his legs. The longsword, katana and the twin hatchets sliced the air where his head, heart and knees were, a moment ago. Even without putting up an act, Lee lost footing and rolled like a tin can!

    Lee crouched on his left knee, and his right elbow was supported by his right thigh. His grip was slowly loosening on ck, so he stored it in his Inventory. Against him stood three females who were ecstatic by their cooperation. ncing at each other, they gave a smirk and stepped forward. As Lee expected, they have already found theirpatibility

    An, with her longsword went first at his chest with a stab. The act was unsessful as Lee stepped back, but it gave enough time for Mia to close in and execute a horizontal sh on his stomach. Barely avoiding the de with a step to his left, the hatchet left him astonished!

    *thud*

    Lee was tired, so he decided to take the hit. Tera threw one of her hatchets at him, hoping that Lee would avoid them with his nimble steps. But her prediction went wrong, as Lee barely had any time to lean sideways. The back of the hatchet made contact with his cheek, and it was loud enough that Gauthama and Rue turned their heads as they heard the noise.

    Lee spinned as the force with which the hatchet came was not weak. Before he crouched down on his knees after a sudden twirl, he caught the hatchet mid-air, by its handle.

    "Aww...that hurts."

    Lee ced the hatchet on the ground and rubbed his cheek. It was red with the contact. An and Mia came to him and pointed their swords at him.

    "Do you ept defeat?"

    A yful mocking grin crept up An''s face as he nodded in defeat. Gauthama came to see this scene and was pleased by his eptance.

    ''Now I wish I had the Anaesthesia skill.''

    Lee supported on his knees and stood up and let out a mouthful of air in relief. Rue saw his condition and came forward to help.

    "Let me help you."

    She came near him as her hands extended at him. As the trio watched, her hands started to shake. Then they realised that she and Lee were shaking violently. A revtion hit An as her eyes scanned around and saw the entire environment trembling!

 Chapter 144: Victim Name: Piscerent City

    Chapter 144: Victim Name: Piscerent City

    "Earthquake!"

    An Immediately grabbed Mia''s hand and shouted out. Rue almost fell down stumbling, but Tera supported her. Lee was astonished as D swore that he did not sense something like that approaching.

    "The city."

    Gauthama uttered as his eyes watched a small portion of the Piscerent City''s wall breaking down, in a distance. Lee witnessed this and deduced that Gauthama was unaware of the impending extinction level disaster!

    Perrafin and Fero came running at Lee while constantly observing the surroundings. They became more vignt and exposed their fangs, as the ocean began to produce turbulence. Large amounts of water were thrown onto thend and the beasts increased their pace towards Lee.

    [An enormous fissure closing in. Gather everyone in EsGen!]

    Foresight was activated the moment D shouted out. Lee instantly reached for those who were near him, and brought thedies and the beasts into the EsGen. As Gauthama watched, an index finger slowly drifted towards his chest and poked, and the very moment, he lost all contact with reality.

    *CRACK*

    Something shot up into the sky with so much velocity, that a sonic boom was produced. A cloud of dust rose up and the fissure opened its mouth under its disguise. Lee missed the gigantic fissure literally by a hair''s breadth. Flight was powered to its peak by his desire to live. Four Mana constructs covered his palms and feet, through which jets of air exited. All of these stacked together, and fuelled by an unrivalled threat on his life, took Lee more than a hundred metres into the sky!

    Viges were sunk, and its residents were drowned to death. Like a demolition site, the Piscerent city walls were partially reduced to a heap of stones. Three parallel fissures brushed past Piscerent city and only broke the city wall in the process. They are incredibly lucky, whenpared with the situation of Lorin.

    [We might get spotted, if we stay airborne for long. Better descend fast.]

    The Piscerent city was in controlled chaos. The quakes came from the ocean, so the guards were scouting around the city for any potential survivors and clues of the disaster. The chance to be spotted was not zero, so Lee decided not to take any risk.

    ----

    =====

    10 A.M.

    104037 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was slowly walking towards the city, while helping those who are trying to save their lives. He saved many hanging on their thread of life by some fortune. Since he too was in shags, and as drenched as them, his messed up hair partially hid his face and identity. Most of the viges have suffered losses from the fissure outbreak.

    ''The Tubian''s presence caused the Essence extraction to skyrocket, eh?''

    [That is not it. Gauthama somehow had figured out that EsGen is rted to you. Withplete trust, he had let his guard down. Though cannot move or act, he is able to maintain his chain of thoughts.]

    ''I better thank himter.''

    After a short pause of observing around, he probed-

    ''D, what about the timer?''

    [These are appetizers, while the continent formation after about 3 decades is the real meal. There is no change in the schedule.]

    Lee tried to help others as he moved towards the city. There were carriages which had the beasts drawing them run away in fear. Lee pulled them and brought them to a safe point, away from the fissures.

    Without much fuss, Lee entered the city. The turmoil in air, and his ragged and drenched appearance made others assume that he is another survivor of the sudden cmity. Some gave him a piece of bread, and an old woman gave her nkets to Lee. He was actually speechless by these actions.

    [I found that we have no need to oversaturate the affinities. The oversaturation is only for those who have Lesser or Medium grade affinities. But those with Greater or Absolute grade only need to spend the same quantity used for all other parts.]

    ''Thanks for the info, D.''

    Lee entered an alleyway and climbed onto the nearest building roof.

    ''I have an idea worth experimenting.''

    [And I am looking at it. It looks feasible. Go for it.]

    Lee covered his whole body in a thickyer of Mana. He and theyer around him began to disappear as Light Affinity was attributed to it. As he expected, the Light Affinity can refract the light rays around someone and can make one go invisible.

    ''Flight.''

    The normal Flight was slow whenpared to Air affinity attributed aerial dash. Lee gave precisemands and he promptly hovered over the Gauthama''s Inn. Entering through the fence door, he had no choice, but to break the wooden lock inside the backdoor, to get in.

    After silently entering, he shut the door behind him and released Tera, An, Mia, Gauthama and Rue, from the EsGen. They were in a daze, as they went ckout near the beach, and then woke up conscious in their bedroom. The Tubian turned to Lee and asked, while maintaining the gratitude on his face-

    "Lee, I am curious as to how I and my sister reached here."

    *huff*

    Lee was sitting leaning on one of the bed''s legs. He stood up and went near the table and took a seat. Others followed his lead as he waved his hands. The brother and sister were doubtful, but trusteded Lee to their core. As the trio apart from the siblings sat down, Lee took on the role of a storyteller!

    ---

    =====

    12 A.M.

    83004 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ---

    Five minutes after the notification vanished, Lee concluded his story and crossed hands on the table. He decided to be honest, and gave a concise ount on his arrival, the Dimension Sovereign, the progression and the untold history of Tubians and Utopia, in a single stretch. D advised him to strategically conceal the presence of the system, and he cleverly avoided anything that could possibly suspect the presence of it. Even if a doubt arises, Lee had attributed the reason for their doubt to his unceremonious arrival here.

    Gauthama''s revtion, that he was an incarnate who previously lived on Earth, from where Lee hade, was the greatest surprise of the century. Tera could not believe that her brother was such a powerful, yet passive character. She felt herself proud and blissful to have acquired him as her brother.

    "All Tubians are incarnates. And it is the very reason that we did not involve ourselves in the great war. We were unknown of our life''s extent, and thus, decided to stay dormant."

    Gauthama was shedding light on the lives of the Tubians, those beings which were worshipped as gods and living for millennia!

 Chapter 145: Radioactivity

    Chapter 145: Radioactivity

    "Tubians sure are powerful and mighty existences. But we have an irrevocable restraint on us. We are unable to do anything that can alter the course of this dimension, even in the slightest manner."

    Even for D, this was new information. Lee frowned with curiosity and thedies cluelessly nced at each other, as they leaned on the table.

    "The birth as a Tubian is like manifesting out of thin air. In a wink of an eye, our bodies grow and instantly acquire the optimum form suitable for our essence. The ce of birth is always an isted area. The rules and regtions that we are to follow are directly fed into our soul.

    The process through which our consciousnesses are transferred, introduces us to our limitations and limitlessness. The second chance to live, in a different ce, as yourself, is only avable if one attains enlightenment. Thus, we are stationed here to nurture and prosper the minds of the indigenous people.

    But with the responsibility,es a leash. If wemit an act that can interfere with the future of the Dimension, then the Tubian will be exterminated. It is an irreversible action, where that soul gets deported back to its home dimension. What happens after, is unknown to us.

    At the end of every century, we encounter a sort of inspection. It is a directmunication between our soul and the consciousness of the dimension. An evaluation is taking ce in us, and we can continue to live unless we don''t have the tiniest idea of messing with the future. If the Tubian that is being inspected, is found to be a variable that can affect the dimension''s trajectory, then that is the end of the soul. Many have thus painfully disintegrated from existence, and had served as an example for those left."

    D was swiftly recording these information in the system directory, which essentially is his soul. From Gauthama''s revtion, he now is aware of the reason why no Tubian supported the war waged against the four ancient continents.

    ''D, can you pull the consciousness of someone in EsGen, to the chamber?''

    [It is possible. Why?]

    Lee was contemting on something, and like always, D was nkly staring at his amorphous thoughts.

    ''D, use the Skill Token to buy Telepathy.''

    [Done.]

    =====

    Merge ''Information Transfer'' and ''Telepathy''?

    =====

    The instant Telepathy was brought from the Shop, the notification for merging it with Information Transfer came up. Lee gave a positive reply and the merging was alreadyplete.

    =====

    Skill ''Telepathy'' obtained.

    =====

    ''D, what is the difference between this Telepathy and the Telepathy we bought?''

    [The Telepathy that has been obtained after merging is an upgraded version of the Telepathy we brought from the Shop.]

    Lee activated the skill and focused his sight onto Gauthama''s face, while uttering inside-

    "Tubians consume Essence for survival, right?"

    The Tubian instantly turned his head at Lee. The skill was a sess at the first trial itself. Lee nodded at Gauthama, and assured him that the question was raised by him.

    Gauthama gave a faint gesture at him, meaning ''afterwards''. Thedies saw the action, but did not pry. A veil of silence had overshadowed them, as they digested the unexpected information. The Tubian memorised and acknowledged what Lee shared.

    It was then D came up with a hazardous notification.

    [High level of radiation detected from the depths of fissures. Imminent action needed!]

    ''What?!''

    Lee sprang up and the force pushed the chair backward by a meter or two. Others were dumbfounded as they saw him immediately storming out through the backdoor. Before anyone could raise a question, he had shot upwards.

    Flight skill took Lee to the roof. As he turned to the direction where the fissures had appeared, the visual assist interface disyed arge red exmation mark over the fissures. As he nced at the full length of the fissure, the presence of other simr beacons rmed him.

    ''Brief me what is happening.''

    Lee turned translucent and then invisible, as the Light affinity Mana surrounded him. Omnidirectional jetstreams of air originated from the unseeable Mana spheres which covered his palms and feets. As Flight lifted him, the boost of air quadrupled the speed!

    [The ocean water is rushing into the inwards of the fissures, and that is the source of radiation. Something was exposed as the fissures formed, and it began to radiate as the slightly saline water came in contact with it. We have barely a minute before the radiation escapes above the ground.]

    As D spoke halfway, Lee had already reached over the fissures. Like the report, the ocean water was flooding the insides of the fissures. A faint green hue was filling the depths and was slowly rising up like smoke.

    Without a second thought, Lee descended like a meteor and his palms were thrusted into the ground.

    ''Activate Rock affinity.''

    30000 Essence vanished from the reservoir and got umted to Mana. Before the numbers could stabilize, Lee had released his Mana reserve. The invisible energy spread deep into the crevices and enveloped the entire fissures.

    The ground began to shake violently and the mouth through which the marine water came in, began to narrow down. The struggle was visible on his face, because Lee was up against nature itself. He was reversing the very deed nature had done!

    But unfortunate was he. The green radioactive ash rose up like a cloud and was umting above the fissures. Like a sentient being, Lee was engulfed by the ash.

    [This deadly ash is actually a variant of the Death element. That means, there is something at the depths of these fissures, that can emit Death aura atrge quantities. If it is a sentient being, it is troublesome.]

    ''Activate Air element.''

    Gusts of air began to blow into the fissures and the green ash was unyielding at first. But time made the resistance futile, and the ash obediently was inside the cracks. Not a speck was left free.

    Peeking at the Map, Lee found the next step to be done.

    ''Activate Ice affinity.''

    Secondster, ice began to form at the entrance of the fissures. The salinity of the ocean was not too much, but the sheer quantity that had to be iced made the Mana guzzle like a glutton!

    The depths felt the cold, and foundations shook. Something in the depths began to show desire to go rampage.

    *trembling*

    Despite all the struggles Lee put forward, the ground began to shake vigorously. Nature acted against Mana and the tug of war was evidently visible.

    "Need a hand?"

    A familiar voice came from his behind and Lee turned his head to nce over the shoulders.

    "...."

    With hands behind his back, Gauthama stood there with a smile. A vertical halo decorated the background of his head and added glory. The serenity of his face gave a refreshing sensation to Lee.

    "I would appreciate some help."

    Lee smiled hesitantly and Gauthama did not need anything more to know. He extended his right arm forward and the palm opened. The next second, a white circr ring manifested in front of the palm and it shot towards the fissure. The ring became smoke midway and descended into the depths.

    A few secondster, the trembling began to pacify. It gradually became nothing more than a shiver, and died down. Gauthama slowly walked towards the other two fissures and repeated the same. He did not forget to calm the stressed mind of Lee. The sweat drops soon disappeared from his forehead and his mind rxed.

    The events that followed Gauthama''s intervention were in a good direction. The fissures closed up much quicker than when Lee gave his all. After exhausting more than 49000 Mana, the radioactive depths were closed temporarily.

    Rock affinity filled the mouth of the fissure. Sand was extensively used to create a bed of instion at the depths. Ice waspulsory to stop the sea water from flooding in. Although a great quantity of water was already inside, the ice prevented any further emission of radiation.

    "I hope you don''t get deported."

    Lee stood up and wiped his sweat. The tug of war had made him tired a lot.

    "Don''t worry. This does not count as an actionrge enough to affect the procession of dimension."

    ---

    =====

    1 P.M.

    83004 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee and Gauthama swiftly reached the inn. Thedies were eagerly waiting for the duo toe back. Gauthama had asked them to stay put at the inn.

    When they came back, Lee gave a short ount of his findings and the following incident. He expressed his gratitude to Gauthama. It was then, a noise caught their attention.

    *growling*

    Mia pressed her stomach as soon as the sound was produced. Secondster, Rue and An followed her lead and a much louder chorus was produced.

    Lee decided to buy the usual Honey Bread loaves and Horned-Mow milk. Gauthama went and bought a few tes of vegetable soup to the table. The chairs became upied with hungry stomachs. 52 Essence was the cost of 12 bottles of milk and 16 loaves of bread.

    ---

    Half an hour was necessary to satisfy the hunger. Lee was curious for D''s silence. His enquiry received a panel notification in return.

    ===

    The apparition is awake and I am holding a conversation with it. Do not disturb. I will promptly inform you when the conversation is over. Till then, do not enter the chamber.

    ===

 Chapter 146: Queries & Quality Time

    Chapter 146: Queries & Quality Time

    The words hit Lee like lightning. He had totally forgotten about the apparition. Before any further probing, D gave another instruction.

    =====

    Visit the Cultivator''s Guild and find about the mission request. Then visit Drake Godson from qvier Academy. You might find some useful information in the process.

    =====

    ''Ah, yes.''

    Lee decided to proceed as D instructed, but sat there, for now. He had half an hour before the next hourly notification pops up.

    "I am thinking of paying a visit to the Cultivator''s Guild. Would you five like to tag along?"

    The blissful tummies turned their heads to Lee. A faint smile of fullness emitted from them. An was about to say something, when Gauthama suggested an alternative.

    "I assume that it would be better to take us five into the space you have mentioned before."

    An was about to suggest going to the Guildplex without Lee, so that those who issued the mission might expose themselves. But Gauthama''s mentioning of the unique space that can suspend living beings in a stasis, gave them a new perspective of equal benefit on both sides.

    Lee had not mentioned the name ''EsGen'' to them. He instead introduced it as a unique space that can even hold the living beings in it, without any sort of harm. This information had made them churn their minds on it, in vain. None couldn''t identify the origin of the EsGen.

    "I agree. Lee can release us from the space if he deems necessary."

    Rue gave her opinion, and the trio nced at her and nodded in agreement. Lee intentionally did not mention the EsGen function, as he thought that it would create a negative image on its existence. Thus he was excited as Gauthama suggested EsGen into action. With nods and smiles of agreement, Lee stood up and pushed the chair backwards, in the process.

    "Then if you all could attain a stance."

    Hearing this, all five of them stood up from their seats and readied themselves. An and Mia ced their palm on the pommels of the swords, and Tera took out and held the twin hatchets in her hands. Rue was nervous about the stance, but Gauthama, who was rxed and serene, suggested her to ease her mind and take a deep breath. After promptly doing so, she felt relieved and her heart came back from the increased pace.

    With her gesture, Lee absorbed them into the EsGen. D, who was having an intelligent conversation with the apparition, picked up the overflowing tranquility from the Tubian. He decided to use this as a catalyst, and channeled thew of Serenity from Buddha, to the chamber.

    And it affected favourably. The apparition which was reluctant to exchange even the faintest clue of information, felt an optimistic and trustful sensation enveloping it. D acted appropriately, and slowly established a bond of loyalty between them. Slowly and steadily, the process proceeded.

    Thew of Serenity filled the chamber and it also affected Lee. Waves of equanimity rippled across his being, and his senses sharpened to an extent. Lee himself felt the change to a noticeable level, and deduced that it was D''s doing. He conveyed his thanks to D, and walked out of the inn through the backdoor.

    ''Activate Metal affinity.''

    Maniption of metal was unlocked when the metal affinity reached Greater grade. Mana imbued with Metal affinity will acquire a metallic luster of desirable colour, while costing required Mana for forming the desired metal. The strength, durability and other properties will decide the cost of the metal. Regardless of being alloy or not, the Mana requirement was just, and dependent on the construction of Lee.

    Mana began to materialise and the shape began to change in aplex mechanism. Cold Steel began to form thin, but strong strands, and they covered the door like an external chassis. Within a minute, thework grew to full extent, and the door was no longer visibly wooden.

    After shaping a new handle and lock, Lee sighed at his 4356 Mana expense. He flew up to the roof, but the presence of a sweeping aura was detected by him, and paused him from climbing onto the roof. Peeking at the Map, he realised that the previous group he encountered, was not the only team to ept the mission.

    13 Long Sect members were eagerly waiting for him in front of the inn, in disguise. Three were ced in the darkness of each of the alleyways. Another three were stationed above the building across the street. The four left were on the streets under the disguise of locals.

    The six in the alleyways were ready with unsheathed swords. The three on the rooftop were two ranged cultivators and a rtively higher realm cultivator. Those in disguise barely moved from their spot and were constantly searching for Lee.

    "This group seems to be more organised and strategic. They will be a good addition to my EsGen!"

    He excitedly muttered and Light element Mana covered his body. Air attributed Mana spheres lifted him up, stacked with Flight skill. The figure of Lee silently flew upward into the sky, and went beyond their range of inspection.

    ''Lets experiment with my bow.''

    Lee took out his bow and anyone to look upward would have freaked out in sight of a bow suspended in mid-air. He immediately covered the Light element onto the bow and it disappeared too. After a fraction of second, the leader of the team, who is a 5th stage Immortal Master realm, nced upward. He might have felt a faint sense of his presence.

    The keen eyesight locked onto the three on the rooftop, and the bowstring was released. Lightning affinity rum amok over the arrows and then hit them three, two rangers and the leader, with fatal numbness. They couldn''t produce any sound, even if they tried to cry out loud. With a muffled thud, they embraced the roof!

    Lee was about to descend, when those in the alleyways climbed up swiftly. They have somehow known about the incident, and reacted instantly. After keen inspection, Lee found simr shaped jade talismans with each of them. As the six cultivators dispersed in six pirections to find the culprit, their leader was trying to convey that the arrow came from the above. But the numbness messed up his dialogue and made him look like a person spasming from the shock!

    ''Six more in the bag.''

    As the spasming leader beheld, six arrows originated from thin air and flew at the dispersed six cultivators. Each of them gave off a faint flickering of lightning which produced an immense sense of fear in him. For both cultivators and adventurers, someone silently suspended in air within a camouge and using lightning arrows were the worst nightmares!

    Lee flew down and absorbed the six cultivators who got struck by lightning, before they hit the ground. Some were standing on the buildings and some were mid-air, when the arrows hit him. The Agility value of 600 showed it''s unspeakable might in silence. Within a fraction of seconds, sonic booms were produced, and the streets were rampaged by momentary tornado sts!

    The four on the streets did not see, but sensed something zooming above them. It was then they realised that the jade talismans were showing signs of distress. Hurriedly stepping into the dark alleyways, those four climbed to the roof and saw none there. Their leader and the rangers were gone!

    "Retreat!"

    One of them almost shouted and they took a step backward and turned around to run away in different directions. But a powerful force snatched away their consciousness, as a quick and gentle pat came on their torsos.

    =====

    2 P.M.

    116387 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''Pretty good yield!''

    Lee appreciated D''s sacrifice to be a sentient system. Though it was to show the gratitude of rescuing him from the Origin dimension, he was able to pull off more than what he only needed to do. Lee also felt blissful for giving Dnekewy one more chance to live, as a virtual sentience.

    Peeking at the Map instinctively, he saw nine cultivators flying towards the inn. With the camouge turned off, Lee got down to an alleyway nearby, and walked away. His shaggy and torn clothes made him one among the beggar. After covering a distance from the inn, he slipped into a nearby alleyway and used Spotless on him.

    He sat in the shadows of a broken down fence construct, which concealed his figure from anyone walking on the streets. Now clean, odourless and hiding, Lee opened up the Outfit section of the Shop.

    ---

    ===

    4970 Essence used.

    ===

    Lee bought a pant made of thickened dark leather. Though thick, it gave good mobility and gavefort when moving. The pair of footwear and an excellent quality trunk was apanied with the pants. The deep grey sleeveless cotton tee shirt which stayed close to his skin gave an assurance of warmth. A long pale brown leather jacket that reached down to his knees gave off an air of a veteran hunter.

    When he stepped out of the alleyway, none could recognise him. Even those who came towards the inn couldn''t find a hint of him. Lee began to step towards the Cultivator''s Guild, where his queries might be answered!

 Chapter 147: Alaqvier Academy of Magic

    Chapter 147: qvier Academy of Magic

    Cultivator''s Guild.

    The architectural megalodon upied so much space that the building alone was big enough to rival thebined size of two among the four giants of Piscerent City. A good amount of space around the building was used as pavement, which also acted as a major meeting point for two or more people. Scarlet colored Scaprikot Trees decorated the pavements with a distance of 90 metres between them.

    Lee stood across the street, leaning over the front wall of the leather shop, and was scanning the entirety of theplex through the Map. He was licking a sweet voured ice ball, as his eyes scanned the front portion of the building. As he was scanning, the Foresight picked up the cultivation signature of those stationed at the roof of theplex. For his astonishment, the Map could not pick up their presence because of the Presence Concealer pendant. He nodded internally as he gulped down thest bit of melting sweet ice.

    Lee came out of the shade of the leather shop and walked towards the Guild''s door. Quite a lot of people were walking in and out of the Guild and Lee struggled to blend in. But his unique physique which mismatched his age found him troubles. An arrow''s muffled whistling came at him from amon human''s blindspot, from his left. The noise rising from the passersby could have easily distracted someone else!

    *swish*

    The perfection with which the arrow was crafted was evident from the barely audible whistling. The wless construction, the precise arrangement of the fletching and the silencing arrowtip were not something belonging to amon arrow. Making only a faint noise, it raced at Lee. But what happened next, made the archer pale.

    Lee raised his right hand swiftly and brought it close to the left shoulder. The palm curled and formed a quiver where the arrow precisely came in flying. The palm clenched and an intense grip fell on the arrow. Without any dy, the arrow fell, crumbled in half, as Lee gave a nce at the archer''s position. His eyes conveyed two words - ''Fuck'' and ''off''!

    Only one or two passersby had sensed this incident. The skilled cultivators positioned on the roof of theplex saw these scenes unrolling, and were bbergasted. Their eyes were fixed on Lee, as he continued walking like a man patting dust off his coat. For someone as resolved as Lee, these matters were of lesser importance than his queries.

    One of the guards vanished from the site and dashed to the president''s office. After hearing the description, Xavi Godson had apound emotion, and the guard was dispersed. The recognition of Lee as a talented person, while his identity as a Mana user, was performing a tug-of-war in his mind. Xavi could also deduce the reason why he hase here. As he was in deep thought, a couple of knockings came from the door.

    "Come in."

    Lee entered the room and the door was closed behind him. The president greeted him with a warm smile. Lee gave an appropriate pleasant reaction, while sweeping his eyes across the room. Foresight proved its usefulness and spotted out the hidden weapons and poison darts behind the visual warmth of the wallpaper.

    "I hope you know the reason why I havee."

    Lee walked to the table and Xavi gestured to take a seat. His expression seeking an answer, stared at the president''s face.

    "The mission request, isn''t it? Unfortunately, I cannot share the information about the mission host. All I can say is that you, an adventurer, is not warmly weed by the cultivators."

    Xavi leaned back in his chair and gave a helpless countenance. His arms, which were on the trigger of the hidden trap mechanism rxed and were retracted, as Lee wore a dejected face. If the adventurer was to act recklessly, Xavi would activate the trap and capture Lee, and using him of murder attempt.

    Lee sat there for a few more minutes with his head staring low. The act of being hopeless was gradually bing sessful, as Xavi was still cautious. unbeknownst to the president, Lee was tapping into the memories of the cultivator and copying the necessary information. When Information Transfer was deactivated, Xavi felt a miniscule pain on his forehead, which he did not care about.

    "Thank you for the information."

    Lee stood up with a nk face and turned around to exit. With almost 2600 Essence spent, he stepped out of the room and swiftly walked to the guild entrance. His direction changed towards the qvier Academy as a few assassins followed him like a shadow.

    ''Five assassins.''

    Lee slipped into the next alleyway and the assassins followed him. Minutester, Lee alone came out of the alleyway. The following assassins were nowhere visible!

    ---

    =====

    3 P.M.

    116387 Essence harvested.

    =====

    When the notification was dismissed, Lee stood in front of the gate of the qvier academy. Without any dy, he opened the pedestrian''s gate and entered the premises. He had already sketched out the entirety of the academy. The training grounds, tutoring building, dormitory and other facilities were well designed and easily distinguished.

    "Aren''t you the champion of the Tri-annual Tournament?"

    He stepped towards the academy building and came close, when a figure appeared through the door. The person was walking towards the library, when she caught the sight of Lee. Two thin books in her hand had the seal of the academy, which proved that it belongs to the library.

    "Yes, I am Lee. Have we met before?"

    Lee was refreshing his memory to pick up any familiarity with the face, but he couldn''t find any instance where he had met her. Thus, he extended the question.

    "I am Janvi Stuart. A senior student of the Spell department. We have not met before, but my colleagues have described you."

    Janvi was a girl with milk chocteplexion. Her twin braided long hair was perfectly ck and carried a faint smell of coconut oil. She was only an inch taller than Mia. The long wizard robe she wore had the academy insignia at the back of it. The discipline with which she was nurtured, was evident in her manner of speaking and behaviour. After introducing, she gave a light bow.

    "Nice to meet you, Janvi. Can you tell me where Drake Godson''s office is located?"

    Janvi nodded and began to look around. Her right arm''s index finger followed her nose, and was still pointing at different directions.

    "Mr. Godson should be at the training grounds in the afternoon. Follow me."

    Lee had the entire blueprint of the academy in his head. So he obediently followed her lead. Peeking at the Map, he found her conclusion to be true, as a rtivelyrge green dot was at the training premises with quite a lot green dots. Lee deduced the absence of hostility from the colours of the dots.

    The training ground was divided into two - an exterior ground and an indoor arena. It was positioned behind the academy''s main block, where the ssrooms are set up permanently. Janvi led Lee through the building''s main aisle and many recognised him. Lee picked up hushed conversation signatures mentioning his name once or twice.

    The theoretical sses were from 9 in the morning to 2 in the noon. After that, the students are allowed to return to their dormitories, or can train at the training grounds, or can do anything rted to their studies. The library, which houses more than 36 million books, was thergest asset of the academy. The library was situated above the ssrooms in the main building. Thus the extensive architectural megalith stood as a beacon ofprehensive education.

    The aisle thatid straight on its back led both to the training grounds. From a distance, Lee sensed Mana fluctuations in the atmosphere. As he walked closer, the reason became clear.

    On the open ground, Drake stood at the center of the 28 students who surrounded him with curiosity. He was demonstrating on how to perform a 4th grade spell without a hitch. Normally, a 4th grade spell uses so much Mana that a small portion from it is dispersed into the atmosphere due tock of in-depth cognitive control. This was the reason why the Mana rippled through the air. Due to the existence of the system, Lee never had to face this loss.

    "The me Wreath needs your utmost concentration. The chant is too long, but with expertise and repeated attempts, you will find a groove through which the spell can be shortened to your liking. Make sure to take shortening by small steps, or you will have a wreath over your deadbody."

    Lee was able to detect the Mana ripples because of the unconditional application of the Foresight. Thus, Janvi and none of the 28 students could sense the fluctuations. Even with eyes closed, Lee can sense the way the Mana is applied, and how it flows. He passively started to work on the reverse engineering of Mana spells.

    The orange spiky wheel frantically rotating inside the palms of Drake was about to be unstable, and he felt it. Quickly, he retreated from the center of formation and took a few steps towards the target dummy ced at a distance. Like a seasoned battlewizard, Drake shot the disastrously hot spell construct towards the dummy.

    *BOOM*

    The spinning spiky firewheel obliterated the dummy, while spewing out a faint shockwave. The mes it created was not something seen everyday. It shot up and was as tall as a four storeyed building. The ce around where the disintegrated dummy stood was burnt to crisp, and the ground too suffered damages. When the students were in awe, Drake was concealing his irregr breath forcefully. The toll he took to execute a 4th grade spell made him let out mouthful of air repeatedly. As he silently did so, a voice that he was expecting to hear soon came from his behind.

    "Are you busy, or should Ie backter?"

 Chapter 148: Erikko Tesla & Experimenting

    Chapter 148: Erikko Te & Experimenting

    The students turned their heads towards the origin of sound, and a few recognised the source. As they looked, Drake''s face brightened up as he turned to Lee. His face had sweat drops rolling down, but his change of expression nullified the fatigue sweat signified.

    "I was wondering when you would arrive."

    Lee gave a smile as reply. Drake let out a mouthful of air and walked to him. As he walked closer, Janvi was caught in his sight. Lee conveyed that she led him here, and Drake permitted her to stay. Then, he heard some murmurs from his behind, and felt the need to introduce Lee. Turning around, he raised his voice and spoke-

    "Students, this is Lee. He is the champion of the Tri-annual Tournament of the city. And, he is a Mana user, an adventurer."

    Drake patted Lee''s shoulders as he said these words. Those who were unknown about him became wonderstruck with the information. As far as they know, the Tri-annual Tournament is a ce where people die before they could even admit defeat.

    Drake further gave a short description on how Lee defended against the cultivators, and how he ended the fight in a second. When he ended the narration by describing the Veil Of Whiteness, the students went into an uproar.

    "Sir, please demonstrate your skills!"

    A boy from the back of the crowd shouted, and the students went in chorus with him. Janvi, who was standing a few feet away from Drake and Lee, heard the narration and couldn''t help, but join the request.

    "Even I am eager to see your skills, If you may."

    Even the head of the Spell department expressed his desire. But he did not force, and let the final decision in the hands of Lee. The champion, who disliked letting people down, gave an approving nod and the students were excited. Drake took a few steps away from Lee and gave him space for disying. He also gestured to Janvi to join the crowd of students. As her juniors, they weed her into the group and eagerly peered at Lee.

    ''Time for experimenting.''

    Lee recollected certain words from the chapter one of the Encyclopaedia To Greatness, and made up his mind. When an aim was acquired, his brain began to simte and formte the ways which he can achieve that. He took off his jacket, and folded it well before cing it on the ground.

    Feminine voices momentarily rose up and died down, as his sleeveless cotton tee exposed his arms. Faint lines of sweat outlined his physique and projected his chiseled figure. Stares of envy and appreciation were felt by Lee, who predicted this oue in his mind. Hanging his arms rxed, he stepped forward.

    The outdoor training ground hadnes for practice. Everyne had the distance measurements from the target marked on it. Thus, it enabled the practitioner to evaluate himself ording to the distance he/she stood, whileparing it with the potential the blow delivered. Thenes were marked with runes, so as to prevent the casted spells derailing from it''s ownne.

    The target dummy was a mannequin made out of the Twisted Teak wood. Due to the spiralling of the tree as it grows, the trunk of the tree was much stronger and resistant to both physical and energy strikes. The twisted wood also had the ability to disperse magical energy, and thus was invulnerable to an array of spells. Only spells above a certain level of destruction could make a dent on it, and it varied from individual to individual.

    =====

    ''Encyclopaedia To Greatness'' assimted with the memory.

    =====

    The unexpected notification gave Lee a hint that the dimension sovereign was watching his actions, while simultaneously holding a conversation with the apparition. Lee thanked D for watching him over like a guardian angel and steadied his footing as he walked to the end of thene.

    Drake frowned as he saw Lee walking towards the end of thene, thus creating more distance between him and the target. Students who witnessed this became more excited, as they deduced that Lee would use his weapon in the arsenal. Janvi was wondering as to which element Lee had an affinity to, which gave him a huge boost in confidence.

    ''This would do.''

    Lee stopped at the 150 metres marker and stood facing the target at a distance. He was having second thoughts on increasing the distance a bit more, to 200 metres, but finalised not to. ncing at the crowd ready to witness his skills, he gestured them to move away from thene, and more from the target. What he was about to do waspletely strange, even to him. The crowd promptly took his words to consideration and acted appropriately.

    ''Condense and amplify.''

    Lee brought his palms in front of his chest, about six inches from his sternum. For better concentration since it was his first time, he closed his eyes. Fire affinity was activated and Mana began to form red hot mes between his palms. The ball began to expand as the density began to increase. Red colour slowly began to shift towards a more orange hue, and a lot of Mana began to deplete. ncing at the Mana count in the visual interface, Lee converted 4000 Essence into Mana.

    After reaching the size of a basketball, he began topress the construct. The process proved rtively more troublesome than the first half, because Lee felt slight resistances repeatedly from the shrinking construct. The reddish orange colour slowly changed to a faint blueplexion as he slowly and steadily shrunk the construct to the size of a baseball. Then a more lethal reaction began to rise up.

    Once the colour has stably transitioned into blue, the construct showed the urge to repel apart and violently tear itself. The repulsions disrupted the rhythm with which Lee regrlypressed it. But because of his extraordinary stats, he used his strength to counter and nullify the effects. The students witnessed this tug-of-war, and nced at Drake, to see his eyes opened wide. They assumed that the feat Lee was performing was one with an increased fatality rate, and peered back at him, without blinking.

    It took Lee 11 minutes topress the baseball sized construct to a golf ball size. The sweat ran down from his foreheads, and signified the struggle he went through and the heat of the me he resisted. If Lee was an ordinary human, he would have disintegrated his entire arms, and part of his torso, while pulling off this achievement. The deep sky-blue coloured sphere emitted intense waves of heat and alerted the surroundings with a sense of threat.

    More than 3200 Mana was used topress the sphere and stabilise it. A continuous stream of 70 Mana was used to maintain this form for every passing second. The decreasing count alerted Lee to proceed to the next step immediately. Activating Ice affinity and covering a thick and pure sheet of ice in his palms, Lee used Air affinity to suck in arge quantity of air from the surroundings to propel thepressed sphere into the air. The ice slowly thinned and a jet of air sted the ball up into the air!

    A weird crispy noise was produced as the superheated blue sphere rose up into the sky. Lee maintained the Mana usage to propel the ball to a safe altitude. But ording to his calctions, this mini supernova would bring forth disaster if detonated below 300 metres.

    The air current lifted it further high and as it reached almost 290 metres, the Mana resource was down to zero. The bindings that held the supernova came loose and the sky above the qvier academy brightened up like christmas. Waves of heat and difort rippled around and the students and Drake were forced to step about 20 steps backward. Their magic imbued robes nullified a major portion of the pulsating threat, but the intensity of the experiment was still felt by them.

    Bright light suspended about 300 metres above the ground attracted the attention of almost everyone in the academy. But, the unbearable heat emitted from it raised queries about this strange and pulsating beacon in the air. Lee, Drake and the students standing on the ground retreated away from the spot, and the vacant ground below the miniature star gave a sense of cluelessness to the observers. The heads of other departments came to witness this spectacr sight and were in an awe.

    "This is unquestionably a 5th grade spell. Who would have thought that we have hidden prodigies here?"

    The principal of the qvier academy, Erikko Te,mented as he tried to take a nce at the bright blue ball of fire. Ganga Equis, the head of the Magic Research department nodded as she came and stood next to the principal, near the window. For the next 2 minutes, till the threatening presence of the fireball wear off, they stood there and observed it with eagerness. As thest sliver of fire was fading into the air, Ganga noticed something from the dying me. She pushed her round spectacles back to its position on the nose, sharpened her stare and took a step forward, and stated-

    "Principal, something is different with that fireball."

 Chapter 149: Ganga Equis

    Chapter 149: Ganga Equis

    "What do you mean different, Ms. Ganga?"

    Erikko nced at her through the corner of his eyes and saw her research instincts kicking in. Wherever she is curious of something, she would be hell-bent to unfold the mysteries behind it..

    Ganga proved herself to be a prodigy at an early age. Her father''s dwarven heritage was overtaken by her mother''s tall elvish physique. The long ears were an attraction for any man. The 28 years old woman is so busy with her research, that she does not care for theck of a malepanion. Her hybrid lineage from a dwarf and an elf made her sensitive to Mana. She would integrate herself with forest and nature whenever she gets a chance. She once said to one of her students that it helps to feel the Mana flowing throughout nature.

    Erikko''s question was unanswered, as she squinted her eyes as she stared at the dying me. After the me vanished, she took a moment to analyse it and then replied to the principal.

    "I couldn''t sense any Mana fluctuations from it."

    Her statement was simple, but held great importance to the principal, who frowned in response. Nodding with an intention, he immediately walked out of the office and towards the stairs. Ganga assumed his intentions and followed him without a word. She did not forget to close the door behind her.

    ---

    Lee walked towards Drake, who was pale from witnessing the released potential from the golf ball sized blue fire sphere. The students had their voices muffled with astonishment, and their hearts beating like a drum with excitement and terror. Sweat drops were clearly visible on their faces, and they wiped it with their sleeves.

    "Are you sure you are a rookie?"

    =====

    4 P.M.

    116387 Essence harvested.

    =====

    ''About time. Convert 278250 Essence to Mana and saturate the rest 265 body parts. Also upgrade ck, Vi-Ta and the nunchuck to Lower Force grade.''

    =====

    Upgrade ''ck'', ''Vi-Ta'', ''Nunchuck'' to Lower Force grade. Confirm?

    =====

    ''Yes, confirm.''

    =====

    The weapons will be unavable for the next two days due to upgrading to Lower Force grade.

    =====

    ''As expected of the higher grades!''

    Lee had nned all these actions beforehand, and had noted the necessary Essence needed for upgrading the weapons. The calctions were all done in a second, and the Essence count shrivelled up to a mere 24638. He was waiting for D toe out of the chamber and sound a favourable report. D was necessary to condense Mana, because Lee is yet to learn that technique so as to advance to the next level of mastery.

    "I am a Rookie for sure. But I have learnt a few techniques from a Veteran adventurer."

    Darwin, who was missing since the day Lorin fell, was the one he referred to. Lee used his Map to scan for him, but his Mana signature was not picked up anywhere. The absence of his Mana in the fissures gave a hint that he had escaped the cmity, but Lee had no idea where he might be. But he hoped to see his friend one day.

    Mentioning a Veteran adventurer made the students gasp in awe. The Piscerent city only has a few over hundred adventurers and ten or eleven among them are Official, whereas Veteran and Elite are much more scarce. Whenpared with cultivation, Mastery only has ten levels, but each one of them are more respected than its cultivation counterpart. The conditions needed to fulfill in order to advance, made adventurers unique and be proud of their affinity.

    Drake was about to say something, when his eyes wandered off from Lee''s face and focused on something that was beyond him. His mouth was sewed shut and silence enveloped the students. Janvi saw the oing figures and immediately hid among the group. All these reactions made Lee nce over his shoulder, to see a short old man with an almost square face and shining hairless head, followed by a tall woman with elf ears.

    "Mr. Drake Godson, can you exin what had happened here a few seconds ago?"

    The sound was void of pitch and had a soft bass ringing inside the ears. It was suitable for his short stature and fluffy beard face. But the seriousness in the voice was not conceble. His words carried an air of power, and Lee assumed that he must be a person higher in office than Drake.

    "Principal, it was a demonstration by Lee. He is the champion of the Tri-annual Tournament. The students asked him to show his skills."

    Drake immediately gave a concise report on what happened. The students were silent. Lee identified the short person as the principal of the academy, and evaluated that he is not in the seat for nothing. An envelope of silence covered them and Lee felt a prating stare behind his back. ncing at the source, he saw the woman apanying the principal staring at him.

    Ganga softened her re as she found Lee looking back at her. She scanned him from top to bottom as he picked up the folded jacket ced on the ground. As he straightened his posture, Lee picked up many pairs of eyes running all over his body. Since he did not sense any hostility, he did not mind them.

    "So it was him."

    Ganga scanned Lee and found no presence of Mana fluctuations from him. ording to her, a wizard who used an extensive amount of Mana will emit a faint signature which could be picked up by those specialised in investigation. She too had the capability, but for the first time, she was unable to sense any Mana from someone who used a spell with the potential of a 5th grade. Her mutter was faint, but Lee heard it.

    "I am Erikko Te, the principal of this academy."

    Erikko extended his hand for a greeting and Lee epted it without hesitation. While he did not sense any hostility, Drake and the students were pale from the principal''s action. The sense of certain death reflected on their faces. A few students covered their mouths as they gasped and their eyes went wide. Drake was in a total dilemma!

 Chapter 150: "Lee, you are on your own!"

    Chapter 150: "Lee, you are on your own!"

    Unbeknownst to Lee, the principal was also the head of the Physique Augmentation department. His well versed ability to channel Mana over his body to strengthen any body part when necessary, was a nightmare in melee fights. Despite aged over 75, his shortness was supported with well trained muscles, slightly faded with age. The masculinity of the old timer was well concealed by the grandpa robe.

    Lee felt a strong grip, which was unusual for the principal''s physique. He silently activated View, and the truth was disclosed to his eyes.

    =====

    Name: Erikko Te

    Age: 77

    Race: Dwarf

    Mastery: Elite Mana Mastery

    State: Healthy, Mana augmented.

    -----

    Health: 490

    Strength: 516

    Vitality: 589

    Agility: 497

    Defense: 673

    Endurance: 501

    Sense: 288

    =====

    ''Oh, Mana augmented. Trying to scare me? Not today.''

    Lee tightened his grip and the principal felt his palm being squeezed by a much powerful force. He was internally amazed to see a man barely in his mid 20s rivalling his strength. The attempt to ovee the force ended up in vain, as the principal almost gave up in the showdown and retracted his arm.

    Lee saw his change of attitude and understood the conceding expressions. He was not fond of humiliating people for no reason, and thus let the hand go. Erikko immediately retracted his arm and hid it behind his back, away from the view of the students and professor Drake. But Ganga was able to catch a nce of the principal repeatedly stretching and twitching the arm, which was evidently in pain.

    As a woman with great sensitivity to Mana, the spectacle of principal, the head of Physique Augmentation department, getting forced back in a silent brawl, gave her a hint that she hase across a person so strong that he might be able to withstand her spells. A n to test own limits, while measuring the depths of the opponent, was immediately formted in her mind.

    Unfortunately, she had no control over her expressions, which would easily give away her ns to the public. The sinistry in the faint smile was picked up by Lee, and he slowly turned his head away from her. Drake too witnessed this, and immediately decided to notify Lee of the menacing ns she usually cooks up, as soon as possible.

    "As fitting for the champion of the tournament, you are a gifted individual. Would you like to be a part of this academy?"

    As the winner of the tournament, Erikko had personally evaluated his strength and found his presence in the campus beneficial. He picturised the upliftment of the qvier academy to its former glory.

    "Mr. Principal, he is too talented to be a student of the academy."

    Drake stepped forth and gave his opinion, to which Erikko casually nced, and turned back to Lee. After evaluating the professor''s words, the principal felt the need of rephrasing his words.

    "Let me make clear. Would you like to be an instructor of this academy?"

    *gasp*

    Who would have thought of the principal saying those words? He is the strictest person when ites to selecting people for a position. As a physical augmenter, he gives more emphasis to physical fitness which would greatly support the magical proficiency of the individual. Drake could only frown at his words, and his face literally said, ''I beg your pardon?''.

    The gasping came from the crowd of students. The nerds saw a chance to be under the tutge of this unheard and unseen prodigy, while the girls were about to be brokenhearted with the information that he already has a wife. The boys who were envious of Lee''s physique, hoped to attain a chiseled body. They were even ready to start the training at the moment itself.

    "I do not know-"

    Lee was trying to construct a sentence so as to express himself, when Ganga cut him off.

    "I request to approve a duel between me and him!"

    With a frown, Lee stared at her, and his face stated the words, ''what is wrong with you, woman?''. He couldn''t help, because she first red at him for no reason, and is now requesting a duel. As Lee was wondering the reason behind her persistent poking, D popped up a message panel and conveyed crucial info.

    =+=+=+=

    SYSTEM PROCEEDING TO HIBERNATE FOR A KEY UPGRADATION. ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: 36 HOURS. NO SYSTEM FEATURES WOULD BE AVAILABLE AT THIS PERIOD OF TIME. LEE, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!

    =+=+=+=

    Like a meteor, this panel crashed Lee''s train of thoughts and threw him off in a daze. The astonishment was reflected on his face, but Erikko assumed that it was from the unexpected duel invite.

    "Miss Ganga can be stubborn at times, but she did not mean any hostility. What she intended was to test your skills and to evaluate whether you are worthy to be an instructor of the academy."

    Erikko exined why Ganga behaved in a weird manner, but did not mention anything about the unnecessity of the duel. Erikko was internally eager to see how Lee fights with Ganga, who is the most sensitive to Mana in the academy. Traps and runes were useless against her.

    Taking a final nce at the fading panel, Lee realised that the affinities are also locked, as he could not manifest lightning. The inessibility of both Inventory and EsGen, along with the Shop, overshadowed him. Though Mana and Qi were unavable, he was lucky enough to have his stats. But Lee soon realised that the stats are almost halved in the value, like putting a restriction.

    All he had as a useful equipment was his spatial ring. Hopefully, Lee had 10 good coins in it from the transaction of the Kiramium. A half drunk bottle of milk apanied the gold coins and shared the entirety of the space inside the ring among themselves.

    "Can the duel wait? I came here because Drake invited me to the academy. I do not have my weapons, or am in a mood to fight."

    Lee stated his situation in a few words, and Ganga was delighted, which she hid it behind her nk expression. Erikka nodded at his opinion, and asked Lee to suggest an extension of days.

    "On the fourth day, I shalle to duel."

 Chapter 151: Library of the Alaqvier academy

    Chapter 151: Library of the qvier academy

    Lee added his circumstances and the bounty on his head. The mention of gold coins urged them to capture Lee and hand over to the Cultivator''s Guild, but the adventurers, who were despised by the cultivators, decided to lend him a hand. Lee politely declined, saying-

    "I have some other matters to take care of."

    Lee gave a slight bow, signifying that he had conveyed his final decision. Erikko nced at Ganga, and turned to see the faces of students and Drake. He turned to Lee, after taking their facial expressions into consideration.

    "So be it. Fourth day from today, Lee shall fight Ganga Equis to prove his worthiness to be a part of the academy."

    Erikko was so determined to add him to the academy that he passively promoted the duel, and did not even ask his opinion about it. Lee was able to sense the principal''s concealed desire and did not find a reason to argue. He took the demoted condition and rtively lesser status of the academy into ount.

    Drake quickly stepped near Lee and offered to show him around the academy. With the permission of the principal, the professor walked towards the main block with Lee in tow. The crowd of students were dispersed before Drake took initiative. The students showed reluctance to disperse as they clustered together here and there murmuring and chatting, while a few ran at the main block to spread the wildfire.

    ---

    "Ganga Equis is a troublesome opponent. Try to end the duel as soon as possible, because more the duration, more her fighting spirit will show dominance. She tends to go wild if she finds someone as a worthy opponent."

    Drake whispered to Lee after he made sure that they had made an adequate distance from the ground. They had not entered the building, and the audio was inaudible to someone over 5 metres away. Lee gave a nod as his eyes were scanning the architecture of the building, and the professor saw the response through the corner of his eyes.

    He followed the head of the Spell department and walked through the corridors and observed the surroundings. Students along the way greeted Drake and were curious about the stranger behind him. Some faces recognised him, and Lee registered a boy from before, when he was at the outdoor training ground. He gave a slight nod with a smile, and the boy nodded in return. As soon as they passed him, those standing around came near him enquiring, and came to know about the demonstration and the duel.

    The matter of duel four days from that day, spread like wildfire. Students began to hold debates on who would win. Many supported Ganga Equis as they are familiar with her peculiarities and fighting spirit. But there was a considerable amount of brains which gave emphasis on Lee over the dwarven elf. The narration about the pulsating bright threat that lit up the sky over the academy, and the one behind it, was a news all over the campus. From this single incident, many evaluated that the person named Lee, could be more than a simple Rookie. Him mentioning a Veteran adventurer as a familiar person, also increased students'' favor to Lee''s side.

    As Lee finished walking all around the ground floor, Drake asked him to follow to the first floor. While walking towards the stairs, he gave an introduction about the academy''s library. He did not forget to mention the massive array of books it housed.

    Climbing the stairs, the signature smell of old books weed Lee. The wide wooden stairs decorated with varieties of carving conjointly conveyed the story of the great warrior who was the first adventurer of the Piscerent city. His legacy of hunting and conquering thend was all over the railing supports and the dark wood of acacia projected the untold stories with elegance.

    The flight of stairs ended on the first floor, and arge reading hall was the first thing Lee saw. More than 25 circr tables of a metre radius were arranged in the reading area, which was 43 metres long and 15 metres wide. Four chairs with individual carvings and decorated armrests, shared each table equally. The distinguishing colour of Bronze Teak wood was visually rxing, and the entire furniture was fashioned out of it.

    Several students were scattered throughout the reading hall, and were so absorbed in their activities, that they did not sense a head of department''s presence. It is not that they couldn''t sense, but the Silent Birch wood with which the flooring and interiors were decorated, had an inherent ability to silence any being''s presence, so as to maintain a natural tranquility. Some animals find Silent Birch trees as abominations due to their overbearing muteness, while some predators take these trees as nap spots after meal.

    The muffled footsteps were barely audible at close range, and the students only recognised Drake when he walked past them. Since the library approves anyone to sit and continue their activity, regardless of the position of the people around them, the students did not stand up. The noise cancetion of Silent Birch wood was of the top quality and it cut off the narration of Drake from reaching anyone other than Lee.

    The entire library was about magic. The detailed and picturised history of Mana was divided into 10 volumes, and Lee took a brief moment to appreciate the hard work behind recording it. He was yet to venture three more floors, but Lee had already felt a good impression about the tall stacks of books, organised in shells, and numbered appropriately.

    The books regarding introduction to Mana were avable in varying sizes and styles. It ranged from picturised children''s books, to pinnacle of Utopian literature. The records were also written in the nativenguage of dwarf, elf and other races. Such race specific records also have the distinct features of the races clearly observed and recorded. The first floor was about introduction, but the sheer amount of data embedded in those pages was hardly possible toplete in a lifetime.

    Extraordinary optic sense of Lee picked up each and every name of the books arranged throughout the stacks and shelves. His processing prowess recognised the names and assumed the content of them, and simultaneously sorted them as new and known. After thorough surfing, Lee couldn''te across anything interesting. So he decided to step into the second floor.

    "Follow me."

    Drake led Lee to the stairs to the second floor. He also added that the second floor is the maximum level to which Lee could be admitted. Lee nodded and followed him, and ced his foot over the first step.

    *boom*

 Chapter 152: Mysteries of Library

    Chapter 152: Mysteries of Library

    A powerful force tried to pull Lee off from his footing, but his strength kept him stable. Lee was astonished, as he saw a series of runes lighting up on the step, only to fade away after half a second.

    Lee saw runes for the first time after arriving at Utopia. He knew about the existence of runes, which are the Mana counterpart of Qi talismans, from D''s narrations and mentions.

    At a nce, the runes looked like meaningless pencil strokes that, whenbined, make an almost intelligible form. Some had dots apanying the strokes, while some looked likepletely random strokes of brush.

    Lee remembered that a chapter in the Encyclopaedia To Greatness was wholly about runes. ording to the book, rune strikes and symbols were part of an organised set called Runera. This set of alphabets consists of more than 1700 individual symbols which convey distinct meanings. Whenbined, they form spells and chants which are activated with Mana.

    The Rune Mastery was not as simple as memorising the alphabets. The correctbination is a must to execute runes without w. Many hundreds of rules are bound with Runera. Some are uniformly conditioned, while some are irregrly applied. Thews of elements and affinities can be manipted through runes, and such operations include risk of death via many ways.

    Lee observed the runes with great interest, and Drake noticed this.

    "These are Qi Restriction runes. It restricts anyone with Qi affinity to walk on the stairs."

    "But I do not have a Qi affinity."

    "The affinities can leave traces on other peoples. If you interact with cultivators a lot, very slight traces of Qi can catch onto your being. It can thus decrease your Mana output with mutual cancetion."

    Lee had gained new info, and stood there evaluating it with his experience. ording to him, the runes worked precisely as described. The existence of the system and its Qi reserve was only known to Lee. Drake, unknown of this detail, attributed the repulsion to increased interaction with cultivators.

    ncing at the next step, Lee saw a differentbination of runes. The size and thickness of lines and dots were different. Drake took his confusion as a cue for his description.

    "That is the runebination for flight nullification. Those who try to hover or fly over the steps will be knocked down by the runes. It creates a disruption in the spell and will cause the effect to fade."

    ---

    The stairs consisted of about 23 steps, each with individual runebinations engraved on it. Some were like flight nullification, applied to all personnel. But there were some that were more systematic. The registration rune was one of them. It registers the person who entered into the floor with a simple scan of the person''s face and other simple information. It is more like a log book, and restricts people to enter more than a limited amount given per day.

    There was a specific rune that Drake had to bypass, so as to let Lee enter. It was a rune that only allows those who wear the academy uniform robe, to enter. The bypassing was not a simple task, as it required Drake to chant a spell and deactivate the spell for a few seconds, enough for Lee to crawl through.

    The walls of the library are made out of Obsidian Marble, which is a rare mineral, and well known for its superior resistance properties. It''s immunity to scratch and tear for over decades made it the perfect choice for such a building. All these were for a reason, to conceal the fascinating mystery inside the upper floor of the library.

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 4488

    Essence: 24638 (4 P.M.)

    Money: 8726 Gold, 2352 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Spouse: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+). Perrafin (+).

    ----------

    Health: 600

    Strength: 600

    Vitality: 600

    Agility: 600

    Defense: 600

    Endurance: 600

    Sense: 600

    Intelligence: 600

    Resolve: 600

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 1023

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie Melee Fighter

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    IMMUNITY:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6795/10000)

    Medium Wind Immunity (4172/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2559/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1797/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Lesser Death Immunity (54/100)

    AFFINITY:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15403/1000000)

    Greater Fire Affinity (3066/1000000)

    Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Ice Affinity (311/1000000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (13884/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Greater Sand Affinity (367/1000000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (12060/1000000)

    Greater Air Affinity (101/1000000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)

    Greater Light Affinity (112/1000000)

    Greater Death Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Gravity Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Space Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Life Affinity (76/1000000)

    Greater Time Affinity (0/1000000)

    ----------

    MASTERY:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)

    Lesser Scythe Mastery (1/100)

    ----------

    SKILLS:-

    Flight - E (0/30)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Telepathy

    Taming - F (0/5)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    1. ck (Lower Force)

    2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)

    3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)

    4. Reaper (Mid Iron)

    5. Spatial ring (Lower Silver)

    ----------

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ==========

    ==========

    Name: Lee

    Age: 20

    Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.

    Fame: 4488

    Essence: 24638 (4 P.M.)

    Money: 8726 Gold, 2352 Silver, 86 Copper

    ----------

    Spouse: An (+)

    ----------

    Companion: Fero (+). Perrafin (+).

    ----------

    Health: 600

    Strength: 600

    Vitality: 600

    Agility: 600

    Defense: 600

    Endurance: 600

    Sense: 600

    Intelligence: 600

    Resolve: 600

    ----------

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 1023

    ----------

    Mastery: Rookie Melee Fighter

    Mana: 0

    ----------

    IMMUNITY:-

    Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Medium Lightning Immunity (6795/10000)

    Medium Wind Immunity (4172/10000)

    Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)

    Medium Fire Immunity (2559/10000)

    Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)

    Medium Ice Immunity (1797/10000)

    Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)

    Lesser Death Immunity (54/100)

    AFFINITY:-

    Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Lightning Affinity (15403/1000000)

    Greater Fire Affinity (3066/1000000)

    Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Ice Affinity (311/1000000)

    Greater Rock Affinity (13884/1000000)

    Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Greater Sand Affinity (367/1000000)

    Greater Nature Affinity (12060/1000000)

    Greater Air Affinity (101/1000000)

    Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)

    Greater Light Affinity (112/1000000)

    Greater Death Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Gravity Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Space Affinity (0/1000000)

    Greater Life Affinity (76/1000000)

    Greater Time Affinity (0/1000000)

    ----------

    MASTERY:-

    Absolute de Mastery

    Absolute Nunchuck Mastery

    Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)

    Lesser Scythe Mastery (1/100)

    ----------

    SKILLS:-

    Flight - E (0/30)

    Home nning

    Spotless

    Telepathy

    Taming - F (0/5)

    ----------

    INVENTORY:-

    1. ck (Lower Force)

    2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)

    3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)

    4. Reaper (Mid Iron)

    5. Spatial ring (Lower Silver)

    ----------

    QUESTS:-

    MAP:-

    SHOP:-

    ==========

 Chapter 153: Drakes Trip Around Campus

    Chapter 153: Drake''s Trip Around Campus

    =+=+=

    34 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    A different panel popped up as Lee stepped into the second floor. It was barely translucent, and the ck words on it were tiny, and in all caps. From the number of hours remaining, Lee guessed that he had missed one notification when he was exploring the academy. The words ''key upgradation'' gave him an idea that the system might change to a great extent. But he suppressed his curiosity and focused on the sight in front of him.

    The reading hall had about the same size as downstairs, but the number of tables was only 12. They were arranged in a manner that there is a lot of space in between them. The circr tables only had two chairs on either side. Those chairs next to the tables had cotton filled cushions forfortable sitting. Only two females were sitting in the hall, and they sensed the duo arriving on the floor. Lee nced at Drake at their response.

    "They are professors of the academy. Their senses are more powerful than the restrictions of the Silent Birch wood furniture."

    Drake whispered to Lee and he nodded in reply. The women sitting at the tables, away from each other, scanned the stranger from top to bottom. They took their gazes back to the books in front of them, as Drake was caught in their sight. One of them was even about to stand up in alertness.

    Observing around, Lee found remarkable changes. The book shelves were entirely different. On the first floor, he sawrge and wide shelves, each one of them housing ten of hundreds of books. But here, it was entirely different.

    One metre tall rectangr wooden pirs on the ground had a 5 inch square face on the top. A half a centimetre thick sheet of unknown metal, with silvery grey colour, was on the wooden pir and above it, were books. This unusual structure also had an unusual way of keeping books.

    Five books were suspended in the air, vertically over another, with an inch distance between them. The books'' front cover would face the person standing before the pir, and the books would turn automatically if anyone else approached the pir from a different direction. Tiny and barely visible sets of runes engraved on the Dusk Oak wood pirs were picked up by Lee, and he guessed the mechanism behind it.

    Each pir had an alphabet and a number on it, for distinguishing the position of the pir. Lee walked to the nearest one to him, which was E18. As he approached the pir with Drake following him, the five books suspended on the pir turned towards them. Standing in front of the pir, Lee observed that the books had a subtle halo around its borders and it was the floating mechanism. Curiosity built up in him, and he raised his hand to touch the book.

    "Don''t."

    Drake restricted Lee from his actions, and caught his wrist. He shook his head in disagreement, and then pointed down to the innumerous sets of runes on the wood.

    "There are offensive runes among them. They electrocute anyone without necessary clearance, and the criteria for even touching the book is the academy robe. A set of runes identify the robe and deactivates the electrocution rune. There are petrification runes and glue runes among them, which seriously harm the intruder. When anyone of the pirs recognise a theft, the books are immediately retracted to the space inside the pirs. Only the principal can deactivate the rune once it is in effect."

    Lee retracted his hand, and took a nce around. The women were staring at them through the corners of their eyes. Lee felt ufortable and thus told Drake that he had seen the library enough. The professor was happy to guide him out. As they were leaving, Lee saw a spectacr sight through the spaces between the suspended books.

    A door stood alone on a tform and that was at another corner of the floor. Lee caught a glimpse of the door, and derived information from it. The door had a threatening appearance, and had menacing serpent figures all over it. The snakes were arranged in a way from the top to bottom, so that their motion, in a peculiar manner, can open the door. Barely the height of a human, it''s age can be recognised beyond centuries from the innumerous strike marks on it. Guess it had a not-so-good past.

    Another set of stairs also caught Lee''s sight, and it was rather narrow for a set of stairs. It had no railing and resembled a set of stones poking out of the wall. The metal door at the end of the steps was spooky. Lee memorised the strange set of details and quickly followed Drake, as the women were staring at him more intensely.

    After descending the library and walking out of the main block, Drake led him toward the indoor training arena. As soon as the professor opened the door to enter, a red brick came flying at him. Lee saw Drake frozen at the sight of the approaching brick, and immediately stepped forth and caught it with his right hand. The collided brick began to crumble as Lee tightened his grip around it. The ck face Lee had, concealed the pain pulsating from the palm. He rxed the palm and opened it, and the slightly deformed red brick fell on the ground.

    *thud*

    Lee retracted his hand and left it hanging, as he waited for the pain to relieve. He stretched and closed his palm repeatedly and the pain easily subsided. Drake was astonished by Lee''s reflex and his immense strength, which stopped the brick from crushing his nose bridge. Anger welled up in him for many reasons, and he shouted-

    "Who threw this brick?"

    Anyone inside the indoor arena would be unknown to the fact that Drake and Lee would enter via the door. But there were students who had the ability of irvoyance and foresight. Though the Mana consumption is very high, these skills can change the tides of war. Lee derived the information and assumed the presence of potentially difficult enemies.

    The students inside the indoor training arena went silent and turned to the source of the sound. Many showed signs of fear and disorder, as a head of department began to rage up. The students sitting on the sidelines, resting, also jumped up in response. More than 49 pairs of eyes were focused on Drake, who angrily nced over each face for a culprit.

    Silence was the answer. There were students from all sses of all departments since physical training was a necessity for Mana mastery, but none spoke. No one gave a verbal or non-verbal reply and Drake was further angry. Taking six steps forward, he casted a spell which amplified his voice.

    "Since no one is speaking, I will have to use the Fire Spike interrogation spell."

    Then, a hand rose from the back of a girl. A head poked from her behind, and Drake caught the culprit.

    "Professor, it was me. I threw the red brick at Val Dimin of the Weaponry department, since she asked me to. She wanted to shatter the brick with her mace. Not only that it did not break, but it flew towards the door. Coincidentally, you came in."

    The girl bowed her head and admitted her mistake. Val Dimin, whom she mentioned, came out of her hiding ce and presented herself in front of the professor. She was carrying her mace behind her, and the bright red mark on it signified that the story might be true. Upon further investigation, Drake found the story true, and dismissed both without punishment. As the girls went away and the students began to concentrate on their activities, he turned to Lee to thank him.

    Lee politely epted his thanks, and exited the ce. The indoor arena looked like a circr stadium from the outside, but was more spacious than it seemed to be.

    ---

    The time had turned evening, and the sky was orange with sunlight. After thanking Drake for the trip, Lee did not stay too long in the campus, and left the premises to go back to the inn.

    =+=+=

    33 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    As soon as he left, the notification popped up. The hourly reminder was reced by the barely transparent disy. It was difficult to catch it''s presence due to its colourlessness that blended with the background. Lee observed his surroundings, and was aware that his system is temporarily unavable, and that he had to help himself. Theck of Foresight and the Map made him alert to maximum. He was able to rx an extent, as he was conscious about his ''above-average'' stats.

    Hunger demanded food, and Lee pulled a half-drunk bottle of milk from the spatial ring. The milk disappeared in his mouth without spilling a drop and the empty bottle was all that remained in his hand.

    As he was about to store it in the ring, A voice came from behind.

 Chapter 154: The Battle Puppets of Long Sect

    Chapter 154: The Battle Puppets of Long Sect

    "Hello."

    The feminine voice that was almost mechanical, did not feel hostile, and Lee turned around. Before he could take a detailed nce of what it was, something came and collided with his face.

    *BAM*

    Like a cannonballing out of the cannon, Lee lost his footing and flew straight to the nearby building. He broke through the wall and went deep into the clothing store and vanished from the daylight. By this time, the empty ss bottle had touched the ground, and a powerful force came down on it and shattered it to pieces.

    ''Ouch!''

    Numbing pain rampaged over Lee, as heid over a bunch of broken down furniture. All he was able to see before receiving the immense amount of pain, was a circr metal object. From the force with which it delivered Lee, he assumed that it could be a hammer. As he was thinking what could possibly give away such immense force, his body began to move, as an intense grip caught his feet. Lee raised his head and saw a shiny bald head.

    As Lee was dragged out of the building, the puppets became visible to his eyes. He was wondering whom it might be, and turns out to be the Long Sect. The wooden construct threw Lee towards the street and he rolled on the floor and came to a rest.

    The pain and surprise had subsided, and he stood up. As his eyes scanned his 360, things became clear to him. Till now, he was chased by the Long Sect disciples, but now the elders have entered the battlefield. Lee smirked at their faces confused with how he was able to stand up after receiving such a powerful force. An elder''s eyes went towards a different direction, and Lee found the culprit which threw him away into the store, as he followed the gaze.

    Four sturdy puppets stood in a row, and one among them had a diator hammer on its shoulder. The long handle with which therge solid metal weight was supported, gave a conclusion of how the force was produced. Anyone could guess that the angr momentum from such a hammer would be lethal.

    Other puppets had swords, axes and spears respectively in their arms. From the first nce, one can determine that these puppets are exclusively made for attack and defense rather than speed and nimbleness. Lee took a scan of the puppets and those around him. The ufort sensation had mostly gone, and he rubbed his shoulders.

    "Where are my disciples?"

    A question filled with anger and threat came from his side and Lee turned to the source. The third elder of the Long sect was fuming in rage and his fist was clenched. The whip in his hand was developing faint icicles over it. Those near the elder had their weapons ready in their hands.

    Lee was surrounded from all sides. Even the nearby rooftops were upied by the core disciples of the Long sect. If Lee was to say that he knew where they were, he was still unable to ess them from the EsGen storage. So he had no other choice but to lie.

    "Why would you ask me about your disciples? I do not know whom you are talking about."

    Lee made his statement clear. He conveyed that he was unknown of the elder''s disciples, which made the whip unroll and touch the ground. The elder red at him and brandished the whip.

    "I can sense their Qi traces on you. There is no use lying."

    Lee remembered how Drake described about Qi leaving their traces on other people. Since the system was undergoing upgradation, he couldn''t do anything about it. Now Lee was caught with evidence.

    The spear wielding puppet swung its weapon vertically downward onto Lee''s right shoulder. He couldn''t register its movement as it was silent and swift, and thus pinned Lee to the ground on his knee. As he nced at the puppet, he noticed a faint purple glow in its eyes, as if it was alive. Since Lee couldn''t find anyone controlling the puppet, he assumed that the puppet is an autonomous one, with a soul residing in it.

    Gripping onto the spear, Lee felt the density and strength of the unknown spear, and lifted it to stand up. But the puppet''s arm pressed it down on his shoulders. Instinctively, Lee red at the puppet. The puppet was taken aback by the re, and pressed it further. Lee slipped from the beneath of the spear, which pressed and cracked the ground beneath it.

    The axe came at Lee from his behind, and he was expecting it. As it came right above his left shoulder, he stepped right and turned left, and the axe went past his face and crashed on the ground.

    The double headed axe was a little too big for amon human, but was suitable for the artificial puppets which were two metres tall. Lee kicked the forearm of the puppet and it let go of the axe handle in reflex. Taking this chance, Lee grabbed onto the axe and swung it at its chest. Like a recorded machine, it brought its arms in front of its chest like an X, and blocked the hit, while taking a step back in the received force.

    Lee was expecting to make a warning strike, as he broke the puppet''s arms. But the puppet''s arm did not even have a scratch by the attempt. Lee froze there for a second, and the whip shot at him from his behind. It coiled around his neck in an instant, and pulled him back.

    Lee lost his footing and stumbled backwards. The ice element imbued on it was not very powerful, but the absence of the system and it''s immunity proved troublesome for him. The icicle whip began to choke Lee, and he was slowly gasping for breath. As he was on the ground supported by his knees and palms, the spear came down on his back and nted him firmly on the ground.

    The ground cracked and Lee heard his bones crying in pain. He can tell that the 300 value of health was slowly being corroded away by the choking whip. The spear ced on his back made him less agile. The puppets carrying swords and axes slowly stepped towards him. Lee found himself being cornered, and thus decided to flee at once.

    "Don''t speak, so that I can torture you with all my heart."

    The elder spoke and the whip began to tighten. Its icy surface slowly spreaded coldness to his neck and down to his torso. Lee grabbed onto the whip and tried to pull it with all his strength. But before he could exert his maximum strength, the puppets caught his wrist and pulled it away from his neck.

    The elder was amused with the futile escape attempt, and came walking at him. Sinister smile on his face reflected malicious intentions. Lee, lying t on the ground, scanned his surroundings, and saw more than 23 people along with the elder, around him. The four battle puppets belonged to the 18 wooden constructs, among which eight were wooden horses. The four other puppets were simr to armoured infantry. They had twin daggers on their waists.

    Channeling all his strength, Lee pushed the weight upward, and jumped towards the elder. The split second proved its usefulness, and Lee evaded the pressure on his body by a hair''s breadth. The action was quick and wless, and the elder was stunned by this. With thest bit of energy, Lee dashed at the third elder to deliver a knee to the man''s chest. The elder moved to his right to avoid, but Lee then stretched his leg and his foot made contact with the elder''s neck. The strike made the elder lose his stability and Lee exploited this fraction of a second to throw his off bnce. The grip on the whip loosened and fell on the ground.

    The very instant, the choking sensation began to subside. Without wasting a second, Lee unwinded the icy whip from his neck, and fled the scene. He did not forget to deliver a kick to the third elder''s chin in the process.

    The escape was very difficult. For almost half an hour, Lee was tailed by theckeys of the third elder. Initially, they were so close to catch him, but Lee slipped away by his umon agility. As minutes passed, the breathing came back to normal, and Lee picked up distance from them. Then the bloody puppets entered the scene.

    As he ran aimlessly through the streets, Lee had no choice than to evade the spear, axe and hammer swinging at him. Therge cracks upon contact with the wall and ground, proved the fatality of the devastating blows. Though they were slightly inferior in agility, theirrge limbs and powerful muscle mechanismpensated this w. When the next reminder panel popped up, Lee had maintained a very good distance from all troubles. But he always felt a sense of something locking on him throughout the time.

    =+=+=

    32 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    Lee was sure that the people of Long sect had the inn as their target since day one. So he ran at the inn when he was in their visual, and immediately hid and took a U-turn and silently moved towards the opposite direction. Constantly observing while moving, and simultaneously trying to blend in, Lee made sure that he was not followed anymore. He moved forward slowly and steadily until the next reminder popped up.

    =+=+=

    31 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    It was then he felt that his intuition was right.

 Chapter 155: Predator Becomes Prey

    Chapter 155: Predator Bes Prey

    ''Something is not right.''

    Lee was walking through the shadows of the buildings as the sky was slowly darkening. The streets were almostpletely upied with residents and vendors of different kinds. The shops had cednterns which had eyes wide open and illuminating the area around them, and shedding light on the path. Only the alleyways between the buildings remained spooky and unexplored.

    The sensation of being followed was always felt by Lee. Thus he was careful when crossing the streets and moving through the shades of the shops. He had acquired a piece of thick cotton cloth, with which he covered his head and wrapped it around his neck. Since many people wear turban, and a few have cultural criteria to wear a hood, people did not find him strange. As he nced around through the corners of his eyes, the feel of being focused by something became more intense.

    ''Shit!''

    The silently iing flying spike was swift and Lee barely caught a glimpse of it. Even though he couldn''t see it clearly, his heart which was flooded with vignce, directed his legs to vanish into the alleyway. As his head moved toward the nearest alleyway, an iron spear came and pierced the spot where Lee was a second ago, and made an auditory announcement as it got lodged to the wall. Lee missed the sharp spear by such a small margin, that the piece of cloth he had was hooked on the tip of the spear.

    Without turning back, he entered the alleyway and found a spot to hide in the darkness. From the position, he scanned the spear which he missed by sheer luck. The reddish grey colour resembled a variant of bronze, and the uniform thickness of 2 inches diameter, except for the tip, was not amon sight regarding spears. The depth with which the rod had lodged into the wall, made Lee skip a heartbeat.

    It only took a second for the mildly murmuring streets to plummet into violent screams. Chaos raised its head taking the cover of darkness. The transformation of slow moving people to an aimlessly running herd of sheep was quick and natural. Lee made a mental note that wherever civilization thrive, people tend to show a simr pattern of behaviour.

    Presence of people on the rooftop alerted Lee, and he further retreated into the darkness. Regting his breath and after reaching apletely inaudible state of respiration, Lee nced up and saw people in dark shade coloured clothings. Their peculiar dress which was perfect for blending in with darkness raised every bristle on Lee.

    ''Orc? Goblin? Elf?''

    Lee was unable to determine the race of those shadows. One among them had arge build like an orc, some lean like an elf and some short like a goblin. Without any movements, Lee hid there for more than half an hour. The track of time was lost, until the notification came up.

    =+=+=

    30 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    Lee had only averted his gaze to the panel for a second, and the shadows disappeared. Even after repeated searching, his eyes couldn''t pick up any trace of their presence. Without any brainstorming, he was able to conclude that they had known of his presence in the alleyway, where he hid, and that they could even register the movement of his pupils.

    An overwhelming sense of threat enveloped his heart, but Lee was calm. He was expecting a move from their side, but nothing happened as expected. He assumed that those people were waiting for him to make a move. He couldn''t help, but apud in their patience, as Lee remained like a statue for about a minute.

    "There is no use hiding."

    Shadows extended from the alleyway''s entrance, and a rough and deep voice came. Lee found all his conclusions correct, and deduced that they must be a group of mercenaries. Without wasting any moment, he stepped out of the darkness, from where he was hiding, while leaving a mouthful of air silently.

    "Who are-"

    Before Lee could question their identity, shurikens came flying at his vital spots. They were precisely targeted at his neck, chest and temple. With minimum movements, he evaded the oing threats, and managed to catch thest shuriken by two fingers. The thin, yet unmistakably sharp cross shaped projectile was held between his left hand''s index and thumb fingers.

    *thuck*

    Lee somehow failed to sense the attack from above. But he heard the wooden rod cutting the air, but couldn''t react to evadepletely. The rod missed his head and striked his right shoulder, thus nting him on his knee on the ground. A kick came and made contact with his back, and Lee supported his torso from falling on the ground, with his extended hands.

    Lee grabbed onto the wooden rod to lift it up and counterattack. But as soon as he touched the rod, he was violently electrocuted for a second. The reaction onlysted for a second, but gave a lethal dose of electricity to Lee. Fortunately, he did not die, because his body was used to lightning and had formed resistance against it.

    But this trait could only save his life. Lee''s hand came loosened up from the rod and his figure lifelessly fell on the ground. A faint twitch he made, revealed to the strange bunch of people that he had not died. They took the detail into consideration, but gave no importance to it.

    Even his mind was in turmoil from the unexpected surge of energy. Lee tried to think clearly, but he ended up derailing his thoughts many times. Sensing that the unanticipated attack had taken a toll on his body and mind, he had no choice but to leave everything to fate.

    Since our MC was alive, they did not store his ''corpse'' in a storage ring. They had a short and silent talk that Lee, who is half dead, is only as good as dead, and could be stored in a spatial ring. But the ring, which was only programmed to store inanimate objects, refused to agree with them. Thus Lee was wrapped up in ropes, and the person who had therge build like an orc, took him on his shoulder.

    Like grandmaster assassins, their presence disappeared as their figures vanished from the sight. The darkness of the alley served as a curtain to conceal their movements. Towards one of the powerhouses, they elerated. Lee, who had his five senses wrapped tight, could only obediently stay still, until he was strong enough to contend with them all.

    ---

    =+=+=

    29 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    Even though Lee was wrapped like a shawarma, he was able to see the notification with his consciousness. From the movements, he assumed that the bunch of mercenaries are still moving towards their hideout. He assumed that they had to exploit the darkness of the streets and to tread carefully, so as to not expose themselves.

    His body began to sway in an unexpected angle, and then he felt weightless. To be exact, he was being thrown as he felt being in mid-air. The pleasure of freely floating did notst long as he received a in, but powerful strike on his torso. From the impact and pain, Lee assumed that the object must be a long and thin object, like a rod, staff or a spear.

    His figure fell on the ground twitching and rolled in reaction with the force. Whoever it was who delivered the blow, were very happy to see him twitching in pain, and began to thrash him with vigour. Multiple hits were greeted by his body, and Lee started to count the number of cracking bones. He also noted the main hotspots of pain throughout his body.

    "Untie him!"

    A high pitched shout came from the near proximity and Lee turned his head towards the source instinctively. A smack was the response to his response. Lee rolled on the ground, while lessening the pain epted by his face. Rage, and an urge for revenge, began to silently build up in him. Lee was only waiting for the correct time to strike. But first, he needed to see the owner of the voice.

    The peculiar tone was something he had heard before, but he couldn''t think further, as his head was repeatedly giving him pain. Instead of increasing the load on thoughts, he patiently waited for them to unwrap him. And fate did not let go of his hand. After a few more random kicks that aimed at his upper and lower torso, he was dragged for about a few feets and was starting to get unwrapped.

    ''AARGHH!''

    Pain! All he could sense was pain all over his body. The volley of strikes had chipped away a major portion of Lee''s health and he was drenched in his own blood. The ropes were stuck to his skin, and blood acted as adhesive. From the outside, no drop of blood could be seen, because the mummified wrapping was so tight that the blood remained inside the ropes.

    Lee violently twitched as the rope was peeled from his skin. His clothings absorbed a major portion of the damage, but they acted as amplifiers of pain where blood came out of the wounds. Lee cried internally and determined that no sound must be made. He decided to suffer the pain for the only purpose of vengeance.

    He was positioned upright on the floor, and his head was unwrapped. After slowly opening an eyelid, he saw a few figures in front of him. The ropes were soonpletely taken off, and Lee fell on the ground. As he felt like losing consciousness, he was able to take a nce of the culprit, of his sufferings.

 Chapter 156: Miseries Of The Protagonist

    Chapter 156: Miseries Of The Protagonist

    A faint smirk was on Lee''s face as he had a hint who the owner of the high pitched voice could be. Since his left eye is not in a functional state, and is bleeding slightly, Lee witnessed the familiar face. For someone who did not get what had desired, her face reflected anger.

    "Chu Hua."

    Lee said her name as he identified the person. As he had evaluated, there was no other person he had pissed off, with a high pitch tone. His swollen left eyelid dripped blood as the staff in her hand made contact with his right shoulder bone. The force threw the pathetically beaten up protagonist onto the floor.

    "It was because of you that she rejected my invitation. So you better not exist."

    Lee got the gist of the situation. The rejection Chu Hua faced from An Fenfang was like a p on her face. She would have backed off after a few more attempts, but the revtion that Lee was the reason why An rejected the invitation, burned anger in her. Chu Hua did not know about their marital rtionship, thus she considered Lee as an adversely affecting variable in her n.

    "She.is my.wife."

    Lee spoke as he spat out a mouthful of blood, and tried to support himself up. The leader of the Moon Water sect red at him as she heard this piece of information. Lee was expecting to pacify her anger, but it only added oil to it.

    "You male chauvinist bastard, no wonder she is afraid of you!"

    ording to Chu Hua, all husbands were male chauvinists. They harass and ''enve'' their wife/wives. They restrict the basic rights of the women and use them as a toy for releasing their libido. The scars etched in Chu Hua''s mind were deep and painful, and all these conclusions stemmed from that past.

    The staff made from a Scorch Vulture''s backbone was swung horizontally. It made contact and dislocated Lee''s lower jaw. Before he could even touch the ground, she had swung the staff one more time. This time, it broke his left shoulder bone. Lee writhed in pain as he gritted his teeth. No matter how much he suffered, Lee was unwilling to even let out a small groan.

    When the hits halted, Lee had his face dyed in blood. He can tell that his health has been greatly depleted and is at the verge of dying. He lied on the ground immobile and still. Sect leader swung her staff and blood sshed from it. She then turned around and walked away from him.

    "Our payment."

    The familiar rough voice sounded and Lee slowly opened his eyes. Four orcs, five elves, three goblins and six beastfolks stood a few distance away from her. Chu Hua paused her steps and nced at them. She took out a pouch from her spatial ring and threw it at them. One of the elves caught it and held it in her hand, and determined the weight of the reward. She nced at herpanions and nodded, signifying that the promised amount has received.

    "What are you going to do about him?"

    Chu Hua was about to walk, when a question arose from the midst of mercenaries. The voice was rather resolved and firm, which she found familiar.

    "Musk, do not interfere with my actions."

    She gave a statement and walked away. The mercenaries looked at the back of the crowd, and peered at the face of the druid. A sense of curiosity was visible on their faces, but none voiced their doubts.

    Lee was barely able to make an outline of those 19 faces. His consciousness waxing and waning made it difficult to memorise them. But before he passed out, he was sure that he could recognise at least two of them. Beforepletely going nk, he felt a pair of hands dragging him away.

    ---

    =+=+=

    26 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    ---

    Normally when Lee is unconscious, he is able to enter the chamber of consciousness. But for the past three hours, he was unable to ess the ce. He can feel his consciousness suspended in a space, devoid of color and craft. Not only could he not ess the chamber, he was unable to sense anything for the three hours.

    Arge quantity of saline water came down on Lee, who was slowly restoring his wounds and health. The umon amount of vitality he had saved his life in many situations, and it repeated here. A great extent of blood loss was obstructed by the high vitality, while his health was slowly picking up. The hours he spent restoring himself were disrupted by the painful sting of salinity.

    Lee was stiff from the painful process of suffering, and blood had covered his body. His clothes sticking to his skin adversely affected the healing process, but to a very slight extent. The irritation of saline water made him twitch instantly, which made his situation worse. His broken bones and dislocated joints sent out pulses of agony and Lee became motionless instantly.

    His eyelids were not swollen anymore, and he could open his eyes without any difficulty. His nose picked up the smell of blood, which he realised was his own. The blood''s traces on his skin had stiffened and gave an uneasy feeling. As he tried to move his limbs, a faint and barely audible conversation fell in his ears.

    "Who has the leader brought for today?"

    "Someone who offended her at the tournament."

    "Another one to the doors of death."

    "Obviously, she-"

    The voices faded away as if they were walking away from him. Lee deduced that he is in a ce which has walkways around, and he was inside the Moon Water sect. The second piece of information invoked the introduction D gave to him about the four giants. In it, Dnekewy had mentioned that the sect is a feminist one, and gives emphasis to female empowerment.

    Nothing except darkness could be seen by Lee, when he opened his eyes. He was confused for a second, as his eyes had night vision property, which he added using the system feature. Lee tried to rub his eyes, and moved his limbs. To his surprise, he noticed something on his limbs, which he did not feel before.

    Lee felt the object on his all four limbs. On his hand, the thick and heavy metal like object had covered his fist and wrist, and to the elbow. The L bent at the elbow limited his hand''s degree of freedom. The heavy object was more than he could lift at the moment.

    On his feet were simr objects, but much heavier. They also somehow inhibited anyrge movements made by him. He couldn''t even stand, and the maximum he could do is to stand on all four.

    Theck of visuals made Lee greatly ufortable. He used the round metal object enveloping his fist to feel his head. But what he did not expect was the sound of metals nging together.

    One thing was sure for him. It is not thet Lee could not see, but something ced around his head was restricting the view. From the nging, he assumed that the object around his head was also made of metal. Just to make sure, he hit the metal case around his head with the metal covering over his fist, and an ear piercing sound fell in his ears.

    The sound subsided and Lee began to move his limbs around him. Lee felt his rear sitting formly on the ground and found that he was in a room. Before he could find more conclusions, the sound of chains were heard by him. Before he knew, something was connected to the metal covering around his fists, and Lee was slowly being dragged away.

    A myriad of noises were audible to Lee, which ranged from barely audible murmurings and mechanical noises, to clear voices of people chanting a name in unison. Lee couldn''t help but rte the atmosphere with that of a boxing match.

    *bang*

    Something hit the metal case covering Lee''s head from the outside, and resulted in a head splitting noise in the inside. As the irritating noise subsided, Lee sensed the nauseating multiple sources of noises non-existent. An internal sigh was Lee''s reaction to this change. With nothing to do, our protagonist stayed still obediently and he was being dragged away like a sack of cement.

    The heavy restrictions on his feet made his mobility to near zero, and he was being dragged away. Lee can tell that he had been dragged upstairs, and was even able to keep the count of turns he had taken. From the multiple sets of stairs and more than ten sets of turns, Lee concluded that he was kept in an underground prison, or worse, sold to a ve market. The restrictions on his body gave weightage to thetter assumption.

    Suddenly, the force which was dragging him stopped. The chains were still attached to his fists, and gave a hint that he was only taking a break from the long journey. There were loud voices in near proximity, but somehow, Lee couldn''t hear them. He sharpened his senses, but ended up in vain. ording to his evaluation, something has been added onto the currently existing load of weights, or it is a speciality of the chains to scramble all the auditory signals nearing the person. Whatever the cause was, the effect turned out to be hearing nothing intelligible.

    The force came again and he was again pulled away. The intensity of noises increased exponentially, as if entering a big stadium full of spectators. The scrambling was high enough to counter the entering noises and Lee was able to construct a few words from the iing signals, only toprehend that the words made no sense.

    It was then the dragging force slowly came to a halt, and the chains attached to the fists were released. As Lee was wondering what was happening, the surroundings were disclosed in front of him.

    ''You have got to be kidding me!''

 Chapter 157: The Criminal

    Chapter 157: The ''Criminal''

    ''You have got to be kidding me!''

    A surge of noises came flooding into his ears, and Lee felt dizzy for a moment. The immense amount of auditory sensations from all around him was too head-splitting, just as the bright light and vibrancy his eyes witnessed.

    Moon Water sect, one of the four giants in the Piscerent city, was as huge and wide as the Typhoon n was. Therge arena in front of the sect''s core building, was their sparring ground and venue for duels. As a female major sect, they gave slightly greater importance to physical fitness, than cultivation. In a world with patriarchy, the Moon Water sect was ready to make a change.

    The two opposing sides had seats arranged in a descending manner, and facing the arena. From the first nce, Lee was able to count more than 234 sect disciples chatting and murmuring, while a major portion of them chanted a name. Though it was a name, Lee had trouble picking it up clearly. It was then he realised a slight disturbance in his ears.

    The ears were not receiving the voices at a uniform rate. His right ear had lesser reception whenpared with his left ear. He shaked his head to test whether it was a temporary state, but it proved otherwise. Somewhere among the thrashing and beating, a hit had partially affected his hearing. Understanding his situation, Lee became alert. He sharpened his ears so as to pick up any unusual sounds.

    While listening keenly, he scanned the size of the arena. Made with some kind of y and brick, it was pretty sturdy. Lee assessed the stage to be much sturdy for a y and brick construct, from the vague, but innumerous scratch marks on its surface. Strike marks seen even on the sides of the 5 foot elevated tform gave out a hint of the spirited fighting style of the sect disciples.

    The 13 and a quarter long and wide arena did not show any signs of withering. The marks on it served as a history to its long standing service. Across the stage was a raised tform over which Chu Hua and other elders sat with pride and elegance. Before Lee could give a re, he was dragged onto the stage.

    The crowd went silent and their eyes eagerly scanned the pitiful body of Lee. The person who dragged him all the way was a man, who had his head covered with a face cover. He ripped Lee''s upperwear and tore it to shreds. Though dry, the sticky blood traces still gave a stingy pain. The disciples had their eyes caught on his physique for a second, but soon began to re at him. His shackles from his limbs were also removed.

    It was then Lee found his possession missing. He was sure that his spatial ring was on his finger until he lost his consciousness in the alleyway. Lee assumed that either the mercenaries, or the sect leader had snatched the spatial ring for themselves. In anger, he gritted his teeth, but the response from the surroundings were malicious. Lee felt anger from the surroundings, and Chu Hua stood up from her seat.

    "Proud children of the Moon Water sect, this man here is a criminal. He used his power as a husband to restrict his wife from entering our sect. He denied her right to empower herself. For this deed of him, he must be punished. He will go through the execution process, and I guarantee you, that it will be as pleasing as ever.

    Today''s queue will be starting from Fen Ju. If she fails to kill this man in 5 minutes, the next one in the row can have her attempt. The disciple who entertains her fellow sisters will be rewarded with 6 Soul Replenishing pills.

    And the execution starts now!"

    Lee saw Chu Hua ncing at the face of the first woman sitting at the first seat on the right side of the arena. She immediately sprang up and jumped on the stage. From her actions, Lee guessed that her name must be Fen Ju.

    A twin edged spear came materialising in her hand. Lee, who had nothing as a weapon, and still restoring his health, did not flinch at this sight. His body carrying the smell of blood took a stance, signalling that he was mentally ready for whatever thates. His bones and joints were hesitant to move, but Lee convinced himself that it is nothing more than a mock drill.

    His opponent spinned the spear in her palm and dashed at him. She only had five minutes to obtain the Soul Replenishing pills, so she was in a hurry. Her spear''s tip was targeted at his chest, neck and temple precisely. For a girl of about 26, she was well built with a lean figure.

    But Lee was not someone who could be knocked out even in half an hour, at the given moment. His halved stats were greater than his opponent by a considerable amount, and she found him tough to even touch. His brain back to its peak after a few evasions, coupled with his steadily increasing vignce and reflexes, proved too fast for her. Before he knew, the time was up and the 4th stage Core Formation realm cultivator had to retire to her seat.

    The next one was slightlyrger in built than Fen Ju, and had twin sabers in her hands. The faint iciness he felt as she swung her sabers gave a hint that she was in Elemental Binding realm. But her cultivation was low, and she could only present the presence of her Psy to him. She too had to go back to her seat as Lee continuously evaded her shes.

    ---

    =+=+=

    24 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    About one and a half hours had passed since Lee entered the arena. More than 20 opponents had fought him, but Lee went evading the strikes with a narrow margin. Spears, maces, swords, sabers, axes, bow and arrows, staves and many more weapons were brandished, and only a few were able to touch Lee. The realm and cultivation of his opponents steadily began to rise and Lee epted this exercise session with an inside smile.

    Spikes of ice and mes of fire began to dance on the stage, and the tactics to kill Lee off like a nobody changed to torture till death. Chu Hua saw the inability of the sect disciples to hurt him, thus approved two versus one fight. Slowly and steadily, his health and vitality was being tainted by the periodical heat and cold shes.

    *sh*

    A sh came from the behind and Lee couldn''t react on time, and thus received a cut on his back. The sh was shallow and had the wind element imbued in it. His skin reported that it has been damaged by the cut, through sensations of pain. Before observing, Lee secured a distance between him and the three opponents on the tform.

    Looking through the corner of his eyes, Lee saw Chu Hua smiling at the sight. She was wondering whether an elder must be involved, and at the nick of time, someone made him bleed. The blood dripped a drop or two on the floor, and Lee observed the three females.

    Lee was hesitant to fight and had an urge to escape while he can, but his eyes picked up well fortified walls and premises. He deduced that he had no other choice but to fight till he found an escape opening.

    The well organised trio proved fatal as Lee began to ept cut marks on his body. To make him cringe, they attempted to cut his lowerwear, but Lee effectively defended those underhanded tricks. In fact, since the start of the fight, it was the only asion when Lee actively defended. He knew that either his strength would surpass his opponents, or he would get hurt unnecessarily. The increased chances for the second option made him reserve his strength.

    But fate made him disy his strength. While he was using minimum movements to evade, the spear user cultivator swung her weapon horizontally at his face. Lee moved out of its trajectory, just enough for it to pass. But at the right moment, she loosened her grip slightly, and the weapon made a mark on his face!

    Lee reeled back and his left palm covered his face in an instant. But the hand soon came back to a more aggressive fighting stance as the horizontal cut mark on his nose was exposed. When the trio were nning to torture him, they poked something deadly dangerous.

    Before the swordswoman could make a retreat, Lee had reached in front of her. She was in a daze after witnessing this feat, and received Lee''s horizontal kick on her stomach. As she was thrown off bnce, her grip on her katana cme loose, and Lee took hold of it. Within seconds, he chopped down the spear in half. The spearwoman was taken aback by this feat, but maintained herposure.

    The fiery whip shed out and it came at Lee, who blocked the whip with the katana. The whip pulled the sword off his hand, and he voluntarily gave it away. But the whip did not go back to its owner, because Lee had caught hold on it and pulled it towards him.

    *pak*

    The p was loud and clear and the cultivator holding the whip spinned in mid-air, beforending on the ground and rolling away like a tin can. The duo came to her and supported back on her feet. They were amazed at how Lee went from evasive to offensive.

    The elders and the disciples were stunned by the sound. Chu Hua assumed that Lee was about to make his strength disy, and gave a gesture for the students outside the stage to sneak attack. A bunch of Soul Transformation realm disciples surrounded Lee. Before he could understand what was happening, few pieces of paper came flying at him.

    ''Talismans!''

    Lee recognised the object from D''s memory. That thing was the Qi counterpart of the Mana runes. Talismans can go offensive, defensive and supportive at any given moment. The only variable is the strength of the opponent.

    As Lee cluelessly received the talismans on his body without his consent, they were activated, and a numbing sensation coupled with agonising pain crawled over Lee.

 Chapter 158: Massive Door Of Dungeon

    Chapter 158: Massive Door Of Dungeon

    As Lee cluelessly received the talismans on his body without his consent, they were activated, and a numbing sensation coupled with agonising pain crawled over Lee. Two talismans were stuck on each of his limbs, and crucifying pain enveloped his body. Lee lost hisposure and cried out loud, in pain!

    After a dozen seconds of pain, Lee felt his body heavier than usual. He evaluated that his body was at least 4 times heavier, and his limbs were already suffering from the dissecting experience. A scorching sensation was felt on his wrists and heels, and Lee struggled to raise his head, and saw a sight never seen before.

    Golden yellow ring materialised around his wrists and heels, delivering an intense burning sensation. The ring began to brighten up and Lee couldn''t control the pain. He ended up roaring, and Chu Hua was content with the result. She stood up and spoke-

    "For your information, we, the Moon Water sect, do not tolerate male dominance and would punish anyone when came across. Today is your turn to learn that women are not men''s subordinates and are greatly superior in the world, known and unknown. Now repent your sins for the rest of your life."

    Lee was barely conscious, as his ears registered the words. He can clearly feel his energy being drained from him. An imminent sense of danger popped up in his mind, as he saw the sect leader gesturing something to someone who was next to her. His mind repeatedly murmured-

    ''Must escape.''

    Against his will, Lee felt his body floating. Beforepletely losing his control over his body, he leaned forward and leaped onto the nearest cultivator, and grabbed onto her cor. Using all of his force fuelled by pain and rage, he swung her around. Fortunately for Lee, she went and collided with many other cultivators around him. Some of them were the ones who maintained the talismans, and their control was lost. The scorching rings disappeared into thin air, and Lee came back on his feet.

    Like a caged beast released, Lee violently fought back. The talismans flew away from his skin and he sensed the dreadful draining halting immediately. A spear in the hands of a cultivator was caught in his eyes. Taking a glimpse of the well made spear, Lee snatched it away from the owner''s hands. A new energy began to channel through his body.

    *pak*

    *thwack*

    Lee was literally dancing on the stage, with the spear shing horizontal. Many were subjected to face ps with the spear. Lee was extra cautious not to kill or severely damage anyone around him, because that could seal his fate.

    A few cultivators jumped up and threw talismans at Lee. Lee tried to deflect the talismans with the spear, but they were sticky in nature. The four talismans began to glow with a red hue, and threw the spear out of his hand.

    *boom*

    Never would have he thought those talismans to be explosive in nature. He had a feeling that they were dangerous, but not like an explosive. The umted power of four explosion talismans was powerful enough to throw him out of the stage. Each talisman was as powerful as a kilo of TNT exploding.

    Lee was thrown out of the stage like a projectile, and he crashed to the array of seats. The wooden constructs prickled against his body, and Lee immediately sprang up on his feet. The obscurity of vision on the stage made everyone descend from the tform, and Lee, who was standing and alert, was caught in their sight. Without contemting on the current affairs, Lee turned around and ran aimlessly.

    The pain on his feet and arms were fading away, and Lee began to pick up his pace. The t and paved ground did not give much hardships for Lee as he sprinted. Guessing the direction of the front gate, Lee jumped with all his might.

    *puchik*

    A steel dart came and pierced his skin, only to be pulled out by Lee. The wound was shallow, but this gave him a revtion that a volley of such darts were right behind him. He leaped sideways and ran diagonally in order to evade the darts. The star shaped shurikens among them were coated with mild poison, powerful enough to numb and immobilise Lee in less than five minutes. Thus his evasion became more active.

    Cultivators pounced on him from all sides. The sheer quantity of the opponents proved exhausting and troublesome. Concealed sneak attacks under the veil of shes were difficult to avoid, and Lee was starting to feel ever so slightly sluggish. His fight for escape became a matter of fight for survival.

    =+=+=

    23 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    Each hour ticking away was rxing for him. The fact that the system will be online after 23 hours made him excited, but the extent to which the upgradation can be, was still a mystery. All he could assume was that D acquired some keyponents and information from the apparition which made him decide such an act at such a short notice.

    The race to find the exit was still on. Lee continuously ran around the sect, barely missing the flying talismans and poisonous darts. All the while he was looking for the exit, the sect elders were plotting their own n.

    Using the number as an advantage, Chu Hua ordered the disciples and the elders to reroute Lee, who was frantically searching for an exit, towards the dungeon. Even for the elders, who were cold-hearted and resentful to men, hesitated to proceed immediately.

    "But the dungeon has not been opened for decades. The insides must be in ruins. The mobs might have already ceased spawning. Why don''t we capture him alive and proceed with torturing?"

    The four core elders stood around the sect leader, and peered at her.

    "Men like him will always sprout here and there. They will continue to degrade women as a second ss gender, and will treat unfairly. This man is especially hard to capture, and killing him is an exaggeration of ourselves.

    Yes, the dungeon has not been opened in decades. But under no circumstances can it be in ruins. You all know how the Tyrant Fairy was spawned and wreaked havoc inside the dungeon, and it still did not copse. But I am positive that the Aluminiles are still alive."

    Chu Hua red at the core sect elders, andmanded-

    "The decision is taken. Open the dungeon and lead him into it."

    The sect elders dispersed into different directions to inform their disciples about the decision. A few shivered as the term ''dungeon'' was uttered, and many recollected memories of the past. Organizing and plotting the rerouting, the elders led their group of disciples. Lee, who was still far away from the entrance, unknowingly slipped into their trap.

    The surrounding crowd appropriately changed their formation in order to make Lee flee through the path they wanted him to move. Thus, he was led away from the main building, and Lee found a wooden construct at a distance.

    The wooden door was massive, and it was not locked. The metal beam ced across it was only moved a few minutes ago, and it had left a mark, which Lee overlooked. The elders gestured to the disciples to make it look like they are really trying to capture him, and Lee increased his speed by a small margin.

    The way the door was situated right in front of a small rocky mound was suspicious. At a nce, Lee evaluated that the door was closed for security reasons. But from his experience with the people of sect, he evaluated any beasts as more reasonable.

    Darts and shurikens came flying at him from his back, and cultivators came approaching him from his left side. In order to avoid the fatal strikes, Lee had to take an L turn to his right ande around without getting caught.

    Lee was slowly getting his legs tired from continuous running. His speed began to lessen, and he soon was barely maintaining a few metres from them. Tired of running, Lee suddenly halted his tracks as he stamped his foot on the ground while turning around.

    The army of women who were dreaming of acquiring the six Soul Replenishing pills, hoped to catch him. But contrary to their expectations, Lee began to deflect strikes and shes with his own hands. Soon he was surrounded from all sides.

    It was all part of his n. He was so in need to escape that he did not probed into the zodiac of the massive wooden door. Lee slowed down and began to confront the cultivators, who were after his life with only one intention - to get rid of hind limbs fatigue.

    Soon after a couple of minutes, Lee decided that it was his cue. He was maintaining a safe distance from the crowd, while reacting and responding to the iing strikes. With all his might, he leaped towards the massive door, while the crowd of cultivators were taken aback by his action. Lee slowly made them move away from the door, so that the sudden burst of speed coupled with his hindlimb strength could close the distance with the door instantly. He also did not want the pests to enter inside while he shut the door. So to take the cultivators a distance away from the door was necessary for him.

    The door was mmed open by the powerful fists of Lee. Without wasting a moment, Lee jumped inside and the door automatically closed. Lee assumed that the door might have an automatic closing mechanism. But what that was waiting for him inside the dungeon, was beyond his guess!

 Chapter 159: Insides Of The Dungeon

    Chapter 159: Insides Of The Dungeon

    =+=+=

    22 HOUR TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    The notification appeared in pitch ck darkness, and Lee was only able to see it because the system was residing in him. For the past 25 minutes, Lee was slowly tiptoeing into the dungeon, while thoroughly observing the dungeon. The darkness did not obstruct his view, because of his visual modification. He was taking each step with so care, that literally no sound was made.

    His ears could only hearplete silence. The eeriness it carried made his bristles stand up. Theck of motion or sentience in the vicinity was observed by him, and his heart rxed to a great extent. But the wriggling antenna worms popping out here and there out of the soil was not a good sight to behold, and made him to quickly advance further forward.

    Almost twenty or twenty five minutes after the notification was dismissed, Lee could hear a faint sound of water dripping down from a height. The signature dripping sound of water droplets was highlighted in the silence. Initially, the droplets were heard to be dripping on something solid, then the sound slowly changed to a much resonating voice of dripping into a waterbody.

    The reception of an auditory sensation made his legs move forward faster. The fact that it was the sound of water, woke up a sense of thirst in him. His soundless movements slowly began to change to a slightly turbulent set of motion. The ragged ground of crumbled stones under his feet made a slight voice as he walked.

    The dripping voice became more clear as he walked forward. Advancing down the narrow dark path, Lee saw a glimmer of light at the end of the way. The shine crept into the darkness from a side, signalling that there is a curve at the end of the aisle.

    The presence of rubbles became more evident as he stepped further. Large pieces of stones, presumably fallen from the roof of the cave, filled the path. Lee thus had to walk over the stones, for the t surface was no more. The natural spiky formations hanging here and there from the ceiling of the caves caught his sight. Lee deduced thus deduced the source of these chunks of rocks.

    The light was nearing more and more, and his heart began to beat with curiosity. Lee regained hisposed and stealthy set of motions as he advanced to the light. As he guessed, the turn to the right at the end of the cave path, was an entrance to a whole new room. But calling it a room would be an understatement. It was more like arge naturally formed indoor auditorium!

    Lee leaned onto a big stone and peeked at the spacious area. It was unmistakable over arge area, withplex terrain and structures. From where he was, Lee could see a set of stairs that had about 19 partially ruined steps, made out of rocks. The height to the ceiling from the ground was uniformly 75 metres all around the area. There were a few stctites here and there clustered on the ceiling, and upon close inspection, Lee found one of such clusters which had only two stctites in it, dripping pale green drops.

    ''Where is this ce?''

    Lee poked his head out further from where heid. He was partially in the darkness, as the stone shed its shadow on the stone, behind which he was hiding. Eager about the light source, Lee peeked and was amazed.

    An expanse ofnd about 2 or 3 acresid t with short grasses on it, and at the centre of it was a pond. The light source was the water of the pond, which he saw emitting radiance around, and lighting up the space. The two stctites dripping the green liquid were positioned in a way, that one was over the stony banks of the pond and one was right into the pond. Thus the dripping sounds were produced.

    Despite the presence of light, water and grass, Lee did not see any living being there. Though he was unsure as to whether there was a light source inside the water, whether it was water or what kind of grass it is, he assumed them to be. His eyes wandered around and then caught a rather awe-inspiring scene.

    Fourrge entrances were on the wall right beyond the t grass patch ofnd. Two of them were at the ground level, as an entry way for beasts. But the staggering height of more than 22 metres and width of more than 17 metres made his jaw drop. The only conclusion Lee could arrive at after seeing this is that there must be a creature big enough to fit therge entrance. Or it could be a natural formation, and Lee decided to hold onto thetter assumption.

    The two other openings were at an elevated position, and were right above the two at the ground level. The thickness of rock that separated the elevated two and pair at ground level, were barely 20 metres. At a nce, Lee found that the difference in measurements of the two pairs were different. While the bottom pair were more suitable for a T-Rex to walk in, the elevated pair was 16 metres tall and 29 metres wide. The uniqueness in size gave a hint that the elevated set has a different set of upants.

    There were many w marks and scratches on the walls. The abrasions started from about 4 or 5 metres from the ground and extended till 8 metres from the ceiling. The red coloured soil and rocks Lee found, pointed at savagery of the culture. The smell simr to a rotten corpse that was picked up by his nose was so intense, that it almost made him vomit.

    ncing around the vacant and silent room, Lee deemed it hazardous to step out at the moment. When he was thinking of staying low, the hourly notification came up and his stomach grumbled loudly.

    =+=+=

    21 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    Previously, he only had thirst, which he suppressed using his saliva. But the hunger was not something easily yielding. As he took a moment to contemte to step out or to not, a small squeak could be heard.

    *squeak squeak*

    A small rodent of half a metre length came out of one of the lower entrances. It came into the light and Lee saw its features. Smooth short ck fur enveloped its small body and a tail as long as its bodypleted its figure. It had a piece of something in its mouth, and it sat on its hind limbs upright and gnawed the food. As Lee took a closer look, he found that it was a piece of flesh.

    ''It is flesh. If there is flesh, there must be carnivorous animals, besides this rodent. From the scratch marks on the wall, the possibility of giant and ferocious beings exist. If there are such dangerous beasts, then I will have a hard time surviving.''

    Lee was well aware of his situation. Theck of nutrition and water had made him tired. Thus his vitality was low, and so was his strength. The health was barely enough to fight an Orc Ox, and his speed was greatly shortened by the unknown terrain.

    *squeak*

    The rodent''s long and dull squeak disrupted his thoughts. When he poked his head up to see what was happening, the little fellow hade closer to where Lee was, and had caught the scent of the dry and ked blood. The enhanced sensitivity to blood in all forms made it alert.

    ''What is it doing?''

    The rodent dropped the piece of flesh and slowly neared the stones at the entrance of the aisle. The dark path was not scary for the rodent which survives in darkness. Lee promptly retreated to a much darker side of the stone, as he saw the rodenting much closer. The scent of his sweat mixed with the dry blood had produced an odor which Lee guessed to be the reason why the rodent is approaching.

    As the rodent stepped into the darkness, it casually ran towards where Lee was. The animal must have been thorough with the ce, so as to exhibit such courage and casualness, Lee thought. The rodent came running precisely to where Lee hid, with no sense of caution. The faintly intensified smell made it elerate further, and the pebbles moved out of its way seeing the rodent''s excitement.

    *whish*

    Before it could register the presence of Lee, he had shed his hand so quickly that the rodent did not get time to react. His palm went straight to the oing rodent''s neck and caught it with immense strength. The animal tried to cry out, but no voice came. For about half a minute, the being violently protested against the grip, before bing still. Lee was still like a statue, as he witnessed this scene with a nk face.

    ''Sorry, but you need to die for my survival.''

    The steady right hand of Lee was retracted and the dead rodent was in his palm. Lee looked around and found a stable and t rock to sit down, before proceeding with the rodent.

    Lee carefully observed the rodent''s dead body after sitting down. The animal had very strong hind-limbs and associated muscles, and sharp ws in its forelimbs. It could have posed a threat to Lee, but the being''s final moment was so quick, that the animal got scared from the attack and tried to reach the reinforcements. If only it knew that Lee was alone and not in a good state, it would have put up a fight, expecting a feast.

    Before he could further evaluate, Lee saw a deep red stone embedded into the underside of the rodent. As he was watching, the stone lost its luster and became grey, and cracked. But what followed it was the most unexpected. The rodent''s body slowly faded off the colour and disintegrated to dust!

 Chapter 160: Encounter Inside The Dungeon

    Chapter 160: Encounter Inside The Dungeon

    ''What the!''

    Lee sprang up from where he sat and the rodent''s body disintegrating to dust fell through the gaps between his fingers. Before the dust reached the floor, it vanished into thin air, as if breaking down to subatomic particles.

    Lee was stunned by this scene, and waspletely unaware of what was happening. When he looked into his palm, nothing was left of the rodent.

    ''What just happened!''

    Lee turned his palm over and checked whether he was affected in any way. Since it was his first time seeing such an astonishing activity, he was concerned about his own safety. With an internal sigh, Lee concluded that it would not be possible to kill and quench his hunger in the dungeon.

    Lee now was missing the luxury of the system. D, who manifested itself to be the system, was his eyes and ears till date. The unparalleled operation of the system was a great boost to him. Lee did not dwell in the memories and immediately came back to his scouting spot.

    His eyes were now set on the piece of flesh the rodent had dropped before dying in his hands. The flesh had not crumbled into oblivion, and it made Lee raise an avnche of questions. But soon a possible guess was brought up by him.

    ''Animals inside the cave can kill and eat each other for survival. So the flesh is still preserved. But if someone from outside kills a beast, it possibly disintegrates.''

    A realisation hit Lee like thunder, and he instinctively retreated to the darkness.

    ''This is not an ordinary cave!''

    Vignce was at its peak, when Lee realised the property of the dungeon. His mind repeatedly chanted to get out of the cave, and Lee sprinted to the door. Using the night vision, the darkness was as clear as day for him.

    *ba-dum*

    Within minutes, he covered the distance. But his heart skipped a beat by what he saw.

    In front of his eyes, only rock existed. There was no trace of the existence of a door. The grey rocks have formed a natural dead end, where the door was supposed to be standing. Lee was confused by this, and came close to inspect the wall.

    His eyes did not y games. The door was indeed missing. The size of the dark passage absolutely fitted the measurements of the door, but the absence of wooden constructs made it look slightly smaller. Lee tapped, knocked and tried to dig into the wall, but the fact that natural igneous rocks covered the wall made his attempts futile.

    Sweat began to drip down from his forehead, when a familiar noise came from the other end of the passage. The strange uniqueness of the noise was as if he had heard it before, but could not find any familiarity. Lee turned around to face the noise entering the passage, and assumed that the previous rodent''s rtive had arrived.

    Lee sprinted forward, to see whether his deductions are correct. His sprinting was partially silent due to the absence of stone debris. As he moved further forward, the energetic short and dull squeaking could be heard. It was as if the rodent was charging in while repeatedly crying out. The overall assessment made Lee suspect something to be off, and he was on guard.

    Lee slowed down and came to a silent halt, and the rodent''s voice was getting more clearer. He moved from the center of the passage and crouched down, so as to catch the rodent with instantaneous action. The rodent promptly came closer to him, and right into his range.

    But, right before Lee could catch it, it slipped his irrevocable grip, and leaped sideways. Lee, who had shot his arm forward, saw the rodent missing his palm with a slight margin. He was stunned for a second, and his position was disclosed to the rodent. The animal stared right into Lee''s eyes, and a shiver went down his spine.

    ''How?''

    Lee was bbergasted to see the rodent precisely predicting his action. But his curiosity was immediately answered by a specific action of the rodent.

    *sniff sniff*

    The rodent twitched its nose, and Lee understood how the animal found his location. The scent of sweat mixed with dried blood was not something detected everywhere in the air. As he observed, the rodent slightly turned its head around. It was not exactly staring at him, but towards an approximate location where his face could be. From all that had he seen, a feeling that the cave is not just extraordinary, but simply otherworldly, came to his mind!

    The rodent slowly took a step and expected a reaction from the darkness. Though it was ustomed to seeing in lightlessness, the sight was not as perfect as Lee could see. A vague silhouette of something sitting still could be sensed by it. The rodent was alert and curious as to why the unknown being was not attempting a second strike.

    More questions came flooding into Lee''s mind. His mind was in turmoil with the barrage of confusion and doubt.

    ''I can assume that the rodent found my presence by tracking the intensity of the scent. But how was it more agile than the previous one? No, it was as if it knew that I would strike at the exact moment. The figure of this rodent is also unmistakably simr to the disintegrated one. Are they twins?''

    An avnche of curiosity erupted in his mind. His brain dampened and shunned by theck of nutrition was boosted by the situation. He began to process everything till now, from entering the cave. The previous rodent, the piece of flesh it dropped, the mysterious disappearance of the door, the seconding of another rodent and its precise pinpointing of his actions and location.all these led to a few conclusions which gave Lee goosebumps. Maybe it was because the rodent felt the surge of sensation, it ran away instantly.

    ''Is this perhaps.a dungeon?''

    Lee was frozen for about a minute. He re-examined all the instances and experiences, and analysed it with Dnekewy''s memories which he inherited. From the heap of memory fragments, he finally found the answer.

    ''It is a dungeon!''

    The revtion hit Lee hard and he leaned onto the walls of the passage. The conclusion he arrived at, also exined the simrity between the two rodents. Heprehended that the dungeons have a specific property to reincarnate the being killed by an outsider, along with its previous memories and instincts. This exined the rodent''s actions.

    Another clue that led him to the conclusion that it was a dungeon, was the gem. The gem lost its luster the moment the rodent had died, and then it disintegrated. He couldn''t catch the second rodent to validate his findings, but the fact that the second rodent is in fact the first rodent''s reincarnation, from its reflexes, made things simple and easier to evaluate.

    Seconds became minute, and time went past. Lee was in a daze from the unanticipated findings. His frozen figure was shaken by a noise from the end of the passage. Lee immediately sprang up as he sensed the noise that had a simr signature to that of an uproar. The noise consisted of innumerous individual squeaks and regrrge screechings. The overall imposing manner of the threatening noise gave him a hint that people are here for him.

    Sitting on the floor, he focused to calm his mind. Lee closed his eyes, and steadied his posture. Quickly, his resolve was back to its normal state, and he simultaneouslypiled the information he had experienced and acquired through evaluation, into a meaningful format. Going through the final report, Lee exhaled a mouthful of air.

    The hourly notification came up showing the remaining hours for the upgrade, and immediately disappeared.

    =+=+=

    20 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    ''20 hours left.''

    ''Sitting here is useless. Act before it is toote.''

    Lee opened his eyes and said to himself. The realisation that he is sitting inside a dungeon prompted him to go out and see why the noise is being produced. Thus, he slowly stood up and walked towards the end of the passage. He simultaneously had to struggle to control his intense hunger and thirst.

    Each step forward brought him closer to the noise. Lee felt his heart beating rapidly from curiosity. But he calmed down the drum with a few sets of respirations through mouth.

    Taking the turn, Lee saw an army of rodents waiting for him at the entrance of the path. Their eyes reflected anger. He couldn''t see therge ones, but heard the loud screechings which gave him a hint that they are present in the vicinity.

    The rodents did not enter the passage, where light is sparse. In front of the army was that rodent which escaped Lee''s grip of death. The only possible choice to execute was clear to him, and he stepped towards the entrance.

    He was aware that if he did not step out, then the rodent army would flood the cave. That would mark a great disadvantage for him since there arerge ones present. The t grasnd and the open space would give him area to run around while he could snatch a mouthful of water from the pond. He also expected the water in the pond to be drinkable.

    The rubbles and pebbles rubbed together and moved from underneath his feet. The faint disturbance in the air picked up the rodents and they squeaked, giving a signal. As his vague figure was visible, the rodents retreated backward and gave their opponent a way to enter the battlefield. Lee assumed the intentions behind their actions and stepped out of the darkness.

    *SCREECH*

 Chapter 161: How To Describe Screwed?

    Chapter 161: How To Describe ''Screwed''?

    *SCREECH*

    It was fast and Lee barely saw iting from the side. He couldn''t see it clearly, but his mind yelled that it was something dangerous.

    The footing was uneven, but Lee managed to jump. But because the stability was poor, he couldn''t acquire the necessary eleration. Thus his left leg''s heel was hit by something which Lee evaluated to be an iron rod. It was that painful!

    The object had only brushed past his heel, and Lee spinned in mid-air and fell on his back losing bnce. Before he could jump up and figure what the hell it was, a club came and hit his cheek with so much strength that he rolled back in the received force.

    ''Bloody hell.''

    Lee became enraged. He was fuming with anger as he was being thrown away like a doll. He immediately got up on his feet, and without wasting a fraction of a second, he leaped up high. What he saw from about 10 metres height, made him ask himself-

    "How am I supposed to defeat them all?"

    His surprise was not groundless. There were ss Scorpions, Goblins, Giant Rodents, Sabertooth Bugs, Stone Snakes, Poison-spot Hos, Purple Weavers, Six-legged Jaguars, Bloodwood Chimeras and many more. He could only spot a very few species among them within the short timeframe, but he now has a statement to describe his situation - Screwed!!

    The build of ss Scorpions were not easily forgettable for him. He had fought an adult scorpion before. But the smaller build of the ss Scorpions on the floor dictated the immature offsprings of a ferocious parent. It was one of the seven little ss scorpions that whipped at him, which in turn hit his heel and made him fall after a mid-air stunt.

    The short and stock shape of the club in the hands of the goblins gave him a hint about the culprit behind the strike he received on his face. His eyes also spotted the Poison-spot Hos homing in on him. He became aware that neithernd nor air was safe for him. His only chance was to fight, or flight.

    A Six-legged Jaguar pounced on him as he was descending, but Lee carefully tackled the iing beast and made it his cushion to pacify the touchdown. His knees immersed into the beast''s underbelly as his hands spread out its fore and hind limbs. The impact was greatly reduced and the jaguar immediately sprang on its feet and then threw its w at Lee.

    By his time, Lee had rolled forward and was sweeping Sabertooth Bugs around with his feet. The unusually sharp and slightlyrge teeth of the bugs, whenpared to their one and a half inch size, were catalogued as poisonous. The jaguar had to reconsider the consequences and abruptly retreated when it saw the bugs flying at it.

    Stone snakes, as the name says, had an outeryer made up of mineral deposits. They vary in colours which indicate the mineral substance on its skin, and are omnivorous, normally. The majority of shades of red Lee saw when he was airborne, pointed out that there are more snakes with iron content on their scales.

    The disorienting noise made by the Stone Snakes when crawling at Lee greatly reduced his auditory perception. The presence of Giant Rodents that reach more than a metre length, stacked the level of difficulty with the snakes. The nimble four-legged animals had a conflict with the snakes, in order to secure their food source.

    Lee began to use the walls as a means to evade from cornering, but that method proved ineffective because of the Purple Weavers. Those were a special type of spiders which can produce webs from the abdomen, as well as spit from their mouth. Their purple coloured webs were extremely sticky and deliver a burning sensation when came in contact with skin. They had the walls as their territory, and Lee learned a lesson as his legs received the burn when touched by a strand of web.

    Lee had no safe spots on thend, as he dodged the strikes and blows by a hair''s breadth. He soon began to show signs of tiredness, and confirmed that the beasts hunting him were not ready to leave him alone.

    Two options were in front of Lee. One was to dive into the water which may or may not be safe, and the second was to enter that path among the four, which all the beasts purposefully avoided. Lee was intrigued by this detail as he saw that one among the lower pair of caves were intentionally avoided by all the beings. He also noticed that no beast exited that particr cave.

    *puchik*

    A jaguar bit the calf of his right leg, and Lee brought down his fist and broke the beast''s skull. Anger and pain had fuelled him for that single instant, when he sessfully knocked out the being. The smell of blood immediately spread across the area.

    Analysing that no beast around him has an aquatic adaptation, Lee sprinted towards the pond. Drifting over the short grasses, he leaped forward with the stinging wound in his leg. As he got closer to the pond, the beast began to decelerate. Lee noticed this change, and also came down to a halt as he reached close to the waterbody.

    Reluctance and fear was visible in the eyes of the Six-legged Jaguars as Lee stared into its eyes. The rodents tried to get near the area, but unconsciously stepped back in fear. Stone Snakes and ss Scorpions advanced forward, despite the lingering sense of an unrivalled threat, and wanted to retreat. Lee found that the beasts are hell-bent to have him, and dived into the water, and disappeared.

    =+=+=

    19 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    The surface of the water calmed down quicker than usual, within seconds. The pale green colour of the liquid was also unique. As the beasts eagerly waited for Lee to surface as a half-eaten corpse with decoration of blood, their expectations did not bore fruit. But apletely different event ured!

 Chapter 162: Aluminiles & Something Even They Are Afraid Of

    Chapter 162: Aluminiles & Something Even They Are Afraid Of

    *SPLASH*

    Lee shot up into the air from the pond, and water sshed around. Right below him was a deep grey coloured crocodile!

    The beasts retreated at the first nce of this aquatic behemoth. The silvery grey colour rose into the air chasing Lee, while it''s enormous mouth big enough to upy an 18 year old, spread wide.

    Lee spread his legs and pushed his toes on the snout of the beast. Using that small boost, he increased his altitude. The beast began to descend, and disrupted the waterbody. The ssh scattered the water all around in a muchrger radius, and the beasts jumped back in fear.

    That was an Aluminile! These beasts grow to almost 6 and a half metres, and weigh more than a tonne. Theyy an egg or two in twelve years, and are fearsome beings since birth. Because of their infamy, they rarely die prematurely, thusplete 260 years lifespan.

    Lee was utterly screwed! Onnd, there is a buffet of beasts which want to feast on him. In the water, Aluminile wait for his descend. As Lee managed to move his trajectory towards thend, two more Aluminiles popped up from the depths and joined forces. One of them crawled on to thend, and exposed the menacing figure of the amphibians.

    Lee swung his legs and performed a forward mid-air spin, and fell on the Aluminile on thend. It was distracted by thend animals, and thus temporarily forgot about him, while securing the food. Lee falling on the Aluminile from a considerable height, did not injure it, but made him twitch with pain. The rough textures and spiky scales over the Aluminiles were made of biological aluminium, which is more stronger, and slightly heavier, than the normal aluminium.

    The Aluminile tried to bite him, but Lee rolled forward and evaded the jaws. The pain of his ribs and bones were undeniably disorienting, and Lee sprinted towards hisst option. His attempt to hold onto his gravely injured life was supported by the unorganised attacks of the Stone Snakes and ss Scorpions. He had no other way, but to cut across the horde of animals. Thus the Six-legged Jaguars'' heads became his footboards for motion.

    Hoping from beast to beast, the Poison-spot Hos found their target. Though simr to a normal ho, they had a lethal adaptation of poisonous, yet beautiful spots and dots on their body. Lee tried hard to evade them, but couldn''t avoid them brushing their poisonous body to his skin. The repeated stings of poison he received on his back made Lee yell out in pain, and it ironically gave him a boost.

    Stomping on thest giant rodent''s head, Lee flew into the cave and fell on the ground with a-

    *thud*

    Heid there motionless and his breathing became rough. With his face pressed to the soil, he tried to push his body up with the help of his arms, but sloppiness enveloped him. Lee raised his face filled with dust and soil, and opened his eyes to see the beasts halted about 8 metres from him. As he observed, they were standing as if an invisible barrier was blocking them from advancing.

    Unknown to him, his eyes were turning reddish. Except for the jaws of Aluminile, his body has tasted the bite of Six-legged Jaguars, itchiness of the Sabertooth Bugs, whip of ss Scorpions, club of Goblins, wrath of Giant Rodents, sting of Poison-spot Hos, web of Purple Weavers and toughness of Stone Snakes.

    The agony of bones and muscles were visible in his movements. Though no visible fractures are visible, most of his ligaments are at the verge of being torn. Hanging at the thread of life, he revised the actions and sufferings till now, and let out a sigh. A faint smirk was born on his face, as he confirmed that all body parts are safe and not severed.

    Slowly raising his waist and pushing his torso up with the elbows, Lee caught a nce of the hungry Aluminiles. They were a step forward than the other beasts. An internal conflict had broken out among the beasts and some had started to fight among themselves. Lee used this chance to stand up, but ended up evaluating that he is in no shape to move or make a sudden move.

    Lowering his torso on the ground, Lee used his arms to pull himself from the vicinity of the beasts. He nced upward and sideways, thus taking a quick scan of the cave, which was seemingly harmless. He painfully crawled away from the mouth of the cave, and towards a wedge, which he spotted on the wall. It was big enough to upy him.

    *Huff*

    Leaning his figure to the wall, he was obstructed from the sight of the beasts. A wave of peace and calmness rippled across his being, and Lee felt his ears fluctuating to pick up the sound around him. He opened his eyes and saw the other side of the cave wall, losing its luster. Before he could arrive at a conclusion, his body became still, and the heartbeat was getting dangerously low.

    *GRRR..*

    A deep growl came echoing from the depths of the cave. The conflict and the chaos among the beasts died down immediately, and their eyes turned towards the depths of the cave. Unknown to Lee, those eyes reflected surprise and fear.

    Rodents were the first to disperse and run aimlessly. Hos quickly retreated to the higher set of caves. Six-legged Jaguars were in a hurry to find a refuge, but their attempt to corner and kill a few Bloodwood Chimeras still went on. Being as big as a musk, those animals were fleshy for a ferocious beast.

    Weavers ttened their bodies and stuck themselves into the crevices on the walls. The walls were their turf, so they were able to catch a few of the hos for a meal. The struggle for survival could be spectated live!

    Spreading their wide mouths, Aluminiles were able to get a number of bugs into their cavity before retreating to the water. The chaotic battlefield soon became an empty natural cave, with pieces of flesh and blood smeared here and there.

 Chapter 163: Evaporating To Death

    Chapter 163: Evaporating To Death

    ''What.was.that?''

    The dull growling had fallen in the ears of Lee. He was unaware of its effects as he leaned onto the wall, inside the crevice. His eyes were barely open, and Lee can tell that the stacked influence of poison and physical attacks were taking effect. Lee raised his head, which was drooping down, and nced forward. The wall across the path was visible to him.

    A secondter, his vision began to falter. He does not know whether the chaos outside had subsided or not, but his ears were getting insensitive to noise. A sensation of being severed from his body slowly crept up his senses, and his memories shed in front of him. Slowly, his consciousness faded away.

    ---

    =+=+=

    18 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    *ping*

    A sharp ''ping'' noise woke Lee up and he was in a different space. The whiteness surrounding him was visibly boundless. The ground under his feet was stable and had blended into the brightness. A feel of familiarity arose in his mind.

    Looking at his body, Lee found himself in some strange wrappings. Those 2 inches wide thin paper wrapping ran over his body, covering his torso and limbs. His face was excluded and the tightly wound bandages were ufortable to him.

    There were no visible blood marks on the bandages. But as soon as he tried to move his body, an unexpected eruption of pain embraced him, and he twitched in response. Sensing the pain emerging from each bone and joint of his body, Lee switched to minimal movements, and scanned the surroundings.

    There was none other than him in the bright boundless area. Lee, who was lying on the ground on his back, was not in a state to make even his pinky move. It was after a dozen of seconds that he sensed the pain creeping over his body from the back of his body.

    The origin of the pain were numerous sting marks and Lee concluded the current situation. He was now in his consciousness chamber, which is no longer a chamber, due to the absence of D and the system. As a resident of his consciousness, Dnekewy had crafted Lee''s inner world into hisfortable home.

    After rxing his body, Leeid down while biting down the ever existing pain. He closed his eyes and slowly slipped into a calm state of mind.

    ---

    Almost an hourter, Lee slowly raised his hands and inspected the wrappers. The thin bandage wrappings had an off-white colour with a very faint hue of yellow. The craftsmanship of the bandage was clearly visible from the wless arrangement of the thread. As he shifted his eyes from his right palm to his left, his heart skipped a beat by what he saw!

    The turbulence in his heart was audible to his ears. The beats had a sense of conveyance of hisst time. And it was exactly what had happened. His left palm was slowly evaporating!

    He never thought of something like this to happen. Never did he feel an anomaly in his body like this. He was able to feel his body to every individual cell, but this was beyond his perception. The steadily rising smoke was slowly erasing his palm from existence!

    The wrappings on his thumb fell off and a sense of unstoppable and impending danger crept up his figure. Lee twitched at the sight, but the umted pain reminded him that there is nothing he could have done about it.

    The wildly beating heart could not calm down no matter how many times he tried to meditate. Something was disrupting his rhythm. Was it the sight of evaporation, or was it the helplessness surrounding him?

    If D was here, things would not have turned out like these. The sovereign would have already stopped this invasion. But now that D cannote online for the next 18 hours, Lee was a sitting duck.

    =+=+=

    17 HOURS TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    Unknown to him, his body outside in the reality, ced inside the crevice, was slowly losing its temperature. His higher value of vitality and health may have been lessened to a great extent, but they still tried to resist the invading consequences of the poison and sufferings.

    Though it was futile, they were greatly able to slow down the devouring dangers. As Lee began to meditate through the chaotic tribtions in his mind, his vitality was slowly battling against the gifts of the dungeon beasts.

    ---

    Lee had lost his track of time, as a wave of serenity came rippling in his being. This gave him a boost to focus on his meditation, and calm down his troubled heart. The drumming slowed down, but was yet above an average rate.

    A notification came up with another ''ding'' noise and Lee slowly opened his eyes.

    =+=+=

    60 MINUTES TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    16 hours had passed by, after Lee went into aposed manner. He was unaware of his surroundings, which was empty. Lee averted his eyes to his torso from the panel. Lee was not surprised by the sight, as it was as he had expected.

    Wrappingid on the floor, and this sight did not waver his mind. Lee had calcted that this would be the ending, and had been preparing for it. But there was a sliver of hope that D woulde and save him. Obviously, anyone who had lost all hopes of life, would still preserve that glimmer of hope.

    Bringing his eyes back to the panel, Lee felt that each minute was as long as a year. Every minute that passed, the steady evaporation came crawling upwards his neck. A sense of confusion and curiosity made a slight frown on his face.

    Lee was rather intrigued by another matter. Though his body was no more and the bandages falling off had signified the erased existence of his torso and limbs, He could still feel a connection with his body. It was as if they were not severed, but unable to interact.

    Lee made an attempt to move the ''invisible'' limbs, and a flood of ache rushed to his head. His face immediately became distorted and expressed his agony.

 Chapter 164: Reconstruction From Dirt

    Chapter 164: Reconstruction From Dirt

    Outside, in reality, his limbs were stone cold. The lifeless eyes were half open and his breathing was beyond visible recognition. The heart beat hade down to 10 beats per minute. The coldness was slowly spreading into his torso.

    ---

    =+=+=

    12 MINUTES TO COMPLETION.

    =+=+=

    In the inner world of consciousness, a soft flesh lump was on the floor, next to a long disorderly arranged span of bandages. Faintly visible smoke linings rose from the soft squishy piece of meat.

    That was Lee''s brain, and thest part waiting for disintegration. Itid on the ground helplessly, and waited for release from this torture.

    Yes, it was torture. His eyes, ears and other sense organs slowly disappeared into thin air, and Lee became imprisoned in a dark and unbreakable prison. His eyes faded off and he lost the power of sight. The ears disappeared and he was cut off from any auditory sensations. His skin and skeleton slowly crumbled down to nothing and flew away, and his brain was thest thing that remained.

    The timer ticked down to thest minute and only a very small piece Lee''s medu oblongata was all that remained. Hisst bit of health and vitality soon vanished away, as nothing of him was left solid in the consciousness.

    The consequences of suffering and pain won over the timer by 15 seconds. The bandages on the floor were the only symbol of his existence. Just as his entire being waspletely dissolved, his heart ceased to beat. This ended the legacy of the person who transmigrated dimensions!

    But the panel kept on ticking. Like a soldier returning to his home from the frontline, with no knowledge that his family members were massacred in the meantime, it hopefully continued to count down.

    The timer reached zero. It froze, and no changes urred. After a dozen of minutes, the panel suddenly became distorted, and acted as if it was goingpletely glitchy. It continued to act bizarre until a dark hole was opened in it.

    A skeleton''s hand came out of the darkness and it spread its palm out. A secondter, the bandages lying on the ground began to move, and vibrated with great vigour.

    *shaa..*

    The wrappings scattered to different directions and went out of the visible range. The hand stayed motionless and suspended in the air, while the panel with the dark hole in it was continuing to glitch uncontrobly.

    From a distance, a voice could be heard. It was the return of the bandages, flying in the air. But they did not look like how they were when departed. There were innumerous particles covered around the bandages, like an envelope. With speed double than when departing, they dashed towards the extended arm.

    After gathering in front of the palm, they began to rotate like a storm. The bandages and the dust particles surrounding it looked simr to a sandstrom. The converging eye retreated a few metres backward, away from the hand.

    The skeleton hand with only bones and no flesh, clenched its fist. The sandstorm ordinglypressed under the control, and a much denser storm was born. The clenched fist was opened up, and a set of gestures followed it. Some looked like a vertical head chop, while some looked like gesturing to make a strikethrough.

    The sandstorm like structure promptly began to shape itself under themands of the fist. The speed andplexity of the gestures began to increase, and the actions became indecipherable to naked eye. The sandstorm was now being shaped into a human figure, and the outlines became more clear and urate.

    When thest set of gestures were made, the palm attained a Vitarka Mudra. It stayed the same till the sandstorm executed the givenmands andpletely attained the desired form. The sandstorm slowed down and showed forth a human shaped sarcophagus box made of dirt.

    The box floated vertically and moved towards the palm. After moving forward a distance, another palm emerged from the dark hole, and conjointly formed a Padma Mudra.

    The front portion of the sarcophagus box was outlined with vague lines to denote the human figure and position of body parts and limbs. A ck line appeared through the exact center of the front side of the box. Taking a second topletely spread the line from the top to bottom, the front portion of the box was slowly opening to the sides.

    The sarcophagus box was made with a thickyer of dirt and it was more than one inch thickness. The line began to widen slowly and the distance between the two opening doors grew steadily.

    Inside the box was a human figurepletely wrapped in linen. The thin and folded linen stripes covered the entirety of the body. The arms were on the side and the human figure did not show any kind of physical deformities. Standing 1.87 metres tall, it was covered with exquisite looking criss-cross wrapping.

    The skeleton hands disappeared into the hole and the dark portal disappeared. The panel glitching uncontrobly came back to its normal state, and slowly evaporated. It was a slow process and started from the top right corner, and travelled long and wide.

    Though the panel was evaporatedpletely, the smoke, or the gaseous residue of the panel was suspended in the air. Afterpletely disintegrating, the greyish gas rushed into the wrapped up body and entered into it. Within a second, the gas had disappeared into the box.

    *BA-DUM*

    The cave echoed the unusual sound with joy. The atmosphere became silent for a minute, and sentient beings sharpened their ears, in response to the clearly audible sound. The beasts of the dungeon traced the source of the periodic and unique beating, to the forbidden cave. With fear and curiosity equally bncing each other, rodents and jaguars halted their conflict and came to the entrance of the cave, and peered inside.

    They could not find the source of the sound, because Lee was inside the crevice, hidden from their sight. The sound of a louder heart beat came from him, but not from his heart.

    Seconds before, Lee was a lifeless body with all signs of sentience halted. He was no longer living, and was officially dead. Then it happened!

 Chapter 165: Back From Ashes!

    Chapter 165: Back From Ashes!

    Anyone standing in front of the dead body of Lee could see a faint golden glow on the right side of his sternum. The glow briefly exposed the position of his heart and ribs, and something next to that lifeless blood pump.

    There was another heart to the right side of the sternum. It''s position and shape was mirrored to that of the original which had ceased function. Everytime the periodic beat originated, a faint wave was apanied with it. The glow gave away the position of his internal organs, and was slowly picking up brightness to its illumination.

    The new heart was as if it was made of gold and silver panellings. It not only beat periodically, but sent energy throughout his body. The dull and colourless body responded to the surge of energy by slight twitching of muscles and fingers.

    The loudness began to subside and the rhythm became silent. The beasts dispersed and became immersed in their survival and a lot of them disappeared into their turfs. Due to the position of the body, and the crevice in which Lee lifelesslyid, the beasts were unknown of the reason why the loud rhythmic beat began to dwindle.

    The glow in his chest grew into his lower torso and into all of his limbs. The silent beat radiated a golden aura which soon began to decrease the interval between the beats. Not soon after, the gold and silver heart was working just like the ceased counterpart.

    Two strands arose from the luxurious looking heart and extended towards the lifeless one. One which was golden, pierced the right atrium and slightly turned downward and went through the left ventricle. The silver one connected the right ventricle and moved towards the left atrium.

    The next second, an electric charge was burst into the heart and it slowly began to pick up its vigour. The heart which had mostly lost the warmth of life was brought back from the depths of eternity.

    *dub-dub*

    The original began to beat and reached its peak within no time. After almost a minute, Lee inhaled air through his nose and let it out through the mouth. He was back to life in a miraculous way.

    --

    Meanwhile, in the inner world.

    The wrapped up and reconstructed body of Lee slowly began to expand and the linen wrapping began to stretch to its maximum. Soon, the linen bandages started to have tear marks on it. Like a balloon, the figure was expanding and the wrappings admitted defeat without a power struggle.

    As soon as the majority of the linen wrappings were torn or loosened, the body began to revert back to its original shape. The loosened and misced bandages exposed the wheat coloured skin underneath it. The body began to move and the continued to tear the linen fabric, which was already at the verge of being reduced to shreds.

    The exquisite criss-cross covering fell offpletely, and Lee was exposed naked. He was leaning onto the back of the sarcophagus box, and the respiration was restored. In an attempt to restore the senses and consciousness, he rested there for a while.

    "Is he dead?"

    "No, he seems to be recuperating."

    "Why don''t we give him a kick, and kick-start him?"

    "That would be inappropriate."

    "I suggest leaving him be for the moment. Let us bring in his body from the outside."

    Lee was able to hear three distinct male voices, but he couldn''t identify whose it was. His senses and processing unit were in the process of reconstruction and thus had no way to identify the person. But his limited recognition at the moment, made him identify the gender from the voices.

    ---

    An eternityter.

    The track of time was a stranger to Lee. There was no way he could identify the present day of time. But he was sure of one fact, that he was brought back from death, from the eternal darkness. He had his suspicion on the cause of the phenomenon. Thus he made an internal note to thank D when he is back on his feet.

    Waxing and waning out of consciousness, Lee could hear many voices around him. He immediately identified An Fenfang''s voice and pinpointed the presence of D at times. He wanted to open his eyes, but something inside him was intentionally keeping him from having an optical sensation.

    Lee did not continue to struggle with the force, and let go of his attempt. He rxed his body and sensed thepletion of his body. The feeling of his astral body was so simr to his physical body, that Lee, for a moment, assumed that he was actually in reality. But other than feeling theplete body, he couldn''t even move his pinky. It was as if he was in a suspended state and under restraint.

    ---

    This time, when Lee stepped into his consciousness, he found his senses and his bodypletely restored. Not even a tinge of pain and resistance was felt from his body, and it was as if he was working out for the whole time. His body had quite a chiseled physique which made his eyes open wide. He was tall and reached 1.87 metres.

    Lee took a while to recognise his surroundings. He saw himself looking back at him when he stared around. Observing around him, Lee found that he is inside a hexagonal chamber with mirrors against him. Looking up, the ends of the mirrors were extended into oblivion. He assessed that he cannot jump over after confirming that he is nothing more than an average human.

    The attributes were as if they were reset. Lee tried to punch the mirror, which in turn hurted his fist. He did try to jump up, and found that he can barely jump a metre. These revtions gave him an insight that he is not the previous Lee. When knitting the fact that he was reborn from ashes, with his evaluations, it became clear to him that he ispletely helpless at the moment.

    Lee did notment in his findings, but steadied his spine as he sat on the floor. The warmth of the floor under his ass was refreshing to him. Without any further ado, he slipped into meditation.

 Chapter 166: System Successfully Upgraded!

    Chapter 166: System Sessfully Upgraded!

    "May I know why you are hesitating?"

    D was standing with his hands behind his back. He looked over his left shoulder and saw a man walking over.

    "Oh, how are you feeling?"

    The man came near him and stood next D. But, his eyes were fixed on the hexagonal ss chamber.

    "Alive."

    During the conversation that gave way to the upgrading, the apparition identified himself. His surname was unknown as a quarter of his memory was either wiped out or corrupted to an extent of no retrieval. But, from the conversation, something had happened that triggered the unannounced upgrade.

    D brought his eyes back to the chamber. The hexagonal shaped construct was made of one-way ss created from some unknown substance. Inside it was Lee sitting cross-legged, with his eyes shut. For those outside the chamber, even the smallest of the movements in the inside were evidently visible.

    ---

    A few minutester.

    "Let''s open the chamber."

    D raised his right arm and gave a gesture. At the same moment, a panel appeared in front of Lee, and made a notification ring.

    *ding*

    =====

    Would you like to open the chamber?

    [Yes] [No]

    =====

    Lee opened his eyes and stared at the words. D and the man nced at each other when he hit the ''No'' option. They were unable to understand what was happening. D frowned and waved his hand. A bluish grey panel came up and it only had a tline running across it.

    "How long do you want to stay in the chamber?"

    The tline in the panel showed fluctuations ording to Dnekewy''s voice and the same voice resonated in the chamber. Lee heard the voice and a smirk crept up his face. He was happy that his conclusion was right.

    "I knew it was you, D. And I assumed that you would be watching me."

    Lee stood up as he opened his eyes. A set of sleeveless upperwear, pants and undergarments fell from the thin air, in front of Lee. Lee immediately took them and wore it over, and covered his nakedness.

    One of the ss around him slid upward and a greenndscape unfolded in front of Lee. For a second, he was confused, amazed, speechless and curious by this view. A bright light came rushing into the chamber and shed its warmth over his being.

    Lee changed his focus from the blue sky to the ground. He waspletely awestruck by the short and dense grass poption filling the ground. Thendscape was all green and filled with energy.

    Lee was unsure whether it was all real. He had assumptions that these are either illusions, or created by D for a warm wee. To find whether his conclusions are right or wrong, Lee stepped out of the chamber.

    A breeze swept across his face and it was refreshing like a warm tea on a chilly day. Lee striked off the second assumption as this had never happened when he was in the consciousness before. Now the first option alone remains.

    Scanning around him as he turned his head, Lee found the perfect environment around him. There was no pollution, and the air was pure to its core. The grass was beautiful to look at, and brushed against his barefoot. The faint prickling sensation almost urged him to judge that these are not illusions. Because, if anyone could create illusions to such sophisticated and detailed extent, with sensory reception, then that would be a marvelous feat!

    Turning his head to his right, Lee saw D standing next to a stranger. He could not find any familiarity with the face, so he hoped to ask D about the man''s identity. Lee was rather curious about that person, who was standing next to D. Lee was aware that the sovereign does not have any living rtive anymore.

    Since the stranger was standing next to D, Lee was at ease. Thus he stepped towards the sovereign, who looked no different from his old and wrinkly figure. The only change Lee noticed was the ive in his hand, which had reced the walking cane.

    The wrinkly face smiled at iing Lee, and expressed his greetings.

    "Wee back from the dead, kid."

    Lee approached and smiled in response, and nced at the stranger. D saw his focus shifting towards the not-seen-before face. A need for introduction is necessary, his mind spoke.

    "Lee, do you recognise this person?"

    D asked and nced at the face of the stranger. A faint smirk appeared on his face and he peered back at Lee. The young man had confusion written all over his face. He scratched his head, signifying that he had run out of memory to check.

    "I have not seen him before. Who is he?"

    Curious frown reced his cluelessness as he averted his gaze to D. The sovereign chuckled at his response and spoke-

    "This is Hudson. You may remember seeing him as an apparition."

    Lee was taken aback by the answer. He had thought that D had sacrificed the soul for the sake of upgrading. To be honest, Lee hadpletely forgotten about the existence of the apparition. D continued-

    "Hudson is more than four centuries old. His story is different from what we have spected. He was not the wizard''s soul, but the soul sacrificed for the ritual. He was bound with a spell that cleverly concealed the wisp of the soul of that malicious wizard, which controlled Hudson around like a parasite. Since only he knew about the wisp''s existence, the wizard took caution to not let him be cool and chill, and casted a Maniac Berserk spell on him. Thanks to Gauthama, it broke away when a surge of his power swept across him.

    During our conversation, Hudson gave many important information which immediately triggered the desire to upgrade. It was so quick and unexpected that even I was not ready for such a drastic step. But the content of the conversation was confidential and I approved it.

    And where you stand is the one of the final results of the upgrade. Wee to the habitable subspace."

 Chapter 167: The Upgraded System Interface

    Chapter 167: The Upgraded System Interface

    Lee observed around and epted the fact. He had guessed the feasibility of the habitable subspace, but did not expect it to be so realistic. ncing around, he sensed the purity of the air and felt the grass rubbing to his feet.

    "The information came at a price."

    D spoke and Lee had to halt his observations as he heard that sentence. He peered at D, while taking a glimpse of Hudson''s face.

    "What price?"

    Lee expressed his curiosity verbally. D spoke a second after Lee finished his question.

    "Hudson was an apprentice of that malicious wizard. With dual affinity to fire and water elements, he was snatched away, before getting a chance to even know about the qvier academy. His career should have flourished as an expert dual element wizard, but instead took the wrong turn. His parents were poor, and thus did not have the knowledge about the academy. As a bookworm, his memory and knowledge of many things were apudable.

    In exchange of information, he asked two things. One, a physical body as a residence. It would not be difficult to create a solid physical body once you are on your feet. Two, to help him get revenge. From his crucial help in upgrading and the ount of sufferings, even you would have approved his conditions."

    Lee had a nk face, but he was internally alert. But the existence of D as a part of his soul, reassured him that no malicious intentions will befell on him.

    "The spatial engineering the wizard had done was the key to create the space. I used the same technique to create a spatial vessel for him to reside in. It can only help him travel and walk in the subspace, but not outside.

    We are obliged to help him seek his revenge on the wizard. It is a mystery whether the man is alive even after four centuries. But his lineage should exist. ording to Hudson, there also exists a certain artifact that enabled the wizard to do such futuristic advancements in magic."

    D further spoke about the evil wizard with the family name ''Etyus''. Hudson also added a few information that he recently recollected from the lost archives of his memory. Almost an hour passed by, by the time their discussions came to a point.

    "What about the system?"

    "Oh, a moment."

    Lee asked and D immediately turned around and waved his hand. A bluish grey panel appeared out of thin air and was suspended in the air. Before further advancing, D turned to Lee.

    "When I said ''You are on your own'', that did not mean that you are supposed to wreck your body to death! But lucky for you, the system was undergoing upgrade, and thus was able to reconstruct the whole of your being.

    It took the memory of Gauthama, skill of Hudson, and my restless craft to reconstruct your soul. Your body was also greatly transformed to tune it to the current system ''configuration''.

    You are no longer an indigenous species of Earth, notpletely. But a hybrid earthling with utopian reconstruction, and a system. Thus your league would be different from the normal being."

    D flicked his finger and the panel disyed Lee''s anatomy. The organs were all the same and at the same position. But Lee caught the sight of the second heart and unconsciously reached to his chest.

    "I named it ''True Heart''. It consumes 1 Essence per minute for functioning. As long as it has an input of Essence, it will work for eternity, only if you are in this dimension. It might even cease to exist outside Zaxaluke."

    Lee rubbed his chest andprehended the information. He further scanned his anatomy and saw the muscle tendons more denser than usual.

    When enquired about that, D spoke-

    "Do you know how the previous system boosted your performance to match your stats? It was by directly injecting Essence into your limbs and tendons, so as to greatly boost the attributes.

    The effect of injection was halved when the system went offline. But due to therge amount of Essence spent on the attributes, almost half of the stats were retained. And still, you got eventually killed.

    I am greatly pissed at your performance. So I had made the system the hard way. Each and every point you upgrade will give you moments of pain and uneasiness."

    D spoke without looking at his face. Yet, Lee was able to sense the intense discontent in his actions. He too found his actions mildly overconfident.

    Focusing back on the anatomy, there were a few additional bone and muscle constructions around the body, which resulted in a slightly greater mobility and strength exhibition. After memorising the new changes in his body, Lee eagerly turned his head to D.

    *snap*

    A snap by D, and the existing panel disappeared and another came forth. Hudson, Lee and D saw the upgraded system''s main panel.

    =+=+=+=+=

    PERSONAL INFO:

    Name: Lee Shen

    Race: -

    Age: 20

    Essence: -

    Money: 6426 Gold, 952 Silver, 86 Copper

    ATTRIBUTES:

    Health: 87

    Power: 72

    Stamina: 79

    Guard: 53

    Dexterity: 51

    Perception: 84

    Intelligence: 102

    Resolve: 98

    PROGRESS:

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: -

    Mastery: Official Mastery

    Mana: -

    ELEMENTS:

    Poison

    Greater Affinity (12133/1000000)

    Greater Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Lightning

    Greater Affinity (15403/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (6795/10000)

    Fire

    Greater Affinity (3066/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (2559/10000)

    Water

    Greater Affinity (0/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (1067/10000)

    Ice

    Greater Affinity (311/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (1797/10000)

    Stone

    Greater Affinity (14251/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (756/10000)

    Metal

    Greater Affinity (11974/1000000)

    Nature

    Greater Affinity (12060/1000000)

    Wind

    Greater Affinity (101/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (4172/10000)

    Sound

    Greater Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Dark

    Greater Affinity (12497/1000000)

    Light

    Greater Affinity (112/1000000)

    Death

    Greater Affinity (0/1000000)

    Lesser Immunity (54/100)

    Gravity

    Greater Affinity (0/1000000)

    Space

    Absolute Affinity

    Absolute Immunity

    Life

    Greater Affinity (76/1000000)

    Time

    Greater Affinity (0/1000000)

    Sedative

    Lesser Immunity (87/100)

    Serenity

    Lesser Affinity (4/100)

    PROFICIENCY:

    de - Masteryplete

    Nunchuck - Masteryplete

    Bow - Medium (1198/10000)

    Scythe - Lesser (1/100)

    SKILLS:

    Flight - E (0/30)

    Spotless

    Telepathy

    Taming - F (0/5)

    STORAGE:

    1. ck (Lower Force)

    2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)

    3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)

    MAP:

    QUEST:

    WORKSHOP:

    SYSTEM SPACE:

    =+=+=+=+=

 Chapter 168: Lecturing The Newbie, And The Freebie

    Chapter 168: Lecturing The Newbie, And The Freebie

    "Hmm"

    Hudson read the report, but was unable to understand most of the information. As aplete stranger to the system, he was seeing a personal panel for the first time. He scratched his head, after not having a clue of what most meant.

    "D, please brief me."

    Lee said in a low voice as he kept staring at the disy. His eyes did not move from the focus when he spoke. Dnekewy nodded at his request, and started to speak-

    "As you can see, your full name is visible. Your race, which is unidentifiable after the reconstruction, is left nk. It is not a necessary thing to have it named. And for a 20 years old, you are abnormally tall and fit."

    D scanned him whole and took his gaze back to the disy. Lee had a nk expression on his face, which signified ''you know how I got this, right?''.

    "The twenty billion Essence is aplement from the system. It is way more than the umted amount of Essence when the system was offline. The Will of the Dimension hopes you to put it for good use.

    A few gold and silver coins were used to create the physical form of the True Heart, but the amount of copper stayed untouched. Since you have a lot of gold, the amount taken from it barely makes any difference.

    Let us step into the attributes. The older ones have been put to modification or merging while one or two still retain their originality. The present attributes are Health, Power, Stamina, Guard, Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence and Resolve.

    Health is your physical fitness. It is the foundation on which everything rted to your being is positioned. The fitness is affected by sedatives, poison and other variables. Curses can permanently lessen your health value. A healthy newborn has a health value of 7 or 8, and goes to a maximum of 10. An average adult has a value ranging from 84 to 100. It also varies ording to the race.

    Power is the amount of force you exert. To further describe it in detail, it is the amount of force that your prominently used arm can deliver without even the slightest difort. The values are expressed in Newton, and 1 value means one newton of force. The value of power for infants are negligible less, but it can greatly vary from individual to individual, when considering adults.

    Stamina is the polished version of endurance, and it does show your limit of endurance. It directly speaks about physical tolerance to pain and difort. The vitality is merged to this attribute, and also shows the amount of energy you have to conduct an active deed.

    Guard is the measure of defense you have. It conveys the physical resistance to abrasion, scratch and other variables that can make you bleed. A higher guard means a higher defense. For an average human, it is somewhere right below 40, and it varies with race. Your current value can be rted to orcs.

    Dexterity is the amalgamation of both top speed and eleration. It simply points out your agility in ''metres per second'' unit. This also includes your reflexes and sensory reaction to changes in the surroundings. Each single unit increase in the Dexterity is increasing your speed by one metre per second. An average human has a value ranging from 33 to 47. Also, varies with your race.

    Perception is your extent of detection and sensory reception from the surroundings. The value of perception is the maximum diameter of the circle of detection around you, where your eyes, ears, nose and skin can reach and actively detect changes in the environment. At least three among the four aforementioned must be able to reach a distance, to im it as your sphere of detection. You can divide the value by two, and use the received value, as the value of radius so as to know the circumference of the circle.

    Intelligence is notrgely different from before. It is the ability ofprehension. It simply means how well you can digest the facts and figures, without being a d**k and freaking out. For someone of human figure, your Intelligence value is high. But it is not constant. The value is the highest amount of intelligence the person can exhibit at his/her current state. So there is always a chance that even you can be a pitiful toddler. Remember, a higher intelligent opponent means you are possibly in deep trouble!

    Resolve is a purely mental attribute. It denotes the amount of resistance you can put forward to resist from going insane. A higher amount of Resolve directly means that your mental fortitude is high as well. It is also the measure of your self-awareness, understanding of your position in the multi-dimensional world. Like Intelligence, it is not constant at all times. Circumstances and variables of different kinds can make your mental resilience waver, and possibly crumble. Be at ease, but keep your mind loaded."

    D took a break and nced over his shoulder. He saw Lee skimming through the data and his face reflecting his calctions. D unconsciously scanned Hudson, who was also staring at the attribute panel. His eyes were sparkling from the borated exnation of D, and was eager to see his own attributes. D read his thoughts clear as sky, on his face, and turned around to exin further.

    "From here on, the details disyed through appraising people are limited to their name, race, age, and attributes like health, power, dexterity and intelligence. I have deduced that disying too much information would make youzy."

    Lee nodded to the words, as he continued to stare at the attribute panel. After a couple of seconds, Lee had formted D''s words and the visible disy into a meaningful array of words in his mind.

    "One of the major achievements through upgrading was rted to Qi cultivation and Mana mastery. Have I not told you about the Pzys and Egos, which are brought up through cultivation and mastery respectively?"

    Lee nodded and replied-

    "Yes. I remember them."

    "Well then, forget about them. You don''t need such time-consuming and petty tasks anymore!"

 Chapter 169: "If You Have Not Seen Miracles, Then Dont Blink."

    Chapter 169: "If You Have Not Seen Miracles, Then Don''t Blink."

    *frown*

    Hudson, who was in his early thirties, frowned at D''s statement. As a wizard, he knew the importance of Ego in their mastery. Without such an important variable, one cannot cast spells above 3rd tier. Thus he waspletely unaware of the reason why D stated so. From the words, he can tell that the source was brimming with confidence.

    "How can you say that?"

    Hudson had to raise his doubts, even if he found the source confident. The existence of Ego was not an invention, but the revtion exposed through centuries old experimenting and analysing. For millennia, the existence of Ego was an unraveled mystery. To simply avoid it in the path of Mana mastery is highly unconventional and inappropriate.

    "How, you ask? Simple. When reconstructing Lee, I recalibrated his soul alignment and directly hardwired it to the system. Now, I can freely allow him to manifest hisplete Pzy or Ego without the actual need of nurturing them. Based on his affinity with elements, he can already do that to an extent."

    To hear that someone had recalibrated something inside you, is not a pleasant thing to hear. Anyone would have pounced on D in anger, but not Lee. He had assumed that the upgrade can significantly influence him, as it changes the system. His guess turned out to be true, as he heard D substantiating his ims.

    Hudson now had the outline of what D had meant. Theplete integration of the system to the soul ne is sessful, and that allows the user, Lee, to manifest his element souls in the reality via augmentation and spell. For an Official wizard when alive, Hudson wished that he had a system when he was alive.

    "You may try those tricks after I finish."

    D sensed Lee''s desire to try out the manifestation of the element souls, but the sovereign was no fun. Lee promptly suppressed his urge to use his affinity to create his Pzys and Egos.

    D continued to speak.

    "Your cultivation and mastery level are still where you left them. You can advance in the progress right away, or can wait for the elements to attain absolute affinity. The decision is up to you.

    Speaking of elements, you have acquired the basic affinity with the emotion ''Serenity''. Make sure you thank Gauthama in a proper way."

    D turned to the screen, and waved his hand. The columns of information regarding his elemental affinities, progress and personal info vanished and thest four sections of the interface came up.

    Lee saw no change in the proficiency of weapons and his skills. Thus his eyes descended towards thest two sets of information.

    "Where did the scythe and the spatial ring go?"

    Lee could not see the scythe, and the spatial ring he was presented for being the champion of the tournament, in the storage panel. He could recollect that those were present when the system was going offline. Unconsciously, his mouth spoke up. D had the reply ready with him, as he assumed that he would ask for his prized possessions.

    "When executing the spatial modifications, the ring had to be used as an ingredient for the process. Itsposition of Gargantua Rock and Vixen Phoenix''s bone was perfect for the execution. Though the materials were immensely scarce than needed, I was able to pull off a sessful upgrade."

    Lee happily epted the realisation that the scythe and the spatial ring have been used up in the action, and are never returning. Without dwelling in the memories of the lost, he nced at the three names of the objects in the storage. As his eyes skimmed over the names, The panel extended to the right and showed a rtivelyrger thumbnail sized picture of the weapons.

    The weapons did not have any changes. It was as if he had stored them in the inventoryst time. Lee took out his de and checked it. Then he took out and found it well preserved through the time. The bow was finally pulled out of the storage and Lee sensed the familiarity of a crime partner from it. With a faint smirk, he ced them all back in the storage.

    "Coming to thest part of the system interface. You are very well ustomed with the Map and Quest feature. The ''Foresight'' had also been upgraded with a few features. You will know them once you return to reality. The ''View'' is not greatly developed, but the limitation of appraising objects and beings below a certain level has been removed. Now you can urately evaluate all things, except for Amortals."

    D took a pause, and Lee saw the two new features mentioned below them. From the name ''System Space'', he deduced that it is the name of the habitable subspace created through the upgrade. But the term ''Workshop'' did not ring any bell of familiarity in his head. Not only that, the absence of the Shop facility had made him concerned and frown.

    "The Workshop is as the name indicates. It is the shop where you work, in order to get products. It is the hybrid child of the Shop and the Alter. There is nothing particrly special about it. Open the feature and try it out."

    D finished his words, and Lee promptly opened the feature. When the Workshop wasunched, all that appeared was an empty white disy with beautiful geometric floral designs running along its edge. The ash grey borders decorated with ck designs were a sight to behold. Lee took a moment to appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship on the borders, before staring at the emptiness.

    *visible confusion*

    If people could see things, then they would have seen a big question mark suspended over Lee''s head. The in whiteness of the disy was good to look at, but as time went by, Lee deduced that it is not the way the function works. He turned to D, and his brows were raised. They literally meant-

    ''What am I supposed to do?''

    D understood his confusion, and stepped forward to help him. Hudson also came near Lee, so as to see what the sovereign had in the store for him. The name Workshop pulled his attention towards their actions.

    "If you have not seen miracles, then don''t blink."

 Chapter 170: The Ultimate Customization Feature

    Chapter 170: The Ultimate Customization Feature

    "If you have not seen miracles, then don''t blink."

    D waved his hands and gestured a few brush strokes with his index finger and his mindpleted the rest of the picture. Within seconds, the picture of a bunny was visible on the board. D gave it a pale brown colour, and continued to add more details. Lee noticed an Essence cost indicator at the bottom right corner of the screen.

    ''So it makes plushie?''

    Lee was simultaneously confused and irritated by his initial evaluation. But he did guess that the Workshop might have a higher function than what meets the eye.

    The next second, a very detailed rabbit was born. It was as if it was alive. Lee observed the rabbit''s picture, and then noticed the Essence cost indicator on the bottom right corner suddenly go from mere hundreds to half a billion.

    ''What?''

    Hudson was briefed about the speciality of the system, and was given a brief description on the usage and property of Essence. Even he was dumbfounded by the sudden change, and peered at D. Lee too was confused and was staring at the disy and D repeatedly.

    Half a billion Essence was deducted from Lee''s reserve and the screen disappeared. At the next instant, a living bunny was manifested in front of them. It fell to the ground, and looked around, to see three towering individuals staring at it. Afraid, it ran away to a distance and settled there, while gnawing leaves.

    Hudson had his jaw dropped by the turn of events. The Workshop was a feature that could enable them to create living beings. Lee also had never expected such a feat with the upgrade.

    "The creation of living beings is the maximum extent of the Workshop''s potential. It can also create inanimate objects, weapons and even design skills from scratch. It is the Alter of Shop. It is the greatest achievement through the upgrade."

    Lee could not be wonderstruck any further. Creating life is a great feat to be proud of, and this one upgrade has brought him the ultimate customization feature into his hands. The ability to design skills from scratch felt like over exaggeration to Lee, but he did not question the words of D. Unlike him, Hudson had some difficulty in digesting the reality.

    The rabbit was running here and there, and soon found nothing suitable to eat. D drew a square plot of farnd on the screen, which he described to have carrots growing. He did not forget to add wooden fences around it, and drew another seven carrots for the rabbit to eat now. Pressing the transaction button, a quarter million Essence was reduced from his reserve.

    Right before their eyes, an agricultural plot had manifested. The brown unpolluted soil was beautiful with a few shoots of leaves among them. The growth of the vegetation was quick so as to provide the rabbit with a regr amount of carrots.

    "So Lee, you basically have acquired an all-terrain vehicle. Now it is up to you to drive it and bring out its maximum potential."

    Lee understood what D meant and gave a nod in return. Spending a few moments thinking, he raised a question which was crucial for his survival.

    "What is the conversion rate of Essence to attribute points?" (Lee)

    "About that, I have already told you that it would be painful. To further escte the difficulty, the conversion rate is 5500 Essence for each physical attribute point, and 9000 Essence for each mental attribute point. The system is directly wired to the soul, so the existence of soul attributes are irrelevant.

    EsGen and EsConv are merged together, and are now embedded in the system. The production of Essence has been enhanced to an extent.

    And there are some other conditions too. The Vanadium-Titanium alloy bow will need 45 Essence for amon arrow from here onwards. A homing arrow needs 90 Essence and an explosive arrow needs 75 Essence to manifest. The bow is also reconstructed to gopatible with normal wooden and metal arrows, so make sure to design some when you have time. The elemental arrows will not be avable in the bow, but you will have to make them in Workshop."

    D waved his hand and the screen disappeared. He turned around to see the faces of Hudson and Lee, and spoke-

    "The System Space is your territory. It has only the size of a hectare, but I have managed to incorporate ake, a hill and a tnd into it. You can bring your familiar beasts and people into the space from the EsGen storage, and can move them vice versa. Those that have been in the EsGen storage for even once, will be subjected for Essence harvesting. Thus if you bring yourpanions here, they can move around and practice, while being productive simultaneously.

    To exit the System Space and return to reality, the absolute affinity with the Space element will help you. Use the element to create a spatial tear and you will see your exit. But remember, spatial tears are temporary and unstable portals which can cause unexpected events when kept forcefully open. So you will have to be quick after creating a tear. Prolonging more than a minute is gravely dangerous.

    It would be the only way through which anyone in the System Space could move towards the reality and return. You will be the only person with itsplete control."

    Lee turned to his right and shed diagonally. The Space element was activated and it created a spatial tear. He found his first try to be sessful, and stepped towards it, to exit the space.

    "When I am gone from the System Space, Bring An, Mia, Rue, Tera, Gauthama, Fero and Perrafin into the System Space. Please exin the properties of the System Space to them, and introduce the new member to the family."

    Saying this, Lee disappeared into the void, and the portal closed behind him. All traces of his existence vanished from the System Space, and the rabbit beheld this awe-inspiring scene. The carrot in its mouth fell on the ground, and it was not able toprehend what had happened even after a minute of contemtion.

    Meanwhile, our protagonist had stepped outside of the System Space.

 Chapter 171: Man Versus Wild

    Chapter 171: Man Versus Wild

    Meanwhile, our protagonist had stepped outside of the System Space.

    Like D had mentioned, the portal was created from where Lee was taken into the System Space. The spatial tear appeared inside the crevice in which Lee had found refuge. He immediately stepped out and on the rough and dusty terrain.

    There were drag marks on the ground. It did not take Lee any more than an instant to find out that he himself had dragged his body into the crevice for safety. Lee turned away from the drag marks and towards the exit. As his eyes began to scan the interior of the cave, a familiar interface was activated.

    After reconstruction, Lee had lost his night vision to a great extent. But before he had to do anything about that, the Foresight was unconditionally activated and his eyes were disclosed to the details. The upgraded Foresight feature was real-time connected to D, and had enhanced sensitivity to temperature, pressure, light and motion.

    The automatic visual feedback was initially great to spectate, but became a burden as it began to distract him from his focus. Thus, Lee opened the Workshop and customized the skill. He deactivated all kinds of notifications and prompts, unless it was an extinction-level urgency. He also removed the bar at the bottom, which disyed the urate statistics of his familiar beasts. Lee reconstructed the mini-map with a much deeper colour indication scheme, and minimalistic design. The Essence count was given a new font and an eye-catching colour.

    The Mana and Qi reserve were ced below the Essence counter, and was given a less eye-catching shade. Adding dynamic red markers around the disy which detect iing danger from beyond his visual field was a major feature. Lee did not forget to add a real-time 24x7 scanning system which continuously observed his Perception range for any change in the surroundings. Thus the upgraded Foresight became a more overpowered system feature.

    After paying around 25055 Essence, Lee designed a pair of shoes. It was lined with mythril on the outside, which could deliver painful damages for a very long time, due to its natural resilience. The insides were made of cotton and linen, and the exclusive loafer was born. Inspired by the scales on the Aluminile, he added tiny aluminium alloy spikes under the loafers, which was invisible to naked eye, but could act as tiny razors.

    Next was his clothings. The upperwear was transformed into a full sleeve brown hoodie, whose sleeves could be rolled up. The leather pants were turned to a deep blue colored jean pants, and it was redesigned to offer higher mobility. After this, he casted some overpowered enchantments over them!

    Abrasion resistance, healing buff, immune to tear, and water and fire resistance were some of those enchantments. As his craftsmanship brought forth the finished products, a total of 130450 Essence was reduced from his reserve.

    ''Pheww.''

    The hourly notifications were not set. So he had no track of his time. But he remembered that he needed to get out fast, and reim his spatial ring. Pulling out his de, Lee walked out of the crevice and saw a few rodents running away from the jaguars that were chasing them.

    *footsteps*

    The dust and pieces of stone under his footwear made an audible sensation, and three of the jaguars halted in their tracks. Seeing a much taller and healthier prey walking towards them, they attained a stance to shred him to pieces the moment Lee walked out of the entrance.

    But, their expectations were in vain, as their ''prey'' stopped about 5 metres away from them. The sensation stemming from the boundless fear made them keep their stance stable and they could only drool at Lee, as he stayed beyond their reach.

    To walk out with his current stats was undeniably a suicide. But who said that Lee was going to ''bravely'' encounter these beasts? He stood there for a few minutes, and the number of beasts eyeballing him increased. The intensity of growling and drooling increased exponentially. The appearance of a new and visibly delicious prey had attracted a lot of beasts.

    ---

    A few minutes before, as soon as he finished customizing his clothings.

    ''D, is this a dungeon?''

    [Yes, it is a dungeon with two floors. Where you are is its first floor, and the scan shows that the second floor is waiting for us at the end of this path.]

    ''The Map also upgraded, right?''

    [Yes. Take a look.]

    What that appeared was not a screen or disy, but a three dimensional hologram suspending on the air. D added that he can twist, tilt and zoom in and out of the new and upgraded version. Lee scanned the first floor and saw a vastwork of caves and tunnels. At certain points of the first floor, there was a particr diamond shaped object above a slightly raised tform.

    [That is a Spawner. It creates a specific mob type and regtes its number from going beyond a limit. When a mob created by it is killed by an outsider, the Spawner is alerted of the existence of the variable, and it ordingly circtes the approximate location of the outsider, to every single beast it had spawned.

    No Spawner is autonomous, but is a part of arge Spawners''work, controlled by the Dungeon Crystal. It is normally located at the deepest floor, and is heavily guarded with boss level monsters.]

    ''Tell me more about the Dungeon Crystal.''

    [Like how a Jungle Jewel works, it is a semi-sentient object which is manifested when a dungeon is formed. For a dungeon to form, only a critical concentration of either Mana or Qi are all that is necessary. The location is also important.

    The Crystal is connected to all the spawned beasts inside the dungeon. But there is a partiality. The upper floors are almostpletely avoided by it, and this negligence gave birth to the Spawners. The Dungeon Crystal concentrates itself more to the lower floors, and nurtures the normal monsters to reach boss level.]

 Chapter 172: Diligent, But Not Intelligent

    Chapter 172: Diligent, But Not Intelligent

    [When a dungeon is formed, the Spawners create mobs, and both the mobs and the outsiders are subjected to death. The mobs are effortlessly recreated, but the cultivators and adventurers dying inside the dungeon are absorbed by the dungeon and their nutrients and Essence are used to strengthen it. More the people die inside the dungeon, the stronger the mobs will be.

    The Dungeon Crystal''s tier determines the strength of the dungeon. From the energy readings, it has a Tier-1 strength.]

    ''Exin the Tier system.''

    [The Tier system is based on the total amount of people killed by the dungeon. If the dungeon has a mortality value within 100, then it is a Tier-1 dungeon. If the value is between 500 and 100, it belongs to the Tier-2 category. Tier-3 are when the dungeon has deaths more than 500 and has not reached the value of one thousand. The Tier-4 spans between the mortality values 1000 and 2000. I have not heard of any dungeons above 4, so I will conclude my words.]

    ''Can you borate the specifics of Dungeon Crystal?''

    [Sure. The Crystal can be in any shape and substance, and can even be in a highly viscous liquid form. If the crystal breaks or is taken from its seating, the dungeon would tremble violently before copsing, and the spawners and the mobs would disintegrate. The dungeon would probably give a cool-off time to decide whether you want to take the Crystal and be buried under stone and sand, or ce it back in its right ce.

    In the past, people have tried to own the dungeon by subjugating the sentience of the Crystal. I do not recollect any memories of anyone being sessful in that feat, because the moment the boss level monsters are defeated, the Dungeon Crystal would show forth its sentient form, which could even surpass the wildest imaginations. The strength of that sentient form would be the umted power of all the boss level monsters.

    If you get a chance, try it out. We would never know if it is possible or not.]

    Lee had started to make something in the Workshop halfway through the description. He was also listening to D''s words and nodded in agreement, without distracting himself from the task at hand.

    "Done."

    ---

    Back to the present, Lee had one of his hands behind his back and the other held out his de. A mocking smirk came on his face as he skimmed over the battalion of beasts only a few metres from him. He also spotted an Aluminile showing its desire to devour him, while simultaneously clearing the space around him.

    The hand behind his back was brought to light and a spherical object was exposed. It was about the size of a baseball, and had many circr ck lines running over it. The blend of silvery grey colour with stripes of vibrant blue caught the beasts'' attention, and half of the eyes focused on it.

    Lee casually threw the sphere up into the air, and twirled in his left foot. His timing was urate to the descend of the metallic ball, as his hands came together and the de was gripped with both hands. As the construct came down to the height of his elbow, the de was tilted 90 degrees and the t surface of the damascus steel hit the ball hard.

    *TING...*

    The collision created a sharp metallic noise, which acted as a beacon. The ball flew away and a greater portion of beasts ran behind it, hoping that it was something delicious. The jaguars and rodents raced to reach it first, while the weavers and the hos were homing in on the sphere. Aluminiles, which had high defense, were low on agility, but their eyes followed the flying metallic sphere which vanished in a distance.

    Turning to look for the bipedal being, Aluminile found where Lee was standing a moment ago, empty. It scanned the inwards of the cave and caught a faint glimpse of Lee dashing into the crevice from which he had exited. Before the beast could find the concealed intentions behind his actions, the sphere that fell in a distance went with a-

    *BANG*

    If a miniature version of the Amazon Rainforest was created using lit up L.E.D lights, it would still not hold a candle to what was brought forth. The 4 second countdown timer set inside the sphere reached zero, and all was white.

    They were more than a rain of lightning. They literally looked like a rampaging horde of Wooly Tuskers. The height to which the electrocuting pirs rose, knocked out all the weavers on the walls. The hos did not resemble more than gravely burnt pieces of cake. The instantaneous wave of numbness and helplessness delivered by the outpouring of the lightning immobilized them all.

    Though the intensity of the lightning was blinding, Lee took care not to kill any being. If they were to die, then he would have to look for n B. So, Lee carefully customized the lightning bomb with overwhelmingly immobilising dosage of lightning. The duration of torture was set to a time period of 10 seconds, which was more than enough to confirm that all the beings are taken care of.

    For an object that came at the cost of 2300 Essence, Lee was also affected by the spreading strands of electrocution. But it did not hurt him, but increased his immunity by 10.

    After the rampage calmed down, the metallic sphere that housed the dangerous dosage of lightning fell apart into pieces. This was also set by Lee, so that either the beasts eat it, or disintegrates beyond recognition.

    Poking out his head, Lee saw the residents of the dungeon resting after the blinding luby. He walked out of the cave and towards the Aluminile. Turning the beast upside down, he saw the red gem embedded into the beings underbelly.

    [That is the spawned monster''s core. If you take it out of a living monster, it would disintegrate, along with the beast. You kill one, it disintegrates along with the beast. As a spawned copy, it could noy be tamed.

    But, only the higher floor mobs have such a spawning core in them. The boss monsters are free from such ornaments, and move freely.]

 Chapter 173: Second Floor Of The Dungeon

    Chapter 173: Second Floor Of The Dungeon

    [But, only the higher floor mobs have such a spawning core in them. The boss monsters are free from such ornaments, and move freely.]

    "Oh...so that means they are tameable?"

    [I have heard of some adventurers taming some boss level monsters from Tier-1 dungeons. With enough people, it is possible. Give it a try if possible.]

    "So, can the dungeon beasts go out and rampage?"

    [ording to the moodswings of the Dungeon Crystal, they could make an outpour to the outside, when there are less visitors. If the beasts could drag back survivors into the dungeon and kill them, then they are added to the death value of the dungeon. In fact, some poorly managed dungeons spawning ogres and giants follow the same pattern.]

    Lee flicked the gem embedded in the beast and it sounded as if he had flicked a ss bottle. Though it sounded brittle, it was made out of some unknown substance, which even D was unknown to.

    Waving his hand, the Aluminile disappeared into the EsGen storage. Lee quickly cleaned the surroundings and stashed away the beasts. Fortunately, he did not find any of them dead.

    It was then that Lee saw the other two Aluminiles crawling out of the water. Their eyes wandered off the empty space, and fell on Lee, who absorbed thest rodent lying on the ground. The beasts disappearing into the thin air made them growl with rage. Since he can make other beasts vanish, the aquatic behemoths assumed that he is also the cause for theirpanion''s disappearance.

    Sensing growls and stares of killing intent, Lee sprinted into the forbidden cave and disappeared from their sight. The beasts crawled towards the mouth of the cave and growled out loud, and it echoed till the end of the cave. Lee thought that it was an expression of anger, but a response came from the depths of the cave.

    *Roar..*

    The thunderous response almost made Lee skip his heartbeat. Following the threatening voice, a series of loud and slow footsteps could be heard.

    Lee immediately activated the Dark element and clinged to the sides of the tunnel. As the footsteps became closer, a bipedal figure was vaguely visible through the darkness. The Foresight adjusted Lee''s visual brightness and one of the boss monsters proudly walked towards him.

    If a mad scientist was to take a moose''s head, an ogre''s torso, an elephant''s limbs, a high orc''s finger and toes, and five gpagos tortoise''s shells, and stitch them together appropriately, then the result would be a ''Safrogor''. Towering about four metres, these gigantic beings were passively aggressive and highly territorial. The canine incisors growing from both upper and lower jaws added horror to its red pupils.

    Therge horns were its signature feature. Unlike a moose, it was less spread out, and had more pointed peaks. They immediately resembled a viking''s horned helmet, but much more menacing. It carried a club on its shoulder and the other hand luxuriously swung back and forth. Each step it took shook the interior of the tunnel and the monstrous creature went past Lee.

    As it went past, Lee remained silent and immoving. After a dozens of seconds, violent and intense growlings could be heard and Lee immediately opened the Map to witness what was actually going on.

    *Crash*

    All Lee saw was the clubing down like a sledgehammer and firmly making a bloody dent on an Aluminile''s head. It was pinned down by its enormous legs and had no chance of escaping. Using the moment to escape, the second aquatic beast which escaped the Safrogor''s grip, dived into the depths of the pond.

    The Aluminile which had its skull shattered, was effortlessly lifted and ced onto its shoulder and the Safrogor walked back to the depths of the cave. Lee cancelled the Map and became one with the darkness. As the monster walked past him, it halted for a moment and turned its head around.

    *sniff sniff*

    Lee was holding his breath down as the beast began to pick up an unfamiliar scent. Even after a couple of seconds, it could not find the source, and thus continued to walk to the depths. It was only after the beast vanished at the curve, that Lee breathed out.

    [That one was slightly smaller than an adult Safrogor. So there must be bigger ones down on the second floor.]

    ''That was encouraging. Thank you.''

    Lee deactivated his camouge and followed the imprint of footsteps on the dirt. The mini-map showed that the monster had gone beyond 500 metres from him. So, Lee cautiously moved forward in silence. The traces of deep red blood randomly breaking while having a snake pattern could be seen on the ground, and Lee knew whom it belonged to.

    It did not take too long for him to reach the second floor. The tunnel that led to the second floor was arge curved path and its slope was small as for the path was long. Lee neared the entrance, and he was only a few tens of metres from stepping into the second floor.

    ''Map.''

    The Map was summoned and Lee saw the structure and design of the second floor. There were Wyverns, Minotaurs, Safrogors and some lesser boss monsters like Ghouls. Though the floor was vast and was riddled with caves and secret paths, it was all disclosed in front of Lee.

    Through the Map, Lee observed the major boss monsters. The Wyverns were concentrated in the central area of the floor where they had imed dominance. They were all normal attributeless Wyverns, until Lee saw one sleeping in a corner. It was of turquoise blue colour and was beautiful to look at. At a nce, D notified Lee that it was a Snow Wyvern.

    [Snow Wyverns are beautiful to look at, but don''t be deceived by the looks. They are masters of disguise. When found that an outsider has entered theirir, they do not attack initially, but observe the being. Their mouth brings forth a dense fog and it brings coldness with it. The obscurity of vision and chilling sensation would distract and act as a smoke curtain for them. Not only are they a disguise, but people have failed to sense the Snow Wyvern''s presence through the fog, when they were standing right behind them.]

 Chapter 174: Wyverns, Minotaurs, Safrogors & Ghouls

    Chapter 174: Wyverns, Minotaurs, Safrogors & Ghouls

    ''Okay, noted. Intelligent and dangerous.''

    ncing back at the Map, Lee rotated it around and saw a bunch of 17 Minotaurs guarding a specific region in the second floor. They were wielding double edged axes and had a full scale armour and helmet on them. Their very stance yelled out that they were protecting something. Moving the Map a little forward, the situation was clear for him.

    A bunch of weapons and ornaments were ced like a heap in a corner of the cave. Zooming in on the heap, Lee found that those weapons were belongings of the adventurers and cultivators that were able to enter to the second floor, but could not leave alive. There were rusty swords, blunt spears, broken axes and many more in it.

    ''D, if I can provide materials, can I experiment in the Workshop with a reduced Essence cost?''

    [Certainly. The Workshop can be used for inventions, without the fear of explosions and consequences. There is an assistance algorithm that would help you to simte your experiments.]

    Lee decided to make sure to take that heap of metal objects when he sweeps clean the floor. But he still needs to find a way to avoid the Minotaur''s keen sense of smell and acute hearing ability.

    The Safrogors were sharing the Aluminile''s body among themselves. A few Wyverns tried to scare them for some meat, but an elder Safrogor stood up and raised his club onto his shoulder. It was a warning to not mess with them.

    The Ghouls were agile and thus managed to survive among theserger monsters. They were less in poption and fed on the leftovers of the other''s meals. At tough times, they would attempt an attack over other species, and would mostly end up in a one sided ughter.

    ''No matter how much I perfectly disguise, their sense of smell would detect me. I cannot use any other substance to mask my smell, because that would alert them all.''

    ording to D''s exnation, Lee cannot kill any one of the monsters, or he will be the target for their coordinated attacks. If he managed to kill them all, the Dungeon Crystal would step forth like a mega boss character. Thus his only chance was to defeat them without literally defeating them.

    Lee was also aware of the benefit of taming theWyverns. He would be d if he could get the Minotaurs as a bonus. If therger two are in his hands, then Safrogors are his puppets. But he decided to leave at least one boss level species on the floor, which was Ghouls. Their agility and adaptability to situations would help them to easily grow into major boss categories.

    Looking for a way, he opened his stats panel and went through it. While skimming over his elemental affinity panel, Lee saw a specific word that lit a bulb in his head.

    ''Idea!''

    Lee immediately summoned the Workshop and started to design some new kind of object. The design was quicklypleted as the use and function was precise and concise. When he paid Essence to manifest the first one, it cost him 4970 Essence.

    ''For a greater good.''

    10 more copies of the object were made and a total of 54670 Essence were used up. Without any dy, the pale pink coloured metallic spheres rose into the air and dashed into the cave.

    The moment the flying balls entered the cave, thest two ones to enter inside, exploded with muffled a-

    *puff..*

    A faint pink coloured dust was scattered throughout the entrance of the second floor and Safrogors and Minotaurs heard this faint sound. Before they could register what that was, the left 8 metallic spheres were divided into four parts and two pink balls shot forward, towards their targets.

    A series of muffled explosions resonated through the second floor.

    *puff.puff...*

    The air attained a faint pink colour as the monsters tried to stab and bite the flying particles. Before they realised, the monsters began to fall down one by one. By the time the monsters recognised the property of the dust, the entire Minotuar and Safrogor poption had been knocked out.

    The Wyverns tried to fly up into the air, but the dust particles were added with homing function. Even though they reached a safe height, the sedative dust had gone inside their noses. Some of them sneezed violently while trying to put up a desperate fight.

    *Roar*

    The moment Lee was waiting for, arrived. He was eager to see how his calctions about the Snow Wyvern had gone as nned. Through the map, he saw the Snow Wyvern raising its wings and pping vigorously, which did not keep the dust at bay. Without wasting a second, the beast spewed out fog and snow.

    Against all invaders to date, the Snow Wyvern''s breath attack was effective. Since the wind could not stop the weird dust froming closer, it guessed that the breath attack can do the trick. But contrary to its assumptions, the next instant was marked with confusion and roars.

    The moment the fog touched the dust, it instantly cooled down to solid fog and settled down on the floor. If it was only the shape, the Snow Wyvern would not have freaked out. But the colour waspletely unexpected.

    The fluffy solid fog was pink in colour! The Wyvern which was ustomed with pale blue snow, cried out loud when the snow formation began to pick up pink colour. More it spewed out snow and fog, the more the quantity of the ice formed. And from the snow, a strong and prating smell arose. It rose up into the air and enveloped the beast.

    Lee had considered every possible chance through which the beasts could resist the sedation attack. He thus had to create a very strong sedative that is powerful enough to knock down the beasts in a single inhaling. The spheres that were loaded withpressed amounts of sedative dust, was attributed with Flight and a simple code.

    Lee had predetermined the position where each and every one of the sedation balls is to explode. He considered the chances of Wyverns flying up into the air, so he added a homing function for dust particles. His major concern was Snow Wyvern, for whom he prepared special effects.

 Chapter 175: Dust Defeats Dungeon Beasts

    Chapter 175: Dust Defeats Dungeon Beasts

    His major concern was Snow Wyvern, for whom he prepared special effects.

    The existence of Workshop helped him go beyond the conventional alchemy and chemistry, and enabled him to incorporatemands to inanimate objects. There were not onlymands, but also specific and conditional mechanisms. It was one of such mechanisms that anchored the Swon Wyvern in ce.

    The potential of sedation that was attributed to the dust was above the normal range. Since the objective was to knock outrge monsters like Minotaurs and Safrogors, it was necessary. But the potential was further increased to a dangerous level where the Wyverns could not counter.

    The dust also concealed a hidden mechanism. When in contact with a cold substance, it would act as a coagnt and would instantly solidify, whether it was gaseous or liquid. Not only that it solidifies, but the triggering of this mechanism would emit a prating scent that is exponentially disorienting and would make even the strongest unconscious.

    The Snow Wyvern soon calmed down with sluggishness, while resisting the urge to drop unconscious. Its unbelievably high stamina was opposing the scent of the dust, but the minster soon admitted defeat. Falling on the floor unconscious, the beast tried to move for onest time, beforepletely slipping into unconsciousness.

    ''Finally!''

    Lee witnessed the whole process, and saw how it progressed by each second. He eximed in his mind as he saw the Snow Wyvern finally admitting defeat. With the mini-map functioning, Lee moved forward silently, and reached the entrance of the cave.

    The dust did not attack him, but when it brushed against his nose, its sedative scent slowly increased his Sedative Immunity. WIthin no time, the immunity has reached Medium grade. It continued to climb at a rate of 3 points per second.

    ncing around, the Safrogors and Minotaurs peacefully slumbered on the ground. The adult Safrogors snored and it amused Lee. It sounded more like a momentary auditory disturbance of a diesel engine.

    The Ghouls were agile, but were easily knocked out by the dust, which was meant for beingsrger than them. Thus, a whiff of the dust was enough to subside their activities.

    *grr*

    The Snow Wyvern growled in its slumber. Though it was asleep, it unconsciously let out an expression of anger. It raised its head, but its eyes were closed shut. It was then that Lee took a closer look at its peculiar horn.

    It had a square cross section and was twisted downward and lines next to its lower jaw. A very dark shade of blue on the horns were not visibly menacing and was more like a simple headgear. Lee quickly moved to the beast''s vicinity and used View on it.

    =====

    Name: Greater Snow Wyvern

    Race: Wyvern

    Age: 367 years

    -----

    Health: 4590

    Power: 1730

    Dexterity: 448

    Intelligence: 603

    =====

    ''I can''t believe that this monster is unconscious.''

    [If it were not, then you would have died several times over.]

    Lee immediately opened the Workshop and designed some incense sticks. Before producing the incense sticks, he gave a specific scent to it which can calm the troubled minds, and offers a peaceful and deep sleep to anyone who is already asleep. Those who are awake would continue to stay awake after inhaling this scent, and would have a boost in focus.

    A total of 96 Essence was paid before materialising three of such incenses. Lee lit them with his Fire affinity and stuck them on the wall near to the Snow Wyvern. The translucent smoke rose up into the air and filled the atmosphere with its scent. The beast showed significant changes after it had inhaled the scent.

    [Now it is in peace, and not a sliver of trouble is in its mind. Good work.]

    Lee nodded at D''s words and moved closer to the Wyvern. It was sleeping in a weird posture, as it fell on the ground after being under the influence of the sedative. Thus it had its wings spread apart and legs exposing its ws. The knitted brow was released and the beast waspletely calm!

    Lee stood right next to its head, and touched its snout. The rough texture was concealed by ayer of mild frost. It was the frost that gave the beast a pale blueplexion. Under the decoratedyer, it was denim blue colour.

    Lee pressed his palm onto the skin of the beast, and initiated the taming process. A bright strand of consciousness extended towards the beast''s inner world. But, the beast was yet to calm down.

    A violent repulsion made Lee take a few steps back. Lee was unable to see what had made him retreat, but he assumed that the beast was yet to settle down its heart. Finding that the Snow Wyvern is not easily tameable, and is not yet ready to be tamed, Lee walked towards the other wyverns.

    =====

    Name: Lesser Wind Wyvern

    Race: Wyvern

    Age: 298 years.

    -----

    Health: 4235

    Power: 1600

    Dexterity: 532

    Intelligence: 391

    =====

    This was the stat report of thergest and oldest wyvern among the other 12 beasts which was an air affinity beast. Through the report, Lee became aware of the wyverns'' elemental affinity. Whenparing it with the Snow Wyvern, a number of questions arose in Lee''s mind.

    [The difference between greater and lesser versions of wyverns are simple. When a wyvern bes greater in their elemental affinity, it acquires the characteristic colour of the element. As you can see, there are faint shades of red, grey, blue, green and brown among them twelve. They represent Fire, Metal, Water, Nature and Earth respectively.

    Their elemental affinity can promptly influence their attributes. Air affinity wyverns are faster, water affinity wyverns are more intelligent, fire affinity wyverns are more durable and hence more healthier, and the earth element wyverns are powerful in their strikes. The properties of metal elements are unknown to me.]

    As soon as D exined, Lee had opened the Workshop and manufactured ten of the soothing scented incense sticks. cing them in appropriate positions, the scent began to take effect.

 Chapter 176: The Dungeon Crystal (1)

    Chapter 176: The Dungeon Crystal (1)

    As soon as D exined, Lee had opened the Workshop and manufactured ten of the soothing scented incense sticks. cing them in appropriate positions, the scent began to take effect.

    ---

    It took more than an hour topletely tame the 12 lesser wyverns. The taming was wless as their resistance was lower than Lee''s resolve. After the connection was established, Lee can sense their presence even blindfolded. The smoke rising from the incense gave them a dep and refreshing sleep, while their minds unwinded a lot.

    *gurrr...*

    A Safrogor snored aloud and Lee turned his head to see the being. He immediately evaluated those beasts as a formidable force and stepped towards them. Without any resistance or repulsion, Lee tamed and imprinted his seal in their consciousness. The 17 Safragors became connected to him, before they consciously realised.

    The Ghouls were knocked outpletely. Even when Lee poked them with his de, they did not react. He realised that the dosage of the sedation was more than they could tolerate. D assured him that the Ghouls will be back in an hour or two, for evaluating the beast''s overall attributes.

    Walking towards the Minotaurs, Lee saw them not on the ground, but standing upright. Though upright, they were sleeping while snoring faintly, and their body was supported by their axes, ced in front of them as a support. Lee walked past them and towards the inside of the cave they were guarding,

    A heap of metal objects taller than him weed him. There were many kinds of swords poking out of the heap. Those weapons and ornaments were sparkling with dullness. Without bothering to sort, Lee absorbed all the objects into the EsGen chamber. He also asked D to thoroughly check each one of the instruments and to sort them ordingly. D gave him a reply that he would be happy to do so, and added that he now has a few pairs of hands helping him.

    One, two, three, four.....Minotaurs did not pose much resistance to Lee because their strength was mostly physical. And because of the reason, these bipeds are prone to going berserk easily. They tend to be easily enraged by external variables.

    Lee flew up using Flight in order to touch these beasts'' heads. The process went smoothly as ever, and those beings were now hispanions. By this time, Lee had advanced in his taming skill to E grade, and was at the doorstep of the D grade.

    When almost two hours had passed away, Lee managed to tame 12 Wyverns, 17 Safrogors and 13 Minotaurs.

    ''D, if I am to break the release of a tamed beast, will I lose the progress?''

    [No. But you shall not receive any progress if you tame them again.]

    Lee found that he had tamed almost all of the main boss force of the dungeon, and that it would disrupt the integrity of the dungeon. So he decided to release the Safrogors from his taming, when he leaves. D also approved his decision and stated that it is a good thing to do. Additionally, D added that two lesser wyverns and four minotaurs are enough for him to over power the Water Moon sect.

    Now that D mentioned about the sect, Lee decided to make changes to his ns. Through the Map, he saw his new objective embedded inside arge block of obsidian. He made up his mind to tamper with the Dungeon Crystal in order to teach the sect leader a lesson.

    The Snow Wyvern were sleeping so carelessly, that a normal adventurer can kill it. D notified that the wyvern is in its most weak state, and urged to utilise the moment. Flying towards the pale blue beast, Lee did not feel any resistance while taming it.

    On the contrary, Lee felt an immense pull towards the beast. He felt a sensation of happiness and joy from the sleeping beast. Its face was peaceful and had a sliver of smile. When the taming wasplete, the beast twitched its winged forelimbs faintly.

    ''Now the main part of the event.''

    ''Attributes.''

    =+=+=+=+=

    Health: 97

    Power: 82

    Stamina: 79

    Guard: 53

    Dexterity: 55

    Perception: 94

    Intelligence: 102

    Resolve: 98

    =+=+=+=+=

    ''Increase Power by one point.''

    A faint sting ran over Lee and he twitched slightly. The muscles and bones expressed a mild difort, which easily subsided.

    ''Then increase Stamina, Guard, Dexterity and Perception by one point.''

    A jacket of unpleasant feeling was thrown over Lee, and he easily resisted the uneasiness. Thus, he found that the sensations apanied with the upgrade was not too painful, at lower quantities.

    ''Increase Health by 100.''

    A sensation offort and content filled his mind and he could tell that his health had increased by a good extent. His urge to experiment shot up and he asked D to upgrade all of his attributes to be increased by 100 points.

    The sensation was indescribable, and Lee fell on his knees. Every bone in his body was as ifpletely broken and being reconstructed. All the muscles in his being were changing itsposition and durability. His brain and nervous system screamed in pain, and he was drenched in sweat.

    Still, not even a single groan escaped his mouth. Biting down his teeth, Lee suppressed his pain and stayed awake. He knows that if he was to fall unconscious, the results might not be as he expected.

    Taking a minute or two to restore his strength, Lee sprang up. He felt an increase in his muscr strength and bone density, while his movements became more smooth and fluent. His brain notified him that he can perceive things and sensations on a deeper level.

    ''That was not bad.''

    ncing at the Obsidian pir in which the Dungeon Crystal was embedded, Lee used View.

    =====

    Name: Obsidian Pir

    =====

    ''Nothing more?''

    Lee walked to the pir-like structure, and observed it up close. The deep purple colour of the formation was so close to being ck, and it gave of a glossy finish. He touched the surface and felt the smoothness with his fingertips.

    Taking a step back, Lee raised his right hand, and brought it to his shoulder. The next instant, it shot forward.

    *Thud*

 Chapter 177: The Dungeon Crystal (2)

    Chapter 177: The Dungeon Crystal (2)

    *Thud*

    A wave of confusion originated from Lee as he frowned deeply. His fist had not made any mark on the natural formation, so he retracted his arm. Looking at his fist, Lee began to well up and tears rolled down his cheeks, as he held the right arm which had its knuckles turned red!

    On Earth, Obsidian is well known for its really unique property. For a natural material, it is much, much harder than steel. Obsidian des are so sharp that they cut cells, and even DNA. Medical incisions made with such equipment heals at a faster rate.

    The obsidian on Utopia can be considered as the earthling obsidian''s grandfather. Due to the presence of Mana and Qi, natural objects tend to absorb freely flowing energy, and upgrade themselves. It is through such a process, that the semi-sentient Dungeon Crystals are also formed.

    Lee saw one side of the pir with faint, but innumerous scratch marks. At a nce, he was aware that only one beast had such a unique arrangement. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the ws that made the vague marks on the obsidian, on the Snow Wyvern''s limbs.

    [Yes, it seems that the Snow Wyvern tried to scratch the surface of the obsidian, but ended up fooling himself.]

    Lee did not respond to the statement, and walked to the Dungeon Crystal. The white coloured crystal almost resembled arge piece of diamond. Lee ced his palm on the crystal. But at the very next instant, he retracted his palm and jumped a few metres backward, as he sensed an enormous sensation of hostility from the crystal.

    [That was close. Your soul was almost absorbed by the crystal.]

    ''Any idea what that was?''

    [It is a guess, but I think that the consciousness of the crystal was trying to invade your body.]

    ''Why would you say so?''

    [At the very instant, when your soul was starting to be pulled into the crystal, I sensed something trying to enter your consciousness. It was as if exchanging positions between two objects.]

    D suddenly gave a warning that something was about to happen. As they stared at the pir, the crystal began to shine with a faint white light. As the Foresight precisely adjusted the brightness for precise vision, Lee saw something forming out of the white light. Soon the brightness subsided and a tiny winged creature was lying on the floor.

    [Don''t be fooled by the appearance. I can sense that that tiny thing is not something actually tiny. There is an avnche of strength hidden inside it.]

    As Lee continued to observe the tiny being, it stood up on the floor and dusted itself. It was a tiny fairy with four long wings that resembled a dragonfly. It was only 7 inches tall and its peculiar physical features did not reveal its gender. It wore a green dress which covered its upper torso and lower torso.

    *pik pik pik*

    Like a small bird, it cried out while staring at him. But the next second, Lee saw the figure of the fairy fading away to its left. And the same time, he sensed his body receiving a boundless surge of pain. As the Foresight elerated his brain, he was already flying backward.

    *CRASH!*

    The momentary eleration was faster than a bullet, and Lee broke almost all of his bones while colliding violently with the wall. D even noticed him breaking the sound barrier for an instant. The exmation that rose from the realisation of pain,bined with the physical agony, and resulted in irrevocable pain.

    Lee was violently spasming, or he looked like he was spasming. The announcement from all of his body parts that he had been critically injured inside, came flooding into his brain. The disorienting sensation made him kneel on his knees, while supporting with his palms pushing against the ground.

    When he was staring at the ground, while gasping for breath, he saw drops of blood appearing on the dusty surface. Touching his nose and mouth, Lee found the source of uncontroble bleeding. Raising his head, he nced at the seeming harmless fairy. It was not a fairy anymore.

    Steadily growing and bingrger in size, the being''s pupil turned red and a pair of menacingly twisted horns appeared on its head. Its skin was immediately turned to a red shade, and its horns were a deeper shade of red. The innocent face of the being became threatening and intimidating. The tiny arms and legs were not tiny and beautiful anymore. They had turned to sharp and muscr extensions, which made anyone literally pee in their pants.

    The three segmented arms and werewolf-like hind-limbs were growing out of a hideously hairy torso, which spread out an intense and repulsive odor. The whole set of jaws had overgrown to an extent that they don''t fit in its mouth anymore.

    For someone who entered into the second floor of a dungeon with no clue regarding the existence of an unrivalled entity''s existence, Tyrant Fairy was a sight to behold. If you were to see it once, then rest assured, you are about to die in the most painful way.

    [EVADE! EVADE!]

    D shouted out, but Lee was slow to act. A whip like object came from its back diagonally at him, and hit his face. The force carried Lee brushing the wall, while his face lower jaw was shattered to pieces. Not only his jaw, but his skull also sustained severe damages. Previously, he was able to move, but now, he was like a deceased.

    ''Take five million Essence and change it to Mana. Activate the Life element and envelop me in a thick and unbreakable nket. Activate Fire, Stone, Metal, Ice and defend the bastard. Activate Time affinity to speed up the healing process. Use Death, Light, Gravity, Lightning and Poison affinities for offense. But make sure not to kill this noble son of a swine!''

    The pain and utter helplessness urged Lee to take some drastic measures. This was the longestmand he had given to D, after reaching Zaxaluke. D did not let him lie on the ground, waiting for death, while the devil-like ''fairy'' is nearing him. In an instant, Lee was lifted off the ground and was covered in an opaque pale bluish green elliptoid. Layers of fire, stone, metal and ice enveloped the life chamber, and a yellow ring appeared around it.

 Chapter 178: Tyrant Versus Intruder

    Chapter 178: Tyrant Versus Intruder

    The healing process had barely started when someone pressed the fast-forward button. The yellow ring, the representation of Time, worked like a miracle, and his reconstruction was elerated by thousand times.

    Outside, the miasma of death materialised and spread across the ground. It consciously avoided the boss beings and concentrated towards the Tyrant Fairy. Sensing that the beast is beyond the ability of miasma, Light-splitter spikes materialised in the air and dashed to the Tyrant Fairy. The beast was hurt, but not wounded.

    Arge and wide ring of purple colour appeared above the Tyrant Fairy''s head. Before it could see the ring, an intense force pressed the being to the ground. The unyielding limbs of the beast resisted the force while trembling violently. Even the gravity was not on enough to break this devil''s resilience.

    The nextbo did the trick. Lightning appeared out of thin air, and rampaged the being with anger and resentment. The poison evaporated in intense heat and enveloped the fairy like a cloud. An entity that brute force could not harm was shaken by the numbing electrocution and paralysing poison cloud.

    The Gravity picked up power and the beast was nted firmly on the ground. The miasma of Death element slowly poked into the enormous bat-winged beast. Due to its sinister and malicious intentions, the Light-splitter spikes made out of pure Light element prated its skin.

    But.it did not show any signs of pain. The Tyrant Fairy expressed discontent and anger, but not pain and agony. D, I mean the system, saw this and was confused. But the clueless expression soon faded away as he saw the Death element getting sucked by the beast. By the time D deactivated the element, it had amassed enough strength to raise its torso against the gravitational pull equal to that of the Sun.

    It was then D picked up a faint murmur from Lee. It was indecipherably faint, andsted for only a fraction of a second. It can also be interpreted that D only heard the tip of its tail.

    Lee inside the healing chamber was brimming with energy and strength. The remainder of one-sided brawl had been erased and the skin was wless. D sensed something different with Lee, and summoned his stats for a quick peek. But as soon as his eyes fell on the panel, D had his jaw dropping in awe!

    =+=+=+=+=

    Health: 7000

    Power: 2000

    Stamina: 2300

    Guard: 2500

    Dexterity: 3300

    Perception: 800

    Intelligence: 350

    Resolve: 2000

    =+=+=+=+=

    A total of 10,95,92,500 (One hundred and nine million five hundred and ny two thousand and five hundred) Essence disappeared when he was focused on the Tyrant Fairy. D immediately used View to take a glimpse of the beast''s stats.

    =====

    Name: Tyrant Fairy

    Race: Fairy

    Age: +400 years

    -----

    Health: 5390

    Power: 2118

    Dexterity: 1601

    Intelligence: 285

    =====

    At the very moment, the Mana reserve was depleted. The Mana was only used for almost half a minute, and the entire activated affinities guzzled it up like a jumbo jet. The light spikes vanished, the gravitational field disappeared and the rampaging lightning lost its tickleness. The poison cloud slowly dissipated into the air, and the concealed elliptoid was broken apart.

    Lee floated in the air with the Flight skill activated. The Tyrant Fairy looked confused and the next second, was enraged. It deduced that Lee has such higher healing power, which is enviable. The beast decided to acquire his body by any means necessary.

    Just because the boss monsters were fast asleep, they couldn''t witness the barely visible after-images of Lee and the Tyrant Fairy. The beast was extremely agile for a being of enormous size and their tour began to mark the walls with deep w marks and tiny punch imprints.

    *THACK*

    The beast honestly did not sense that the image in front of it was not the original. By the time its long and sharp ws punctured the after-image, Lee appeared from its right side and his palm smacked the beast''s face. To his surprise, few of its teeth fell off by the unexpected delivery of unimaginable force, from an unanticipated angle, by the unsuspecting source.

    *grr...*

    Deep and long growls followed the incident as the beast almost fell by the smack. It stumbled for a few steps and turned to re at Lee. At the nick of the time, arge fist shaped ice shot towards it, and collided with its face, breaking its four teeth in front, and fracturing its nose bridge, while throwing the beast away like a tin can.

    *CRASH*

    The sheer force with which the Tyrant Fairy collided, left a hole in the wall. The beastid there motionless for a moment, and cautiously stood back on its feet. Its immense rage and urge to utterly destroy Lee was expressed when it crumbled a hand full of hard igneous rock to dust.

    The maniacal beast was more than 20 metres tall and was appropriately wide. If it was to jump up with half of its total strength, its head was sure to touch the ceiling of the floor. Lee,pared to it, was an ant. But this tiny insect has delivered some meaningful punches, which made the behemoth cautious. D also assumed that the Tyrant fairy must have learned not to judge people by their sizes.

    Rather than charging forward, The beast kept a distance from him. It moved out of the cave, and stepped sideways. Each footstep was silent and well thought. Lee understood that the beast was about tomit something funny, and also raised his guard.

    [Tyrant is plotting something.]

    Therge bat wings were unfolded and it formed an X mark behind it. The four wings had gone through quite a transformation, like how a penguin bes an ostrich.

    (A.N. Of course, a penguin cannot be an ostrich. Don''t take it literally!)

    [I can senserge quantities of Death energy umting inside it. It is umting at the tip of the wings]

    A quick peek at the Map, and Lee understood the meaning behind the crab walk.

 Chapter 179: Diplomatic Dungeon

    Chapter 179: Diplomatic Dungeon

    The Tyrant kept a distance from Lee, so that it could use its trump card. Within seconds, pitch ck spheres began to form at the tip of each wing and they began topress as they grewrger.

    *zing*

    Lee had a guess that the beast was about to use its trump card. D promptly described what had happened when the Death element previously came in contact with it. Thus, Lee deduced that the beast''s final weapon must also consist of the Death element.

    Since the immunity to the Death element was at Lesser grade, Lee did not want to miss the opportunity. When D confirmed that the condensing spheres are indeed made of pure death energy, Lee found his assumptions correct.

    Like four curved mirrors reflecting the sunlight to a point, Lee was shot with a continuous stream of Death energy. The first impact made every single cell in his body scream in agony, but the pain soon decreased as the intensity skyrocketed the immunity to the Medium grade.

    The Tyrant Fairy was visibly confused. The veil of darkness initially enveloped Lee, and he was cut off from the light of the day. But as soon as the continuous stream of pitch ckness became less dense, it saw an unpleasant sight. Lee had somehow survived the fatal attack!

    Lee saw the mixed expression reflecting its inner transactions. To find that one''s trump card could not even put a scratch on the opponent''s body would mean that the death dealer was at the doorstep. The beast did not continue its vain attempt, and cut off the death ray.

    The spheres disintegrated and the miasma entered into the body of the beast. Since it had decided to destroy Lee, it is now cing everything on the line, including its life. The miasma entered into its inside through its eyes, nose, ears and mouth, and a significant change happened to its size.

    Tyrant Fairy shrunk by a metre or two! D spected that this is either because the beast is non-immune to the miasma in the inside, but can give a considerable boost for a few minutes, or it is drawing energy from its body to channel it to its dexterity and power, which whenbined with Death energy, can cause some serious damage.

    When the Tyrant Fairy''s stat report was summoned using View, it became clear that thetter suggestion was true.

    =====

    Name: Tyrant Death Fairy

    Race: Fairy

    Age: +400 years

    -----

    Health: 5770

    Power: 2850

    Dexterity: 2205

    Intelligence: 294

    =====

    D sighed as he saw the increase in stats. He was unusually calm. Anyone would have questioned the meaning of his sigh which simply meant ''I am relieved''. Hudson, inside the System Space, raised the same doubt.

    [The beast might be superior in power, but Lee surpasses the beast in agility by a big margin.]

    The Tyrant took initiative to attack, but it felt that it had lost footing. The leg which was moved forward was sinking in the ground. As soon as the beast felt the change in orientation, Lee vanished like smoke into the thin air.

    An alert rang in its mind, and it looked down. It''s face went pale as it realised that the leg was chopped at the knee. Losing bnce, it fell on the ground on its nose. Then the pain erupted from the receptors.

    For a normal human being of Earth, the recorded maximum withstandable force is a little above 46 G''s. But Lee was now zooming at more than twice of its force. He is able to do so, because he did a small customization to his body.

    When he was being healed, Lee integrated his body with various materials and alloys. First was his bones, where he integrated each one with Tungsten-Carbide alloy strands. After the process, each bone was about 60% artificial.

    Strengthened Spider Silk was weaved through each muscle strand, which enabled him to execute high G actions without fail. A series of Titanium-Tungsten alloy was forming awork under his skin, and made his epidermis a fortress.

    Many more miniscule modifications were done in a time span of a few seconds, and it was this change that D mistook for the leap in attributes. Wait till he finds out about the secret full body upgradation of Lee!

    The Tyrant was not intimidating anymore, but was being intimidated by an invader''s presence. The sentient form of the Dungeon Crystal had killed many in the past, but it had hit a wall after decades of istion. The fear concealed under the angry expressions were picked up by Lee, and he evaluated that the beast had almost peed in its pants.

    "Why...keel me?"

    The Tyrant Fairy spoke in an almost intelligible way. The construction of its mouth and the tongue had made speech impossible, but it picked up the linguistic memories of the deceased adventurers and cultivators. It was when it met an unyielding wall, that it thought of a possibility of diplomacy.

    "You can speak?"

    Lee raised the de and rested it over his shoulder. The beast tried to stand up, but the loss of a lower hind-limb had made it greatly disabled. It took awhile for the beast toprehend the words spoken by Lee, and it gave an answer in a much more understandable way.

    "I...progress...and...develop. I...grow...in strength...and...memory."

    Lee now knew how the Dungeon Crystal''s sentient form could speak. When the people die inside the dungeon, their memories are also absorbed by the dungeon. The Tyrant Fairy did not know that those memories could be handy until today.

    "If you can help me for once, then I give you my word that I will not hurt or kill you. Understood?"

    After a dozen of seconds, it nodded in agreement. The beast was still on the ground with its severed limb leaking a bit of its slightly viscous blood. Since it cannot heal when in the sentient form, it must retreat to the Crystal to recuperate.

    Lee extended his right hand and raised his index finger, indicating ''one''.

    "I have only one task for you. If you do it correctly, you might receive an inflow of people."

 Chapter 180: A Small Scale War

    Chapter 180: A Small Scale War

    The Tyrant Fairy could not resist the offer of more people venturing the dungeon. If more people came, then the mortality rate would increase. Thus, the dungeon would continue to grow. This offer was like showing arge piece of meat to a hungry tiger.

    *nods*

    The beast nodded. Lee stepped near the beast and started to speak.

    "Outside the doors of the dungeon is a sect called Moon Water Sect. They restrict anyone from entering the dungeon. The people have mostly forgotten about the existence of this dungeon. If you need people flowing inside, then you will have to remind those outside that such a dungeon exists."

    Lee created a simple topographic map using the Workshop and showed it to rify his ideas. When the beastprehended that he meant no harm, instead of the goodness of the dungeon, the beast reverted back to its little fairy figure, and flew into the Dungeon Crystal.

    *dummmm....*

    A loud sound that resembled that of a drum resonated throughout the dungeon and the beasts became still when the voice hit them. A faint buzzing sound followed it and continued to hum for the next two minutes.

    The humming stopped and the Dungeon Crystal spoke-

    "I have informed all beasts that you are not a hostile being. The door has been forcefully sealed from the outside. I can only break the seal with my power, so you will have to put some effort to break out. Also, my extent of control does not go beyond the dungeon. Thus, I havemanded all dungeon beasts to rampage outside, and to return with the resource after an hour."

    "That would be enough. I can st a hole through the wall."

    As Lee gave a nod and walked towards the mouth of the tunnel, he was jumping up with joy inside. His intention to teach the overly feminist sect a lesson was about to be a reality. Holding down his urge, Lee walked into the tunnel.

    It was then the boss monsters woke up. Their first reaction was to sprang up on their feet and check the surroundings. Finding that the Dungeon Crystal is hurt, and is organising an adventure party, the beings stepped towards the first floor. Those beings tamed by Lee felt a sliver of familiarity as they passed him by.

    The first floor became crowded and Lee went into the entrance of the dungeon. He tried to punch, but it was as if he had hit a giant metal door. Since his strength can be coupled with the Dungeon Crystal''s seal break, he was optimistic to see the light of the day.

    -----

    Meanwhile, in the sect.

    Main assembly hall.

    In twelve chairs are the twelve elders seated. Chu Hua was visibly irritated by the results. She skimmed her eyes over the elders and asked out loud-

    "Why can we not ess this spatial ring?"

    At the centre of the hall was a table, and on the table was Lee''s spatial ring. The simple and ordinary looking ring was one of his first possessions.

    Since the ring had Lee''s blood dripped on it, the ess to the ring has been restricted only to him. And since he had not died, no one could forcefully open it. There are people who can pick the lock, but no such person is trustworthy to give a spatial ring into their hands.

    "That man must be dead by now. But the ring is still blocked from ess."

    The third elder sounded her opinion.

    "If that person is already dead, then the ring should not restrict ess to anyone. I assume that he is not dead yet, but is at the verge of dying. So, there is a possibility that the blood pact would soon be broken."

    A veil of silence covered them. None spoke after the fifth elder gave her assumption.

    "Why don''t we try again?"

    It was the tenth elder''s voice. She stood up and walked towards the table. She took the ring in her palm, and then, a loud explosion shook the room.

    *Boom*

    The building shook and the whole sect was awake. With no idea of what was happening, the elders poked their heads out of the windows to see if any idents had happened. They could not spot any disasters in the vicinity, but one of the elders saw danger approaching like a horde.

    *screech*

    *roar*

    The atmosphere became chaotic as the elders and the sect leader saw the dungeon''s sealed door broken apart. The seal that was supposed to hold for another century had mysteriously shattered, and an avnche of dungeon beasts had erupted.

    Lee standing inside the tunnel was releasing the beasts he had captured previously. Thus an enormous wave of dungeon beasts rippled outwards and rampaged.

    The initial reaction of the feminist disciples were to flee. Then some disciples showed courage to fight, and united the cowards. When they were cutting down the beasts, each one of the disintegrating animals were being reborn in the dungeon. After being reborn, they became more invulnerable to attacks and tricks.

    Hos were suicidal damage dealers, while weavers were A.O.E masters with their webs. The jaguars and rodents used their agility to break therger crowd to smaller crowds, and the snakes slowly finished them off. Chimeras were trampling the sect disciples under its feets while the scorpions were a menacing presence in the battle field.

    Needless to say, Aluminiles were in the spotlight, until the Safrogors entered. Following them, Minotaurs and Ghouls entered thend of diverse prey.

    The battle was fierce with both sides waging war with all they had. The dungeon beasts initially had a lesser kill rate, and it soon changed to a higher value, as the recreated beings with previous memories were exhibiting that they are indeed formidable opponents.

    The sect''s core disciples were chopping down the rodents and jaguars when the bugs attacked from blindspots. The crafty goblins were intelligent beings and cooperated with jaguars to form a lethalbo.

    When the elders rushed to defend the monster wave, the opposition also exposed their bigger guns!

 Chapter 181: Fire King Formation Vs Snow Wyvern

    Chapter 181: Fire King Formation Vs Snow Wyvern

    When the elders rushed to defend the monster wave, the opposition also exposed their bigger guns!

    "Heaven cutting sh!"

    As an exclusive technique taught by the Moon Water sect, its destructive power was unusually high. The crescent shaped qi wave produced by the swing of the weapon, be it sword or spear, can easily cut through blocks of steel.

    "Nether Snake Destruction!"

    "Sky Piercer sh!"

    ..

    Against the lesser wyverns walking out of the dungeon, these attacks put up quite a resistance. But once these beasts became airborne, the whole of Piscerent city saw the majestic creatures. Wind des originated from their wings and were continuously ripping things in their way.

    "How can the dungeon be active? Have we not sealed the crystal with Nine Swan Formation?!"

    The fourth elder shouted out as she vigorously chopped down the rodents and jaguars attacking the disciples. Her voice was loud and clear, and carried her curiosity and confusion.

    But, no reply came. Chu Hua was frantically defending against the Safrogors and Minotaurs. She was able to wound one or two, which made her the primary target for those territorial beasts.

    ''View.''

    =====

    Name: Chu Hua

    Race: Human

    Age: 38 years

    -----

    Health: 696

    Power: 388

    Dexterity: 241

    Intelligence: 105

    =====

    ''Not bad for a Sect leader, eh?''

    [...]

    D did notment on what Lee said. He was observing the battle through Lee''s eyes and the Map simultaneously. By each passing moment, the sect elders and the sect leader were being pushed back bit by bit, they were now outside the main building of the sect.

    The lesser wind wyverns swung their wings around and des of wind originated around them. The lesser fire elemental wyverns ran and cut objects with their wings, which immediately were caught on fire. The lesser ice elemental spew out cold breath which made the cultivators retreat when came in contact with the chillness.

    The minotaurs and safrogors were sustaining heavy damage from the organised attacks of the sect elders. The inner and core disciples also came for help, but their involvement was only able to give a minor support to them.

    "Control your Qi. Reserve your energy."

    Chu Hua shouted out while empowering her throat with Qi. The dispersed disciples and the elders heard her clearly, and found that the horde is troublesome to deal with. Their pride as women did not let them yield and call for help from other sects. They had taken this as a problem of pride.

    Periodically, the tired cultivators would retreat and take pills to relieve fatigue and woulde back. The usage of Qi Replenishing pills were immense, and soon, their entire stock was depleted. Under these conditions, they decided to adopt some drastic measures.

    "Fire King Formation!"

    A group of talented cultivators had isted themselves from the battlefield and had chanted a particrly dangerous and destructive formation. The Fire King Formation was formed using the Qi resource of the 11 cultivators that are activating the formation. Once it has taken effect, an enormous fiery figure would rise after condensing the Qi. The fire king would descend and deal a massive damage over arge area.

    [Signal the Snow Wyvern to engage.]

    Lee mentally conveyed to the greater wyvern that an appropriate opponent has arrived. It expressed enthusiasm and eagerness for some action, as it walked out of the tunnel. Its movements were less audible, and the cultivators were busy with dealing the problems at hand.

    The sunlight reflected fell on its smooth sky blue exterior and shone forth. The sudden appearance of the beast made many gasp in fear. They knew that this one was more troublesome than the ones with vague colouredplexion.

    "It is a Snow Wyvern!"

    Someone shouted and the morale of the cultivators plummeted. An elemental beast was thest thing that they wanted on their opposition''s side. But luckily, they had the Fire King Formation ready to deal damage.

    Fire and water are arch enemies. So was fire and snow. The fiery figure sensed the arrival of the variable and turned towards it. The eleven cultivators who activated the formation could not consciously control the formation.

    *WRAA.*

    The fire king roared and raised both of its hands. The crown on its head shone bright and that indicated the power was at its peak. The 25 foot tall figure shot a continuous stream of fiery ray at the Snow Wyvern. The intense heat emitted from the shot made lesser dungeon beasts to shudder in fear.

    *Shaa*

    The elemental beast sucked in a mouthful of air, and shot out a concentrated stream of snow. It was so condensed that it had solidified into ice.

    The sight was one to behold. A fiery st was shot towards the Snow Wyvern, which hadunched a bone-chilling beam of coldness and ice. Both of them collided and a violent explosion urred!

    *BOOM!*

    The shockwave created upon the collision of fire and ice threw the wyvern away. The fire king was an apparition created after condensing Qi, so it was dissipated. The formation thus yed its role and went off. The cultivators who participated in the formation''s activation were immediately brought to the safe zone and were fed with Soul Replenishing pills.

    A lot of cultivators were thrown away by the explosion. Dust and smoke rose up into the air and decreased the visibility of the battlefield. Some clever ones climbed onto the buildings and broken boulders for better view.

    A sense of victory bloomed in the hearts of the cultivators as they saw the Snow Wyvern in a distance. It was on the ground and was not moving.

    "The beast is down. We will-"

    A woman shouted out in joy as she saw the wyvern motionless. But her words could not bepleted. Because her head was not anymore on her neck!

    A lesser fire wyvern had bit off her head, and plucked the shoot of victory from its root. The headless torso fell off like a toppled down doll, on the ground.

    The st was supposed to break the morale of the beasts, but it in turn triggered a mechanism!

 Chapter 182: Shaking The Foundations

    Chapter 182: Shaking The Foundations

    The st was supposed to break the morale of the beasts, but it in turn triggered a mechanism. Thest barricade that kept the killing intent in check had fallen!

    Till now, the beast would damage or hunt down the cultivators to bring them inside the dungeon. When they die inside, their organic body and essories are absorbed by the dungeon instantly. It was as if the dead were being melted and merged with the ground.

    The sect suffered a very low, but steady decrease in their numbers. As more people were dragged to the inside, the disciples found that the beasts are not immediately dangerous, and thus have a chance to win. The time interval between respawning was also increasing, and favored the Moon Water Sect.

    But, the terror was unleashed as the wyverns saw one of them being hurt and now unconscious. Rage filled their minds and they began to go for kill.

    The cultivators witnessed few instant deaths within a minute. The sharp teeth piercing the bodies of the cultivators like a knife through butter, made their hands lose strength. Legs began to tremble and fear overshadowed their pride. Now, all they want to do is survive.

    Spears and swords shed out and violently defended against the killing spree of the wyverns. Talismans rose into the air and wyverns sustained more damage. Wyverns were being suppressed by the desperate attempts of sect disciples, which bore fruit.

    Lee saw the changing tides, and gave a mental order to pull back the remaining wyverns. They promptly cried out and retreated back into theirir, with one or two women in their grip. Minotaurs and Safragors understood the cry''s intent, and thus slowly retreated. While the lesser beasts were retreating, wyverns flew up for onest time and gave a cover fire.

    Snow Wyvern was awake the whole time, but Lee ordered it to stay put. While the cultivators were distracted by the threat at hand, it slowly sneaked away from there, and moved towards the dense vegetations. Lee, who was among the trees, suspended by the Flight skill gave its location to the other two more wyverns that he had tamed.

    Like a friend familiar for more than a decade, the wyverns felt a close rtionship with Lee. The four tamed Minotaurs were also conveyed about his location from the dungeon, and they gave an act of running away from the group.

    "Since they are isted, we shall kill them after closing the breach."

    Seventh elder who was injured, but fighting without losing her battle spirit saw the disciples charging at the four minotaurs. Her words rerouted the disciples back to the dungeon entrance.

    The tamedrge beasts disappeared into the bamboo forest and neared Lee. Like apanion, they stood next to Lee and expressed their happiness to see him.

    Without wasting a moment, he opened a spatial tear which connected to the System Space. Therge ck portal was spotted by some of the elders and their brows knitted. Before they could realise what that was, it disappeared into thin air. The Snow Wyvern, two Lesser Wyverns with no attribute, and four Minotaurs stepped inside the System Space.

    ''I still have not contributed anything.''

    Lee said in his mind, and brought out 4 metallic boxes from the storage. He designed these 1 foo long, wide and thick objects when the dungeon beasts were waging war over the sect. Though they resembled wless cubic pieces of pure tinum, it was packed with some serious detonations.

    ''Activate.''

    Upon activation, the boxes floated downward. Before touching the ground, they transformed into 2 and a half foot tall metallic humanoids. Instantly, they began to execute themand already fed by Lee.

    Swift and silent were these robots. They were real-time connected with the Map, and thus intelligently calcted the optimum and safest path to reach the building. Lee followed them to find if his creation had any kind of w, but he didn''t.

    Evading all the keen eyes of observations, these highly agile and acrobatic figures dashed towards the sect''s main building. It was almostpletely deserted by the unexpected disturbance. The remaining guards were easily taken down by the metal beings, and Lee was content with his creativity.

    [Your ring is on the innermost chamber. The treasury is located below the main building, under lock and key. The main building is supported by four gigantic pirs.]

    D had scanned through the entire premise and located the ring. It was his suggestion to loot the treasurypletely, and his response to the ill-treatment Lee received, was to blow up the sect to smithereens.

    Lee covered the twists and turns of the sect building within an instant, and reached the assembly hall. His agility was over the charts and the shockwave his movements left behind made marks on the walls.

    Retrieving the ring, Lee descended to the treasury in the underground. The guards did not even feel that they were knocked out. Breaking the levers and locks of the door with his sheer physical strength, Lee entered into the treasury.

    Though it was small and organised, expensive where the objects kept there. A gust of wind cracked the walls as Lee passed through the treasury. Everything was taken into the EsGen from where D was responsible to sort them.

    As he surfaced from the treasury, the four humanoid robots gave off individual notifications that they are ready to proceed. Lee took a second to cover the distance between him and the sect entrance, and then said-

    "Do it."

    *ghummmmm*

    A heavily muffled boom produced a wave of dust and it swept across him. Those one th streets outside the sect premises, also felt the shockwave. As the eyes turned to the sect building, the building sunk into the ground.

    Chu Hua, sect elders and the disciples turned to the sect, to see what was that wave that originated from their back. As they beheld, the building tilted to its side.

    "Is it just me or is the sect building really leaning on us?."

 Chapter 183: Fall Of The Feminists

    Chapter 183: Fall Of The Feminists

    "Is it just me or is the sect building really leaning on us?."

    An inner disciple with some sense of humour asked out and the situation was clear. The lower floors of the building were crushed under the weight of the building and it picked up eleration.

    Before the disciples recognised the ''gravity'' of the situation, elders shouted out at their maximum to disperse. Finding that they are only seconds from destruction, everyone scattered.

    But, how could they? Since they were pressing the beasts back into the dungeon, none had reserved their strength. Never in their wildest dreams would they have thought of a necessity to disperse while holding onto their precious lives.

    ''All ording to the n.''

    Lee was happy and a faint smirk appeared on his face. None saw it, as the main attraction at the moment was the tall and gorgeous Moon Water sect building proceeding to embrace the ground. Many men and women ran scatteredly and the streets became chaotic. Even from a distance, the leaning, and copsing building was visible.

    The n was wless. Cooked up in the millennia old mind of Dnekewy, the Dimension Sovereign, the lesson wasplete with an underlying moral.

    When Lee said that everything was ording to the n, not a single stone was an exception to it. He had thoroughly thought and simted the process of the crumbling building, and the extent of damage. Even how they dispersed was ording to his n.

    Therge building made of wood and stone leaned more and more towards the dungeon, where the cultivators were fighting without any reserve of strength. It was evident for them that dispersing to the sides will surely bring death, as the collision can cause a shockwave and a wide range of spreading rubbles. Thus their only option was to move into the dungeon.

    When danger was right in front of them, their intelligence was barely working. The broken train of thoughts had chosen the dungeon as the safest way of retreat, and many including Chu Hua and elders sprinted into the dungeon entrance. Only a secondter, the building kissed the ground, and arge cloud of dust arose.

    Smoke and particles dispersing to all sides entered the cave too. But the amount was less than the surrounding. Those who have retreated to the sides were either severely injured or barely alive, while a minor portion was crushed under the weight.

    A sense of relief and safety was evident in the face of the elders, until the dust settled. The daylight did not reach them anymore. The force with which the building fell might have dispersed to all sides, but it had also thrown the boulders at the dungeon. The thickness with which the ruins have deposited in front of the dungeon was exhaustingly enormous.

    The metallic humanoids were made with therge heap of weapons and objects he had collected from the cave which the Minotaurs were guarding. Few of them were by pure iron, and a major portion were made up of steel and more stronger alloys. Lee deposited them in the Workshop and paid Essence to transmute them into Titanium alloys.

    Using the collected metal objects to transmute to produce much powerful and durable alloys consumed a lesser amount of Essence. Not just lesser, but negligible whenpared with producing the alloys from thin air. Lee paid Essence for high quality TriNitroToluene and gave it ''st Enhancement'' augmentation. The thick and sturdy foundations of the sect building could not withstand the explosion of such a powerful dose, up close.

    The result was what you have read. The remaining sect disciples, elders and the leader itself, were trapped inside the dungeon. The beasts did not hesitate to attack, but the horde was endless. The spawners were active after many decades of pent up frustration, and the cries of women rose up in the dungeon.

    There ended the tale of extreme feminists! Those trapped in the dungeon ended their tales in horror. The limited space of dungeon floors were a main obstacle for the cultivators. Everyone except Chu Hua died. When the Tyrant Fairy itself came forth to rip this bitch apart, she used herst resort - a Teleportation Talisman!

    The intimidating ws of the Dungeon Crystal was inches away from her when the talisman was activated. By the all-mighty entity''s grace, she survived, with severe injuries. The position was the Cultivator''s Guild. When she appeared inside the building, at the center of the main hall, the city was in a turmoil with the news of an exploding dungeon.

    [Lee, teleportation detected. The sect leader has escaped.]

    ''Let her live in loneliness. Even if someone from the sect is still alive, they are either crippled, or paralysed.''

    The ce where the Moon Water sect once stood was now and with crumbled buildings. When the foundation was shattered with deafening noise from about 100 feet below the ground, the nearby building sustained heavy damage from the shockwave alone. Thergeplex of the sect along with its inner court arena and outer court arena were cracked severely and were beyond use.

    After taking onest nce at the sect premise through the Map, Lee turned away and walked through the streets. His mind recapped the incidents that took ce from when he entered inside the dungeon, and till the moment.

    ''D, I don''t see the hourly notification.''

    ===

    11 A.M.

    27300 Essence harvested.

    ===

    [I have something to report about the EsGen storage. The Essence generation is only applicable in the storage. When a living being is used for Essence extraction from the System Space, the lifeform shows fluctuation in its sentience. Hence any living being out of the EsGen storage would be excluded from Essence extraction.]

    ''I understand.''

    [And for the upgradation and processes associated with it, I have used the Illians you have kept in the EsGen storage.]

    ''Define the term ''Used''.''

    [For my sustenance and energy demands, I disintegrated them all and used everyst bit of energy in their cells for the smooth procedure of upgrade. The Essence that remained after sessful upgrading was given to you as aplement.]

    ''....''

 Chapter 184: Creating Own Magic (1)

    Chapter 184: Creating Own Magic (1)

    ''....''

    Lee raised his head and felt the starlight falling on his face. There was no change of expression in his being. D was doubtful whether he would jump at him, and raise his voice. But his imaginations remained as imaginations.

    [You are abnormally chill.]

    ''Give me a reason not to.''

    [The Illians were disintegrated by me, for the sake of the system. Do you not feel sympathy for them?]

    ''If I had sympathy, then why would I have taken them into the EsGen, to use them as agriculturalnds for harvesting Essence?''

    [...]

    ''It is Karma. What you sow is what you reap. The very ideology of powerful and powerless creates a division, and enables the strong to walk over the weak. When they decided to follow this concept, they already sealed their fate. I am nothing but a pawn which executed their fate. And through my action, you gave them the fruit of what the sowed.]

    D was silent for a minute. He found reason and ideology of equity from his words. It was then he remembered about the existence of the Dretrils.

    [I am moving the four Dretrils from the EsGen to the System Space. Any objections?]

    ''None. Move other non-hostile living beings and nts to the System Space.''

    [Okay.]

    Walking down the streets, Lee''s stomach growled. ncing around, he saw a restaurant only a few metres away. Lee walked to the door and entered inside.

    The noisy atmosphere was something expected at that time of the day. Many cultivators and very few adventurers were sitting here and there, and exchanged words and information. Lee saw a table for four and walked towards it. There were only two people, a man and a woman, sitting opposite to each other, enjoying the meal. At a nce, Lee deduced that they were adventurers, from their characteristic outfits.

    Since there were no other seat avable, and as the smell was agitating his stomach, he asked them-

    "May I sit here?"

    The man turned his head and raised his eyes to look at Lee. The less luxurious clothings he wore were not a symbol of pride. The man scanned Lee from top to bottom. As he was running an evaluation, the woman sitting opposite to him recognised Lee.

    "Are you not the one fixed to duel with professor Ganga Equis?"

    The question was loud and clear, but weaker than the surroundings. The bustling restaurant suppressed the voice of the woman. The man sitting across her heard her words and stared at Lee. The frown was evident.

    "You may."

    The man replied, while his eyes nced at the woman across him. She had nodded and gave him her consent. Lee promptly sat next to the man. The waiter came and took Lee''s order, which was vegetable noodles!

    "Are you the one dueling with Miss Ganga?"

    The man raised the question, which the woman had asked earlier. Without replying, he simply nodded.

    "So you are the person that everyone in the academy was talking about."

    Lee was curious to know what about him had be a topic worth talking about. Within a few seconds, a te of vegetable noodles was brought to him by the server. The nostalgic aroma and the hot steam rising from the te made his mouth salivate.

    "I am Jake Heartrun, and this is my sister, Mira Heartrun. We were students of the qvier academy, before bing adventurers."

    Jake and Mira were 34 and 29 years old respectively. Their parents were Official rank adventurers. After they died in a mission, the siblings began to put more effort into practical training. By the time the graduated, their resolve and coordination was over their peers.

    The siblings were simple. Neither their actions and expressions nor their facial features showed luxury. Both of them were single, and decided to stay so, so that the brother and sister can support each other.

    Jake had a trimmed beard line and moustache, and his hair was short and grey. His physical training for his sword mastery made him sturdy and muscr.

    Mira had her greyish ck hair shortened to the shoulder length. She was slightly shorter than her brother. She wielded a staff, which acts as a means to channel the Mana for spell casting, and also for physical attacks. Her brother had influenced her to undergo melee training.

    As they conversed, a cultivator barged in and shouted-

    "Moon Water Sect has beenpletely destroyed, and a Tier-1 dungeon has appeared there!"

    The dining cultivators had their eyes widened up with the news, and all of them paused their eating for a moment, and ran out. They dashed to the demolished sect premise, because both their treasures and disciples were alluring in the eyes of men.

    The restaurant was almost empty, with a few adventurers sitting scatteredly. Those strangers recognised each other, and they began to converse. The focus of the siblings shifted from Lee easily. He found that the food had disappeared into his mouth before he knew it. Promptly paying two silver coins, he left the restaurant.

    [Now, you have a duel with Miss Ganga Equis of the academy. How do you n to win the match?]

    ''Using magic, of course.''

    [How are you nning to use magic?]

    Lee took a sharp turn and walked into an alleyway. It had enough daylight flowing into it, so the visibility was not low.

    ''Convert 1,000,000 Essence to Mana.''

    Ten million Essence was converted to twenty million Mana. Lee stood there like a statue for a second, and uttered-

    "Teleport."

    Strands of light rose from the ground. The presence of daylight removed any unwanted attention to the spell activation. As D felt the ripples of magic activation, our protagonist closed his eyes.

    *zupp*

    The next instant, Lee was standing in the alleyway right next to the inn. He opened his eyes and recognised the location. The walls resonated familiarity and he saw the fence partially destroyed. As he had desired, he was teleported to where he wanted toe.

    [How did you cast a spell?? How did you use Magic??]

 Chapter 185: Creating Own Magic (2)

    Chapter 185: Creating Own Magic (2)

    [How did you cast a spell?? How did you use Magic??]

    Lee did not immediately give an answer, and inspected the partially destroyed fence. He found the wooden nks cut in uniform, which indicated the use of a sharp weapon. Walking towards the backyard of the inn, he saw several lowlifes sitting and chatting. The inn''s backdoor had many sword marks on it. The bath cabin was emitting a very sharp and repulsive stink.

    "Who are you?"

    There were many people there. Mostly thugs and thieves, these anti-social men had destroyed another person''s belongings, and had forcefully upied a stranger''snd. One of them wearing a bandit bandana, saw Lee and raised his knife to scare him.

    Theck of response from Lee made him angry, and he shouted-

    "WHO ARE YOU, SHITHEAD?"

    A fewpletely drunk thugs stood up and turned towards Lee. The others, who were trying to break the metal chassis of the door, halted their activities and focused on the intruder.

    This is my brother''s property. Who are you all?"

    Lee scanned the entire area, and counted the total number of thugs to be 31. D notified him that these people have a specific tattoo on their lower back. Nodding at the information, Lee raised his doubt.

    "Then you must know where that brat Lee is. Talk, or die."

    The thug with the knife walked to him and threatened him. Lee remained unfazed, and did a superfast attack which the thugs did not catch by their eyes. All they saw is the knife wielding thug falling on the ground, lifeless.

    "You are standing on my brother''s property. Give me one reason not to kill you all."

    The thugs became alert and surrounded Lee. They had a wide grin on their faces, as one of them said-

    "We are here to catch a man called Lee. Tell him where he is, or you die."

    ''D, put pointers on all thirty men left.''

    Lee raised his hand and pointed himself, saying-

    "I am Lee. Catch me if you can, lowlives!"

    The term ''lowlife'' was a word the thugs hated. Their anger erupted forth and daggers flew at Lee.

    ''Poison Pinch.''

    Lee caught the two daggers by his left hand, and raised his right hand, and uttered the magic word. His fist in the shape of a gun, shot poison pebbles at the thugs. The projectile hit the thugs'' foreheads and it immediately took effect.

    One by one, the poison pebbles took down the confused bunch of thugs. The immobilised group of thieves were dragged by Lee, and he ced them as a heap.

    Using Telepathy, he found out that the Typhoon n had posted these men here. Wondering what he had done to make them his enemy, he dug deep into the minds of all the thugs. Nothing more than the memories and visuals of their degraded lives could be seen.

    Absorbing them into EsGen storage, Lee sat on the shair where one of the thugs sat luxuriously. D raised his doubt again, but in a more detailed manner.

    [How did you cast Magic? I do not remember a spell called Poison Pinch. Did you make it up? How could you use Teleportation magic?]

    ''I will answer all your questions, but bring up the elemental affinity and immunity panel.''

    D hesitantly disyed the information he had asked for.

    ==========

    ELEMENTS:

    Poison

    Greater Affinity (12243/1000000)

    Greater Immunity (1887/1000000)

    Lightning

    Greater Affinity (15473/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (6805/10000)

    Fire

    Greater Affinity (3096/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (2559/10000)

    Water

    Greater Affinity (0/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (1067/10000)

    Ice

    Greater Affinity (341/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (1797/10000)

    Stone

    Greater Affinity (14281/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (756/10000)

    Metal

    Greater Affinity (12004/1000000)

    Nature

    Greater Affinity (12060/1000000)

    Wind

    Greater Affinity (101/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (4172/10000)

    Sound

    Greater Affinity (12371/1000000)

    Dark

    Greater Affinity (12508/1000000)

    Light

    Greater Affinity (172/1000000)

    Death

    Greater Affinity (23/1000000)

    Medium Immunity (30/10000)

    Gravity

    Greater Affinity (60/1000000)

    Space

    (Absolute Affinity)

    Life

    Greater Affinity (136/1000000)

    Time

    Greater Affinity (34/1000000)

    Sedative

    Medium Immunity (2059/10000)

    Serenity

    Lesser Affinity (4/100)

    ==========

    "Upgrade all the affinites to Absolute grade."

    [....okay, done.]

    A surge of energy began to well up in Lee, and he sprang up from his seat. But, after a fraction of a second, the boundless energy disappeared into a bottomless pit. He was confused by what had happened.

    [That was the elements letting you know that they have all reached Absolute grade. Now you can manifest the element souls at will.]

    ''They are both the Pzy and Ego, right?''

    [Correct. The direct integration of the system with your soul, and the upgradation of the system, which enabled it to tap into the restraints of the soul, had expelled the need of a Pzy or Ego for you. Which means, when you materialise the souls into the reality, it can both empower your Qi or Mana, or could be empowered with Qi or mana.]

    ''Okay. Now let us go forth with Mana Mastery.''

    [Then shall I proceed with stepping into the Veteran level of Mastery, and even further?]

    ''Yes.''

    Converting a hundred million Essence into Mana, D started the saturation process. When stepping into the Lord level of Mastery, more than eighty million Essence was further converted to Mana.

    =====

    12 Mid-day.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    In the meanwhile, Lee was going through a number of ufortable feelings. The sudden and steady progress in Mana Mastery saturated his bones and muscles with Mana. The customised anatomy of Lee greatly pacified the pain that was supposed to be apanying the process.

    Beads of sweat rolled down from the forehead, and ran over his cheeks, and finally soaked his entire dress. A faint pungent smell was rising from the sweat and Lee used Spotless to clean himself. But the clothings, despite being water resistant, was still drenched.

    [I suggest you buy a new set of clothing. The purification of your body through Mana had left a quite an amount of extracted waste on the dresses.]

    Lee undressed and threw his clothes into the air. Before they reached maximum altitude, bright red mes originated from his palm and disintegrated them to ashes.

    Opening the Workshop, Lee designed another set of a jean pant, sleeveless cotton innerwear, afy underwear, and a long ck jacket reaching below his knees. It also had a hoodie, which was his personal preference. The existing loafers were redesigned and Lee added awork of strands of steel underneath its surface.

    ''Now, about your question. Listen carefully.''

 Chapter 186: Developments Of Dnekewy

    Chapter 186: Developments Of Dnekewy

    ''Now, about your question. Listen carefully.''

    ''The magic using Mana is invoked through spells. Those verses are simply for channeling the energy from the surroundings, and to produce the necessary element for the magic. Since imagination can also y a vital role, the wizard must be focused when practicing.

    Compared to the conventional methods of wizardry, I do not need to conjure the necessary elements for the spell using my Mana. The elemental souls at present, can produce more than enough energy for even a grade 7 or 8 spell.

    And now, all I have to do is to add the proper amount of elements into the Mana to produce the effect of the spell. Imagination ys a great role as they shape the perfect spell, and its effect.

    When I pulled off Teleportation, I channeled about 300 Mana into the atmosphere and added a lot of Space elements into it. Since I am teleporting, I imagined the position of the arrival, and picturised a temporary channel through which I am getting transported here. And It worked.

    When I casted Poison Pinch, that was thebination of Poison and Wind. The poison was produced in small pebble sizes, and a jet of wind carried it to the target. Time was also activated to make it approach faster. Using more wind would scatter the pebble to fine drops and disperse it.

    Thus, my magic is a coordination between focus, imagination and elements. And yes, Mana is essential to do the trick. Since elemental souls arepletely formed, the elements need some kind of energy to contain it when leaving the soul, or the soul will have to materialise itself.''

    [That..]

    D was confused as to what to say. Logically, Lee was right. But the focus and detailed imagination it needed was no simpler thing. A slight misfire or change in the proportion of elements, and the spell is a failure.

    The poison pebble should have a specific weight in order for the wind jet to carry it away. When applying the Time element to speed up, it must be precisely adjusted when you are trying to hit a moving target.

    [Makes sense.]

    Lee scanned the inn and found no other attempts to intrude. So, he created a spatial tear and hispanions exited the System Space.

    "Long time no see."

    Gauthama embraced Lee and said. Mia, Tera, Rue, An and his familiar beasts were also present behind him. Fero ran at him and rubbed its head to his legs. Perrafin was unusually cool, and it neared Lee after Fero showed it''s affection.

    Standing up, Lee skimmed his eyes over the face of his wife and sisters. Without standing there staring at faces, he led them inside and asked about the System Space.

    "To be honest, it is a good ce to be yourself and meditate. I find the ce to my liking. If possible, I would stay put in that space." (Gauthama)

    Following Buddha, the women also expressed their liking to the habitable space. They also added their suggestions to improvise it, and asked to bring in more medicinal and decorative flora.

    Lee nodded at their words, and enquired about the Dnekewy and Hudson. He was surprised to hear that D had constructed a house for them in the System Space. An urge to jump inside and see the house for himself was suppressed, as Lee further asked about them.

    "Dnekewy is knowledged in cultivation and physical training. He gives training to An, Mia and Tera there. Hudson is a wizard, so he teaches me how to control my powers."

    Rue gave her honest opinion, and the voices of Tera and Mia followed them. They described their martial arts training with great enthusiasm, as they came to know about the fact that Dnekewy is the top-most cultivator in the whole.

    For D, who have lived for millennia, all weapons were easy to wield. The twin hatchets and katana disyed marvelous fluency when in the hands of the Dimension Sovereign. After exhibiting his skills, he showed how it is done, and corrected the existing moves of both. D found the session entertaining, as the only thing he had ever to do till now was to sleep, or talk.

    Hudson was also relieved to acquire a disciple. It''s been so many years he has practised his skills. Though was a little rusty, he picked up his memory and fluency of actions. Rue watched all of his actions closely and learned many things from the gestures and postures at each moment.

    =====

    1 P.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee demonstrated his peak affinity to the elements. Their eyes were round and wide with surprise, as he manifested miniature versions of the elements in his palm. Though they looked adorable, the fire almost burned Mia''s finger, the ice froze Rue''s skin, the lightning gave Tera a mild shock and An felt intense wind jetsing at her from the miniature Wind element soul.

    Lee Shen was able to know many things about the System Space. From their ounts, he became aware that D has also established an open air diner setup, along with a garden of trees and nts. They were isted from all kinds of animals, and from them, the herbivores and carnivores were sorted out and isted, again.

    Unknown to Lee, the Essence from his reserve was being used to produce food and other consumables. Whenever Hudson or anybody went and brought a cup of coffee from the diner, the receptionist, AKA, D would deduct Essence as its cost. From the ounts of women, Lee was still thinking that it is all produced cost-free!

    "Gauthama, what do you think about taking the inn into the space?"

    Gauthama smiled at the question, and took a pause before answering.

    "Let the inn be. We can transfer the control to the Cultivator''s Guild and they would run the inn and maintain it well. If they are not ready to take its ownership, I would be very d to give it to Niqom and Nyra. At least they will have a decent ce to sleep."

    Lee remembered the situation of the shop across the street. He nodded as his unconscious mind approved thetter option.

 Chapter 187: Gathering Of Companions

    Chapter 187: Gathering Of Companions

    Lee remembered the situation of the shop across the street. He nodded as his unconscious mind approved thetter option.

    ----

    Gauthama excused himself and went out to convey the news to Niqom. His daughter was hesitant to ept, but she eventually yielded to the kindness of Buddha.

    Lee and others were waiting for Tubian to return from his task in the backyard. When he appeared through the backdoor, his smile indicated that his mission was a sess. Before walking away, he took a nce at the reinforced backdoor.

    Tera was told by Gauthama to take nothing with her. After cing the ownership document of the inn in the hands of Niqom, he bid them farewell. When enquired whether he is leaving the city, Gauthama replied that he had found a new space to stay. Assuring that he will cherish the memories of them, Tubian exited the inn.

    The excitement to see the developments in the System Space made Lee to quickly open a portal. Jumping in, he saw a beautiful two storeyed mansion. It had maroon border lines and turquoise blue geometric patterns on the corners of the walls.

    To the left side of the home was a small cafeteria. Just as the women had described, it did not have exterior walls. It looked more like a stall with a semi-circle reception desk, and arge open-air dining area with tables and chairs.

    It was then Lee noticed a hammock not too far for the cafeteria. It was supported by two tall coconut trees. The dense vegetation had casted its shadow on the hammock, and he sensed someone beingfy in it. Walking near to it, Lee found D sleeping all cozy.

    A dark brown shade resting on his nose had the brand name ''Ray Ban'' on it. The hawaii-themed trousers were in harmony with the vibe of the sleeveless sky blue upperwear. Dangling one leg down from the hammock, the old man with a top bun exhibited luxury with a burning cigar on his lips.

    "Sup kiddo?" (D)

    "I can see that you are being progressive." (Lee)

    "Thanks to you, the Essence reserve is vast and deep." (D)

    A frown appeared on Lee''s face as he heard what D said. To quench his curiosity, D gave a detailed exnation how all these objects came to existence. He did not forget to add that it is his Essence that is being used to all the activities here.

    ---

    =====

    2 P.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. His torso was leaning forward, and his elbows were supported on his knees. On his crossed fingers was his chin, and his face reflected a train of thoughts.

    Lee was not mad. Soon after D''s exnation, he understood that what D had done was a necessity. The Essence is the purest form of energy, and it is from this form that Qi and Mana evolves. Thus, the Essence can be literally used to even build solid objects. It is just that the cost of Essence can vary ording to the density, strength, hardness and other properties, as well as any enchantments.

    Whenprehending facts and figures, Lee was almost as fast as a supeputer. Although the Intelligence value of 350 does not seem too high, addition of each point makes a great difference in the extent of reasoning and logic. The fact that Amortals have plotted a n so extensive, but slow is the indicator that those beings have chartered about almost all possible contingencies beforehand.

    When thinking about Amortals, Lee feels an immense respect for them. As entities unbounded by time, their patience to silently wait for all things to turn their way in due course of the dimensions was simply too sinister. The borate n to eliminate any suspicion about their existence also contained a concealed bait which lured the dimension sovereigns toward the Origin Dimension.

    "Makes sense. But try to conserve Essence as much as possible. It takes some time for it to generate from the EsGen."

    Lee gave his suggestion as he stood up from the ground. The expanse of grass under their feet was refreshing and safe to even roll on.

    Lee walked to the cafeteria, where Gauthama and the women were having their lunch. Perrafin and Fero were also filling their tummy with some delicious Sandal Musk''s grilled meat. Hudson was the one taking the orders and preparing food.

    For preparing food, D had created an interface simr to the Workshop, and named it as ''Vaza''. He said that it is the name of a delicious and long-lost dish. D had taught Hudson how to handle the Vaza. Due to that fact that Vaza uses Essence to create food, the ess to operate it was restricted to Dnekewy alone. Hudson was given the permission to operate if D allows ess.

    "A bottle of Horned-Mow milk."

    Lee gave his order, and the Vaza brought forth a bottle of familiar shape. Inside it was milk so aromatic that the smell rushed into his nose. The entire bottle of milk immediately disappeared into his mouth, and Lee let out a burp after a second.

    After the meal, Lee sat with everyone and shared his experiences since the day hispanions were taken into the EsGen. His words conveyed the facts and experiences, but the faces of An, Mia and Rue were reflecting it''s emotions. Their faces expressed almost all the emotions. From happy to surprise, and to sadness and finally agony, and after returning back to rxed emotion of revenge, the narration ended.

    "The duel is set to two days from now. What do you all think about joining the academy? I have no reason to ept or reject the offer."

    The reply was silence. The faces showcased a carnival of emotions. D was silent, as he skimmed his eyes over the silent faces. After about a dozen of seconds, Mia raised a question.

    "How long will it take for the port to get back to a stable situation?"

 Chapter 188: Hunting Down The Mercenaries (1)

    Chapter 188: Hunting Down The Mercenaries (1)

    Lee raised his eyes to the sky and took a moment to think about the condition of the ports.

    "The second quake was smallpared to the first one. But it had shaken the seabed near the port deeply. As a result, an immense amount of stagnated toxic gases trapped underground for years have been loosened, and have surfaced. Almost half of the marine animals have died from the exposure. The ships showed rapid corrosion within a few hours of the incident.

    Now, the ships are all in the docks. Sea is chaotic these days. The deep water beasts have surfaced and a good number of cultivators are doing the subjugation missions. Some experts have announced that the time of chaos has passed, and that there will be no more earthquakes in the future."

    Mia was surprised to see how Lee had described times of distress in a few words. Her reaction was normal. As a port city, the Piscerent city had sustained heavy damage. Maritime voyage was a major part of the city''s trade rtions. The city did not have the luxury of any flying transport. Because ships were cheap and easy for maintenance whenpared with aerial transport.

    "Then joining the academy is beneficial. Since we have quite some time before the ships are back on water, I suggest joining the academy."

    Rue tried to keep a poker-face, but her intentions gave her away. From the moment she heard about the academy where Mana and Magic are taught, her heart was showing excitement to be there. It has only been a few hours since she had known Hudson, and he started to teach her a few advanced basics. Her mind picturised herself in the academy among a bunch of other students, and practicing magic.

    D and Lee spoke through their minds as they saw her concealed excitement. Since she had not been in such an atmosphere, D also supported her suggestion. Lee conveyed the opinion to Gauthama via Telepathy, and he was d to be supportive.

    "She has a point. Also, it will allow all of us to make some new friends."

    Gauthama gave his opinion and Rue was happier than ever. She tried to hold back her joy upon hearing this, but her head moved on its own, and nodded vigorously at hisment.

    Without further ado, Lee finalised the meeting, and said that he needed to find that bunch of mercenaries that handed him over to the Moon Water sect. He recollected his memories and counted four Orcs, five Elves, three Goblins and six Beastfolks. Their silhouettes were enough for him to identify their races, but he could only recognise three faces at the most. Imprinting the faces of two elves and one beastfolk, he asked D tomence a widespread facial recognition scan. Though the sovereign replied with the demand of hundreds of thousands of Essence, Lee was fixed on his decision.

    D immediately began the process. For each individual around him, the cost was 34 Essence. The cost was justifiable, as it was an exhausting task to correct the Map with ordance to each individual''s elevation and direction.

    "We are alsoing."

    Lee looked over his shoulder and saw An, Mia and Tera with their weapons. Their determination was evident from their stance, and Lee did not deny their presence. Nodding in appreciation,

    Within a minute, the scan results of about 1,809,700 people were ready. One of the elves and the only recognisable beastfolk was spotted far north from the inn''s position. They were almost 9 kilometers away.

    The elves were particrly difficult to find as their facial features attributed by their race resembled each other. But each one of them have their own distinct individual facial ir which Lee was able to identify from that glimpse. The beastfolk was a catman, so he was not difficult to trace, as there are only a handful of them in the city, and they differ from each other in height and colour.

    The Foresight was activated, and Lee received a notification that the target''s positioning will be avable to him when returning to reality. Promptly, Lee tore the space, and exited with Tera, Mia and An. Rue, a druid, was not durable for prolonged movements at high speed, and also was more suitable with wizardry.

    =====

    3 P.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The daylight was bright and warm. The twin stars had barely started their descent to hide beyond the horizon. Lee raised his hand and blocked the daylight from falling right onto his face. He moved to the shadows of the building, and the women followed his lead.

    The traces of thugs'' activities have been erased by someone. Lee took a closer look and saw many footwear prints on the dirt. It did not take him long to deduce that theckeys of the Typhoon n hade here when Lee was in the System Space.

    =====

    Targets 9.33 kilometres away.

    =====

    The Foresight came up with its visual interface and the sight was colourful. There was a blue arrow pointing upward and Lee raised his head. The arrow pointed towards the roof. Lee understood that the system was giving its suggestion that the roads are troublesome, and taking the roofs are faster.

    "Lets climb."

    The necessity of Flight was non-existent as his leg strength was more than enough to reach the roof. Hearing his words, the women followed Lee.

    Reaching the roof, Lee Shen stood looking in the north direction. The interface was precisely pointing out the target''s location from far away.

    Turning around, he had a faint smirk on his face.

    "Dnekewy told me that you three were undergoing some real training. Show me how good you have be."

    Lee took a step backward, and his figure faded like a smoke screen. A gust of wind hit them and they were astonished with his unnatural speed. They could only stand with jaws dropped as Lee was no longer in their visual range.

    "We need to catch up."

 Chapter 189: Hunting Down The Mercenaries (2)

    Chapter 189: Hunting Down The Mercenaries (2)

    "We need to catch up."

    Mia uttered, but herpanions heard her. The realisation of being left behind crept up their hearts and they dashed forward. Leaping over streets and taking their sweet time traversing through the roofs of the building, the trio approached Lee.

    Lee had his left fist clenched and behind his back. His eyes were focused on someone about a kilometre from them. The crowd on the streets was not small, but Lee did not struggle to see someone among the herd.

    A breeze caressed his face, and notified him of hispanions'' arrival. Taking onest observation of his target, Lee turned to the trio.

    "One of the mercenaries was a beastfolk, and is now walking among the crowd, about one kilometre away from us. If you were tasked to kill that person, how would you kill?"

    An and Mia did not expect a sudden question. While they took a moment to brainstorm, Tera gave her opinion.

    "Using a ranged weapon. A bow or a spear might do the job."

    All eyes focused on her quick reply. An and Mia were wonderstruck as to how she answered so precisely. But Lee had found a fault in her answer.

    "The target is one kilometre away. The person can move away from the locked position after you fire, or the crowd can cause the target to take steps in unpredicted directions."

    Lee turned to Mia and shuttled his eyes from her face to An. Mia took it as a cue to speak out her solution, and hoped it was not wrong.

    "Take him to an alleyway, and cut the throat swiftly."

    From the shortness of the answer, Lee deduced that the solution was something that randomly popped up in her head. He did not want to discourage her attempt, but also wanted to correct her mistake.

    "Good try, but you forgot the fact that the target is a mercenary. The person is seasoned in evaluating people from their micro-expressions. He may follow you to the alleyway, but he would have delivered a fatal strike before you know it."

    An was helpless as she struggled to find an answer to his question. She expected him to find ws in Mia''s answer, and he did. The very moment, her heart began to drum louder.

    After correcting Mia, Lee turned to his wife. There was a faint smile on his face when he nced at her. It did not calm her, but made her smile wryly in response.

    "Since thest time the target saw you was in the hands of Chu Hua, exposing your face to him might instill fear in him, because he would think that you are back for revenge. When he makes a run for it, he would use the shortest paths. You can kill him when he uses a short cut to cut across streets in an attempt to reach the hideout as soon as possible."

    Both Mia and Tera found her answer more logical than theirs. Their eyes repeatedly nced at the husband and wife, and was expecting him to give a review.

    "Exposing your face can also cause him to chase you to a corner and kill you. Your solution only covered one part of the answer. Since he is a mercenary, it is possible for him to have some kind of distress beacon object which can attract hispanions. Then the trouble will be multiplied."

    Lee turned towards the target and stood with his hands behind his back. The trio was curious as to what might be the answer. Tera disclosed her curiosity after a dozen seconds of silence.

    "Then how would you kill the target?"

    Lee raised his eyes and stared into the horizon, and answered.

    "To kill is the task. But the task does not say that he must die there, on the streets."

    A short pause of a couple of seconds, and the trio had their anxiety skyrocketing.

    "As a seasoned mercenary, he would have keen senses and could easily detect ill-intent. Thus stealth is important. The only way is to follow him until he reaches the hideout. To confuse any potential stalkers, he would surely useplex routes and paths before finally entering the hideout. Rather than killing him alone, I would send them to after-life as a group."

    Mia nodded involuntarily as he heard his answer. An and Tera found the answer satisfying, and could not find any w in the n. Thus they assumed that that would be his n.

    "So we will follow him. We will follow him to the''s end. And when their burrow is found, I will enter and give my respects. While I am inside, you three must guard the entrance from any external factors."

    The point was made, and the trio nodded. Lee ced a beacon on the beastfolk and he saw the target moving around in brownian motion.

    ---

    =====

    4 P.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee was sitting on the roof of the building when the hourly notification came up. Dismissing the screen, he looked around, and the interface spotted the beastfolk east to him. The target was 4 kilometres away from him, and the interface also showed that he is at a depth of 3 metres. That specific info gave Lee a hint that he is already in his hideout.

    "Let''s go. We found the hideout."

    The roof of the brothel wasrge and wide, and thedies were silently practicing their melee training. When Lee spoke, they turned to him and approached him. Without waiting a second, he dashed towards the beacon''s resting ce. He had determined to mark the spot as the whole mercenary gang''s resting ce.

    Lee had adjusted his speed to that of the women. His dexterity value of 3300 was like a sun standing in front of an ant. The least agile among the three was Tera, with a value of 43. She did not have any affinity, but her physical training helped her to almost match the basic speed of An and Mia.

    As he was leading the trio further forward, trouble surrounded them in the shape of cultivators.

 Chapter 190: Even The Strongest Fears Something

    Chapter 190: Even The Strongest Fears Something

    As he was leading the trio further forward, trouble surrounded them in the shape of cultivators.

    "Halt!"

    The people who were surrounding them were nine times four. Lee and the trio paused their sprint and stood on a building''s roof, and they were surrounded from all sides. Three cultivators were airborne and were levitating, which indicated that they have stepped into the immortal ss.

    [37 cultivators wielding swords, spears, sabres, katanas and staves. One Monarch Immortal, two Immortal Grandmasters, three Immortal Masters, seven Soul Manifestation, seven Soul Transformation and the remaining are below them.]

    The de appeared in his hands, and the trio took it as an indication of preparation, and pulled out their weapons. The katana, longsword and the twin hatchets were gripped tight and their guard was raised.

    "We have no intention to fight. But if you show resistance, we will have to first kill you then take your body."

    The Monarch Immortal cultivator spoke and a faint wave rippled from him. An and Mia were stunned as the aura went past them. Lee looked through the corner of his eyes, and saw their hands slightly trembling.

    "Why do you want us?"

    Lee wanted some answers from them, and tried to give the trio some time to recover from their fear.

    "Not all, but you alone. The quest reward has been raised to 50 gold coins, for an individual."

    Saying this, he gave a gesture to the men with lowest cultivation to close in on them. Every cultivator below Soul Manifestation followed themand and moved closer on them.

    "Can you fight?"

    Lee looked over his shoulders, at the three. There was determination on their faces, and he was d that they resolved their mind. As the enemies kept slowly closing in the distance, the trio dashed forward and vigorously defended, and showed their skills.

    Turning to the Monarch Immortal, Lee activated Flight, and rose into the air. The cultivator was stunned for a moment, and so were others with him. For a second, everyone had their eyes on Lee, and An swiftly used this timespan to cut down two Elemental Binding realm cultivators. Her sword''s extended length gave her an advantage over the opponents'' short andmon swords.

    Mia was swift with her katana. The training from Dnekewy paid off, as she began to pick up speed by a little bit. Her cultivation might have been stagnant for a while, but the agility and strength had increased slightly, through practice. She was constantly changing her positions and thus was dealing confusion with her opponents. Once, one of her opponents shed his sword but ended up cutting his fellow cultivator.

    Tera was not doing great with her hatchets, and was slowly being pushed back. An and Mia came for help and the three joined hands and formed a formidable force. Their triangr formation was defending and dealing damage simultaneously. Tera had learned how to use her hatchets as a ranged weapon, which eventuallyes into her hand, like a boomerang.

    Lee saw them dealing damage through the Map, and was happy as he could now fight without any distraction. His opponents had already made their move, but Lee was simply untouchable. When they sh forward and close the distance, Lee would appear behind them and would give a teasing pat.

    The pat was simple at a nce, but a lethal dose of poison was prating the bodies of the immortal ss cultivators. Due to their higher cultivation, the poison was taking a lot of time to take effect.

    mes danced with fury and ice spikes followed Lee like a homing missile. The wind des were not dangerous to Lee anymore, as they dissipated the moment they touched Lee''s skin.

    ''Okay fun is enough.''

    Lee converted a hundred Essence to Qi, and empowered his body with the Qi. The cultivators fighting him felt the presence of Qi from him and frowned. They had no idea that Lee had Qi affinity.

    Before they can even realise what is happening, Lee went past them all, like connecting the dots of an iplete picture. After feeling a slight touch in their backs, they got electrocuted.

    The absolute affinity of Lightning was difficult to defend against, especially if you don''t have any immunity. The cultivators lost their footing, and were falling towards the building roofs. Lee took this chance to pick them all to his EsGen storage, to be productive.

    [Mia is hurt.]

    Right after a sword brushed past her shoulder giving a small cut, Lee was informed about the incident. His speed quickly skyrocketed, and he approached the trio. They were exhausted from the continuous fights.

    Mia was not severely wounded, as the cut was only recognisable from up close. Lee decided to not let them fight anymore, as they could copse at any moment. His humongous Dexterity showed the potential, the cultivators disappeared.

    *huff*

    The trio was breathing roughly, as they were not reserving their strength against the horde of opponents. Lee let them sit down and rest for a few minutes, and their conditions became normal.

    A few bottles of water were created by Lee using the Workshop, and he passed them. The water instantly disappeared into their tummies, and a sense of relief was evident on their faces.

    [Lee, do you sense anything from the southern direction?]

    Lee was about to continue his mission,as he spotted the beacon at the same location. Then D asked this spooky question. Lee quickly turned around and peered at the aforementioned direction. His eyes failed to spot anything umon or suspicious in the direction.

    Actually, what D felt was a gut feeling of unavoidable tragedy and death. Gauthama sprang up from his seat in the System Space, and alerted D that something dangerous was approaching.

    ''Nothing.''

    The fact that Gauthama shouted out alert made both Lee and D extremely vignt.

    After a couple of seconds, something did appear at the horizon like a dot. The next instant, it disappeared from the position and Lee felt his body thrown backward.

    ''The hell?''

 Chapter 191: When Malice Meets Serenity

    Chapter 191: When Malice Meets Serenity

    Lee felt a pain that was non-existent even when he fought with the Tyrant fairy after increasing his attributes. That beast could not hurt him as his Guard was high. But now, something has appeared that is powerful enough to make him stumble backward, and feel an immense pain.

    In front of him was a dark elf. Its eyes disyed ck eyeballs and white pupils. Standing as tall as Lee, its slender figure was covered by a deep brown cloak with faint grey border lines. The greyish white hair was long and it touched it''s shoulders. With its hands behind his back, it had a mocking expression, and its head was slightly tilted, as it scanned Lee from top to bottom.

    The being scanned around him, and the sight fell over the trio. For Tera, Mia and An, this person was someone not seen before, was he was somehow different from themon dark elves.

    [Lee, Gauthama asks to let him out. Use View and you will find out why.]

    Lee was initially surprised as Gauthama raised alert against this dark elf. He promptly used the View skill and his heart almost came to a halt.

    =====

    Name: Hegerus

    Race: Tubian

    Age: +30 Millenia

    -----

    Health: 17,800,000,000

    Power: 90,003,000,000

    Dexterity: 17,500,000

    Intelligence: 10,000

    =====

    The next instant, Lee snapped his fingers and a spatial tear formed. Gauthama stepped out of the System Space, and gave a sharp gaze at the stranger. Hegerus saw him and his brows were raised.

    "I did not expect to see a fellow being here."

    The dark elf took a step forward and spoke. Gauthama stepped in front of Lee, and blocked any further advance of the Tubian.

    "Why are you here Hegerus?"

    The aura of serenity swept across them and it was dense. The trio and Lee felt as if they were lying on a thick bed of cotton. The wave of serenity paused the dark elf. As a response, a thick dark envelope began to surround Hegerus. The aura solidified and it was as if the dark elf had be more darker.

    "Lutapi was killed by someone, and this human has the final traces of him."

    Now, the situation was clear to Lee and D. Lutapi was the parasitic Tubian they had encountered in the nds. Though none had bore witness to the incident, the information acquired from the immature Tubian was of great value to the research of D.

    Lee gripped the de, even though he knows that he is not a match to the Tubian named Hegerus. He used View on Gauthama and a screen popped up.

    =====

    Name: Siddhartha Gauthama

    Race: Tubian

    Age: +4 millennia

    -----

    Health: 9,200,000,000

    Power: 82,600,000,000

    Dexterity: 14,000,000

    Intelligence: 10,700

    =====

    The fact that Hegerus is physically superior to Gauthama, hit Lee hard. Though Gauthama was more than hundred times to Lee in every attribute, he was still weaker to Hegerus. If a fight was to break out, thebined forces of Lee and Gauthama cannot put an effective resistance against the dark elf.

    "You know the rules, Gauthama. Yava has asked forpensation. If you do not step aside, then I might have to forcefully remove you."

    D was sweating profusely as he heard Tubian''s words. If they are seekingpensation, then both him and Lee are in so much trouble. That was not the only reason. This was the second time D came across the name Yava, and it had sowed fear in his mind as he saw the said person''s appearance. The existence of someone who can make a Tubian who is more than 30 millennia old, his messenger, could not be a simpleton.

    "This man is gifted. I would have to object to the decision."

    Gauthama made his statement clear with an unwavering mind. His intention to fight, if necessary, was evident from the words.

    "Lutapi was like a little brother for Yava. Thus his death does not demand the soul of the culprit but those rted to him."

    Lee unconsciously stepped back at this revtion. His soul trembled as the words fell in his ears. A shadow of helplessness covered him and he vulnerably gazed at An. Her eyes reflected her heart''s silent agony when the Tubian disclosed the information.

    "You shall not pass!"

    Gauthama took firm and steady steps towards Hegerus and his words resonated the will to use brute force. Though he was aware that he cannot hold him back, Gauthama hoped to give them a few seconds, which is enough for Lee to open the portal and take them into the System Space.

    The eyes were like balls of fire, and his whole being was bright with energy. As the aura of Serenity exploded forth, Gauthama stood like a wall in front of Hegerus.

    "Gauthama, you never listened to your elders. Due to your affinity with Serenity, my Malice deeply hated your presence. Your judge will be Yava himself."

    The next instant, both Tubians vanished. Their disappearance made no sound and left no trace. As the trio were dumbfounded how the events turned out, only Lee was able to witness the reality.

    The Tubians were moving at such a high speed that his eyes could not urately follow them. Lee was able to sense their traces at certain intervals all around him, and that was when the pinnacle entities slowed down. Yet, the speed at which they moved was still beyond millions, and D shouted-

    [Gauthama is losing. Escape to the System Space.]

    Like a lightning shing across the night sky, Lee moved with utmost precision and created a spatial tear next to the trio. An, Mia and Tera were stunned and had frozen like a statue upon the Tubian''s threatening words, and their want to survive skyrocketed as they saw a sense of horror on Lee''s face.

    An wanted to enquire the reason, but the time was not right. His actions so fast to even register, jolted their hearts, and it took them a second to understand what his intentions were.

    As the spatial tear was opened, Hegerus found that the ytime was over.

 Chapter 192: The Man Above All

    Chapter 192: The Man Above All

    As the spatial tear was opened, Hegerus found that the ytime was over.

    Taking a hold of Gauthama''s wrist, Hegerus pulled him and one of his legs rose and mmed onto Gauthama''s chest. Buddha had already received arge amount of damage, but his health was still in millions.

    Jumping up on his feet, a flying dropkick sent Gauthama flying for a mile and he crashed onto multiple buildings. The streets became chaotic and the Gauthama sprang back on his feet and shot up into the sky. What he saw made him scream!

    "NOO!!"

    The short timespan of hundredth of a second was enough for Hegerus to stop all four of them from entering the System Space. He held Lee by his neck in his left hand, and Lee found Tubian''s grip extremely deadly. An immense pressure had descended on the trio and they were on their knees and felt suffocated. Their faces expressed the agony of every cell on their body crying in despair. Hegerus stood before the spatial tear, and it slowly closed.

    Gauthama came down on Hegerus like a meteor, and his aura was as fierce as a fiery tornado. The calm and collected Buddha had erupted forth to save hispanions. The limitations he had imposed on himself were removed and people on the streets saw somethinging down from the sky.

    Panic enveloped over arge area and people fled, holding onto their lives. The twin stars leaning onto the horizon had the background music of screams and despair. Within a few minutes, the streets were vacant and lifeless.

    "Gauthama, you are naive, you always have been. You did not want to live a different life on your second chance. You preached the necessity of being calm and collected. Though Yava might have allowed to live as you like, many of us hated you for who you are."

    Hegrus raised his right hand and a ball of pure darkness shot from his clenched fist. It collided with Gauthama and his trajectory was deviated. The darkness slowly prated the cloud of serenity and irritated Gauthama.

    He fell on a building with disorientation and difort. Where Gauthama had fallen, the building sustained heavy damages. Soon the building copsed inward, and onto the Buddha who was struggling to stand up.

    Hegerus smirked as he saw the cloud of dust rising up. Lee caught the glimpse of the scene, and he felt as if his heart was being stabbed. Hispletely restrained condition only let him swing his eyes around and see the trio fallen on the roof t.

    Hegerus turned to Lee and brought his face close to him.

    "We do not have any enmity between us. But you made two mistakes. One was to befriend that rogue Tubian who ran away like a coward, and preached all time. Two, you killed the favorite little brother of Yava, the mighty.

    But you are lucky. Yava does not want to kill you. Instead, he wants the souls of your familiars. So I am here to collect thepensation.

    Now that I remember, Yava had not told anything specific about you. So I am free to be your judge. Since Gauthama found you as gifted, I am taking your soul."

    The grip was tightened further, and Lee felt his consciousness fading. His hands were strong, but were never enough to even scratch the Tubian''s skin. Lee felt tired and his hands became sloppy.

    "BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO LIVE ONCE MORE TO DO THAT!!"

    A thunderous roar resonated through the atmosphere. The voice was filled with pride and strength, and lightning shed to its submission.

    Xavi Godson, the president of the Cultivator''s guild was about to mobilise a troop of cultivators under his direct leadership to the distressed areas of the city, when the sound resonated throughout thend. Quickly ascending into the air, he saw lightning strikes repeatedly striking where the people have been reported to see destruction.

    Even Hegerus was stunned by the unanticipated voice. For a moment, his focus was dissolved and the trio found a moment of relief. Lee found the sound extremely familiar, and a faint smile crept up his face.

    Suddenly, a spatial tear was torn open in front of the Tubian of Malice. It was quick and unexpected, that the foot that originated from the darkness inside was nted firmly on the tubian''s chest.

    The strength delivered by the kick was only enough to make him stumble backward. Lee and the trio were released from the captivity. The psychological impact of the atmosphere yed a major role in their release.

    ''D, you exhibitionist oldman.''

    Lee raised his torso on his limbs and smiled at the figure which exited from the System Space. The familiar face saw Lee struggling to stand up, and scanned around to see the trio at the verge of death.

    "Perhaps you might have forgotten about the man above all, the Dimension Sovereign."

    Long white hair danced in the breeze with elegance. The oldman''s face had a nk expression, but with a tinge of anger and seriousness. The white robe with purple floral design was quite an attraction, and the lightning gave its background support to him.

    Though Dnekewy was a soul integrated into Lee''s being, any danger pointed towards Lee automatically bes his problem. D immediately created a temporary vessel to contain his soul while he teaches the arrogant Tubian a lesson.

    Hegerus became aware that the person in front of him is the Dimension Sovereign. He sensed that the person is not physically alive, and only his soul exists. But that soul can deal some serious permanent damage if he goes close. His mind calcted and determined that the chances of victory are not less. Since the so-called Dimension Sovereign cannot exert the full extent of force, Hegerus decided to gamble.

    Like a lightning, Tubian of Malice vanished and closed the distance. His hand caught the neck of Lee, but his focus was set on the trio. A much denser miasma spread over those three and their souls were slowly and visibly being separated from their bodies.

 Chapter 193: Buddha Enters Dark Awakening Phase

    Chapter 193: Buddha Enters ''Dark Awakening'' Phase

    Like a lightning, Tubian of Malice vanished and closed the distance. His hand caught the neck of Lee, but his focus was set on the trio. A much denser miasma spread over those three and their souls were slowly and visibly being separated from their bodies.

    "Not on my watch."

    D went past Hegerus like a wind, and his fist was pressed into the dark elf''s chest. The force made him lose footing as he rose into the air. A quick twirl on his foot, and a spectacr kick empowered by immense angr momentum from the spin, threw Hegerus away.

    The souls went back into the bodies of the trio and Lee was released from the deadly grip, again. The dark skinned death-dealer found footing in the air, as it is an innate feature of almost all Tubians.

    "Hey oldman, I don''t care if you are the Amortal himself, but do not mess with the mighty Yava''s decision."

    For a second, D was frozen like an icicle. It was understandable for someone like him who stood at the pinnacle of the cultivation through many deadly battles and hardships, to know about Amortals. But for someone like a Tubian to know about the malicious masterminds, sounded somehow suspicious. Throughout his interaction with Gauthama, he had not shown any familiarity with the term.

    Lee had his eyes wide open as the word ''Amortal'' fell in his ears. He raised his head with pain, and saw that the source of the voice was indeed the hostile Tubian. He too recollected that Gauthama had not shown any knowledge about the term. At that instance, he confirmed that there is a possibility that some Tubians might have recently made some contact with those amorphous antisocial animals.

    Hegerus took this moment to sprint and get a hold onto the neck of the Dimension Sovereign. Even before D could do something, Hegerus had thrown D into air. The sheer force with which he wasunched into the air, created a sonic boom. Like a spacecraft aiming the eternal abyss, D simply broke the''s gravity and flew out into space!

    Gauthama climbed at the nick of the time, and caught a glimpse of D flying away like a ragdoll. The eleration made the oldman fly out Gauthama''s eyesight and into the unknown. Something told in his mind that this flight to outer space was for a magnificentnding.

    The twin stars exhibited tiredness and were showing an urge to lean on the waterbed. The orange-red sky was like a masterpiece of art. Hegerus took a moment to enjoy the sight above the head, and sighed in relief of getting rid of an obstacle.

    Turning to Lee, who was on his knees, Hegerus faintly flicked his forehead and he flew and crashed on the next building. He broke the parapet andid there motionless. Something urged Lee to not lie down, and he raised his head to see the dark elf standing next to the trio.

    *ba-dum*

    An especially sinister cloud was produced from his palms, and it flew to thedies. Mia and Tera saw this approaching miasma as if it was a snake. An was unfortunately unconscious and failed to see this bone-chilling scene.

    Tera exerted all of her strength into her hands and tried to crawl away. But the cloud coiled around her arm and broke her bones like stepping on twigs!

    "AAAHHHHHHH!!!"

    A loud cry rose up and the sky reflected her agony. The pain went over the roof as her fingers were crushed. The pain and sufferings turned silent, but she was crying.

    *sob*

    Mia saw this, and her soul froze. She could only suppress her agonies and try to move away. But she too met with the same fate. The cloud rose above her upside-down body, and it formed into the shape of dark and menacing spikes.

    *puchik*

    The pitch ck spikes came down on her back like a guillotine and pierced her torso. Every internal organs except her heart were pierced. Mia did not move any further, as she was pinned on the ground by the spikes.

    Lee was not strong enough to see how the events turned out. His heart had melted away from the pain of witnessing these. He wished for something to happen, someone to show up.

    The lifeless body of Mia was enveloped by the cloudpletely. Like a cocoon, it surrounded her and solidified. Tera rolled in pain, and she saw what had happened to her friend. Her sadness had transformed into despair. The sight was heartbreaking.

    Gauthama was no longer the cool and collected Tubian. His eyes were not bright like a sun, but dark like a new moon. His hairs were floating in the air, and he had an ominous aura materialised above his head. A hostile energy was around him and there were many faint ck stripes on his skin. Lee saw the transformation, and his mind was d to have someone stand up.

    The hostile energy rippled across the atmosphere, and Hegerus looked over his shoulder. Seeing Gauthama in the Dark Awakening, he could not help butugh mockingly. One of his arms was relieved from producing the deadly gaseous substance and he took a 90 degree twirl to stare at his fellow Tubian.

    (A.N. The Dark Awakening is a phase where a Tubian embraces another concept/element than his/her true speciality. This can give a great boost to the attributes for a brief moment, but the bacsh is simply.painful!! The Tubian might even lose his/her life upon such an attempt. Not all Tubians can pull off this trick, and only an extremely few cane back without perishing.)

    "You embraced Dark Awakening? For what? To save these pests from my grasp. Remember it is-"

    Before Hegerus couldplete his statement, Gauthama had punched him in the chest. But the amplification of speed and the enhanced durability made his hand go through the chest of the dark elf. Hegerus was stunned and went pale at this urrence. ncing at Gauthama''s face, all he saw was death staring dead into his eyes.

 Chapter 194: A Futile Attempt

    Chapter 194: A Futile Attempt

    For a being much more powerful than Gauthama, Hegerus had an extremely higher Guard value. Thus none of Gauthama''s previous hits left any marks on his skin.

    But now? Gauthama has gone Dark Awakening and haspletely embraced the chaos. His hand had entered Hegerus by breaking his sternum and came out by severing the continuity of his backbone.

    The eyeballspletely consumed by rage and chaos stared at the dark elf. The Tubian of Malice tried to pull the hand out of his chest, but found his attempt to be in vain.

    The pitch ck gas has been abruptly erased from any further production, but it continued to linger around, as it disintegrated very slowly. Mia was dead and encased in the ill-intent miasma and Tera was unconscious from pain. An was undisturbed, for now, as she was unconscious.

    Lee saw how Gauthama pierced the dark elf''s chest and his mind jumped up in joy. Channeling all his strength, he stood up but fell on his knees. The Tubian had only flicked his forehead, and he is still suffering from its effects. The disorientation made him scream inside, but he gritted his teeth, as tears rolled down on his cheeks. Lee had his eyes red from the pain.

    It took Hegerus to find some familiarity with the energy rising from Gauthama. When he thought about it, things were clear to him. He scolded himself for missing to spot such a vital truth.

    Gauthama suddenly felt his energy being absorbed into the hands of Hegerus. A faint sinister smile on the face of the dark elf gave him the outline of the situation.

    Gauthama was the Tubian of Serenity. When he went through the Dark Awakening phase, his serenity was totally reced with chaos and unrest. But Gauthama failed to consider the possibility of traces of Malice in the dark energy. Hegerus, in an attempt to somehow break free, took hold of Gauthama''s hand and then realised this truth.

    By each passing moment, Buddha was losing a small portion of his strength. The grip Hegerus put on the piercing hand of Gauthama had turned strong and firm. As he frantically swung his arm around to lose the parasitic elf, The Tubian of Malice slowly umted energy from Gauthama.

    And when the time has arrived, Hegerus felt that he had more than enough energy to bury Lee, Gauthama and the Dimension Sovereign alive, The Tubian of Serenity only had half of his strength.

    "Offense was never your forte, yet you made an unnecessary attempt. But thanks to you, I feel reborn."

    The dark elf pulled out the arm and threw Gauthama on the floor. The Tubian of Serenity felt himself at the verge of death. His breathing was irregr and rough. To make things painful, Hegerus raised his leg and stamped on his stomach.

    *boom*

    Whether it was throwing people into the space or stamping people into the depths, Hegerus was sure to produce a shockwave which travelled across thend. The sound with which Gauthama collided with the floor reverberated through the atmosphere.

    Buddha, who was not fond of fighting or violence, tried to protect his dear and near ones, but failed in his effort. Not that he did not give his everything, the enemy was well versed in the art of war. Thus he turned the tide in favor of him.

    Hegerus barely turned to the menacing dense mass of gas on the floor, when someone shouted out. The sound echoed throughout the atmosphere which had a wonderful background of two masses of light kissing their reflections.

    "Stop this now and surrender!"

    Now Hegerus was really pissed. He was trying to do a job given to him withplete trust, and pests keep popping up every now and then. He sighed and turned around, with a nk face.

    The head of the Cultivator''s Guild was here to get destroyed. No, I mean rescue..to rescue. The head of the Cultivator''s Guild was here to rescue those who are left alive.

    Xavi felt an immensely powerful aura when Hegerus exhibited his power. The chaos and distress when Gauthama got thrown away, crashing into the building made him sound alert and the three giants of the city were notified of this unrest.

    The only problem he faced was a dy in bringing together the troops. Long Sect, Typhoon n and Iron Shadow n had to select their best of the best and send them for at the short notice of the Cultivator''s Guild.

    As soon as the cultivators gathered, Xavi led them straight to where Hegerus was. It was easy to spot him with the surrounding damage and destruction.

    Perhaps it was because they sensed pure malice in the air, even the n Heads came with half of their elders to assist. Almost all the core disciples were following the elders, but the inner disciples were stationed at a distance, as reinforcements, in case a situation arises.

    "Identify yourself."

    Xavi shouted out and his voice resonated in the dark elf''s ears. The Tubian skimmed over the faces of the vast numbers of cultivators surrounding him. The very thought that they are trying to poke andmine made him smirk.

    Witnessing the arrival of reinforcements, Lee had got up on his feet. He converted thousands of Essence to Mana and Qi, and gave himself a boost. His attacks were faster than the cultivators could follow, but Hegerus easily broke all of his limbs'' bones, like breaking a toothpick. Lee spectacrly failed in his attempt to wound the Tubian, even with Lightning, Poison, Gravity and Light attributes activated.

    The n Heads saw this and frowned. They were aware of the fact that that man was the winner of the Tournament. Though Lee won the tournament with the Veil of Whiteness, he was still a force they had reckoned with. To see someone like him being destroyed in a matter of seconds, made them think about retreat.

    But their pride as cultivator''s did not allow them. It was a natural instinct of the cultivators to show that they are superior to adventurers.

    "Thousand Severing Sword Formation!"

 Chapter 195: Netherworld God Killer Puppet

    Chapter 195: Netherworld God Killer Puppet

    The most agile of the cultivators were sent to retrieve Lee from the vicinity. Hegerus saw their attempt and was amused. He did not stop the man from taking Lee, but he would have interfered if they were taking the three women away.

    "Thousand Severing Sword Formation!"

    The n head of the Iron Shadow n shouted out, and a thousand cultivators assembled themselves in formation. The cultivators began to chant something and their swords rose from their palms. Like a gigantic being, the swords rose up in unison and a visibleyer of Qi was surrounding them.

    The Iron Shadow n head bit the tip of his index finger and blood appeared. He smeared the blood on his forehead in the form of a hyphen, and his eyes began to burn like fireballs.

    "Heaven is the ultimate one,

    Nothing burns brighter than the sun!"

    The chant ended and the swords began to home at Hegerus. Maybe it was upon seeing the formation for the first time, he twitched his brows.

    The swords began to fly at the dark elf with an intimidating aura. But the Tubian of Malice did not move. He simply raised his right arm and swung it horizontally.

    Like a candle near fire, the swords homing in on him melted and fell on the ground. At the same time, innumerous ck spikes emerged out of thin air and pierced the cultivators'' hearts. None was able to make a reaction, and 99% of the entire people surrounding Hegerus died in an instant.

    The cultivators expected a battle, but was witnessing a one-sided overpowered massacre. Even a few elders from all the three giants of the city could only evade the deadly objects. Not a single core disciple from the two ns and sect remained.

    "YOU BASTARD!"

    The Long Sect head saw the deaths of their core disciples and elders, and became enraged. His anger exploded forth as he took a talisman from the inside of his robe. The blood red piece of paper emitted a repelling aura.

    "Hear my call, Netherworld God Killer puppet!"

    *Boom*

    From a distance, a loud st could be heard. Something rose up into the sky and came down to where the n head was standing. Therge figure descended behind the n head and straightened its posture.

    ''View.''

    Lee was struggling to recover as the traces of Malice were still in his body. It battled against the Life element Mana, but soon yielded. As his body was slowly undergoing reconstruction, he used View on the arrived object.

    =====

    Name: Netherworld God Killer Puppet

    Type: Puppet

    -----

    Health: 34,990,000

    Power: 42,505,000

    Dexterity: 1,700

    =====

    ''The hell? Are they trying to amuse him?''

    Lee couldn''t believe that this puppet behemoth was weaker than a punch of Hegerus. After depleting his entire Mana resource, his body was now almost healed. So he switched to Qi and the healing was much faster. With only a 120 Qi left, he was back to his normal state.

    He was physically healed, but the trace of Malice was still running around in his brain. It periodically gave him a splitting headache, which he received by squeezing his skull in pain. Hegerus had nted a dose of Malice inside him to keep his actions at bay.

    Lee tried to contact D several times, but the sentient part of the system did not seem to respond. Unbeknownst to him, D had contained his soul in the human figure vessel which he used to contend with the dark elf. When Hegerus threw D into outer space, he was forever lost from the.

    The behemoth puppet was glossy ck with neon blue lines running all over it. Hegerus found that the daylight hadpletely gone, but the neon light from the puppet was lighting up the atmosphere. He simply brushed off the existence of the puppet and turned around toplete his task.

    "Presumptuous!!"

    The n head fumed with anger. As if the puppet felt insulted, it threw its hand and punched at Hegerus. But the arm abruptly came to a halt, as Hegerus used his skin alone to stop the force. He was irritated and was enraged. The energy of Malice condensed in his arms and he swung his arms.

    *crash*

    Therge puppet flew away for about a mile and crashed on multiple buildings. The mortality rate of that crash alone crossed 30, and the puppet remained motionless. The n head tried to summon the puppet back, but it seemed not to respond.

    The miasma of pure negativity flowed from Hegerus'' palms and Tera was covered in the cocoon. She should have died by now, but the lingering gas of hostility tied her soul into her body and prevented from escaping.

    The cultivators saw that the dark elf was about to kill thest female cultivator, but was hesitant to attack. From what they saw, even the Netherworld God Killer puppet failed to put up a decent fight. With morale sunk to the bottom of the seas, the remaining cultivators withdrew from the scene.

    But Xavi stood next to Lee. A few loyal subordinates of him also stayed by the side. Wondering how to defeat this being, they helplessly witnessed An being slowly engulfed by the miasma.

    Standing up, Lee huffed out a mouthful of air silently. The pain and disorientation that shook his resolve to its core had subsided. He forcefully expelled the traces of Malice from him, using the affinity of Serenity.

    ''Convert half a billion Essence to both Mana and Qi.''

    The visual interface suddenly showed a steep increase in the Mana and Qi reserve. Time element was activated and the Space affinity brought out its true potential.

    Lee leaned forward and vanished from where he was, and Hegerus instantly felt a deadly intent approaching. The aura of the intent was so powerful that it made his hair on his back stand up. He turned around, and raised his hands to defend.

    *boom*

    Hegerus defended on time, but the iing force was somehow beyond his expectation. When he flew backward after losing foothold, Hegerus had his eyes widened by what he saw.

 Chapter 196: Will He Save Them?

    Chapter 196: Will He Save Them?

    Tubians could only have one element or concept as their speciality, as they are given a second chance to live. It is also their innate ability to detect the amount of energy exerted by someone.

    The indigenious people of Zaxaluke can only have a maximum of three or two elements as their forte. That too, one among them must be stronger and the second must be a weaker force. If a third one exists inside a person, that could only remain in traces.

    But Hegerus detected the boundless power of Space and Time from Lee. To be honest, Lee was unsure about the weakness of the Tubian of Malice, and hoped that thisst attempt would hit the mark.

    Unsure of how Lee housed two forces of infinite strength, Hegerus recollected Gauthama''s words. The term ''Gifted'' rang something in his mind, and a sinister smile came upon his face.

    "I was thinking about leaving you alive after breaking a few bones, but you had tricks up your sleeve."

    A dense cloud of Malice rose from Hegerus body and his body began to irradiate faint purple streaks. The daylight hadpletely vanished, and his figure was clearly visible through the darkness.

    "I will make you suffer, if that is thest thing I do."

    Lee said with an unyielding heart, and dashed at Hegerus. The dark elf did not stand idle and ran at Lee. Xavi and his subordinates have understood their helplessness and retreated to further afar.

    Hegerus almost punched Lee''s fist, when he felt something amiss. Lee was as fast as the dark elf was. The stacked effect of boosting Lee while slowing down Hegerus brought them to a speed, yet faster than naked eye could follow.

    For his surprise, the Malice around his fist disappeared when he touched Lee. Instead, a bright dense disk of white light formed in front of Lee''s fist and it mmed into Hegerus'' chest.

    *BANG!*

    The condensed energy of Serenity made Hegerus stumble back in pain. Quickly healing himself with Malice, Hegerus found his body and actions incredibly slow. Before he could wander his eyes around, a fiery fist mmed into the dark elf''s face.

    The clenched fist pressed Hegerus'' nose deep into his face. But the Tubian did not fly away. He was locked inside a specific set of spatial coordinates, and each second used up an unbelievable amount of Mana.

    *thuck thuck thuck....*

    The Space element attributed Mana was holding Hegerus down on a specific location like an anchor, while the Time element attributed Qi was elerating Lee''s actions to an iprehensible speed. Each time the dark elf was punched and thrashed, a lethal dose of Death energy flowed into him.

    ''View.''

    =====

    Name: Hegerus

    Race: Tubian

    Age: +30 Millenia

    -----

    Health: 660,780

    Power: 2,320,000

    Dexterity: 4,790

    Intelligence: 10,000

    =====

    ''Fuck, this bastard still has more health than me.''

    ncing at the Mana and Qi reserve, they were at thest three digits. Lee did not hesitate to convert another 5 billion Essence to energy forms.

    Lee took a halt of his continuous bombardment of punches, and took a step back. The atmosphere became silent from the unending noise of ''contact''.

    "Tired?"

    The dark elf wasughing, despite having a dozen broken teeth and a crumbled nose bridge. When he smiled, the vacancy in his mouth was visible. Blood was flowing like a stream, from the corners of his mouth and from his nose.

    As Lee heard his question, Malice began to flow out of the confined space. Lee had only locked Hegerus'' body in the coordinates, but not his energy.

    ''Serenity Shield.''

    Ayer of whiteness descended upon the dark elf and the Malice only showed faint difort. Hegerus kept his wicked smile on, and Lee punched that face asking for more punches.

    ''Space element, manifest.''

    Amand, and the next instant, Hegerus went pale and his eyes went wide. Though there was no one near Lee, he sensed a great and endless pit of energy descending next to Lee.

    The Tubian race had an ability to ''see'' very dense concentrations of energy. And this ability enabled him to see the formless lump of boundless potential near Lee.

    ''Compress this bastard.''

    The formless Space element became a clone of Lee, and Hegerus was stunned by the sight. As a being with uparable power and age, his arrogance had clouded him from seeing the true potential of this young man.

    The humanoid Space element extended its arms forward and slowly brought it together. Hegerus began to lose his cool, as he felt the pressure of an invisible and unbreakable wall slowlypressing him. With all his might, the Malice prated the serenity shield and dashed vigorously, and pierced An''s head!

    ''NO!''

    All it took was a split second, and An was killed before a defense could be created. It was unknown whether Tera was alive or not. Mia was the first to get punctured to death. The agony of failure to safeguard his dear ones ced a weight over Lee''s heart, and his innards crumbled.

    The next instant, the wicked maliciousness was cut off from its source and Hegerus was crushed by the sudden sp of the Space element''s soul. The hideously disfigured body of the dark elf was still mockinglyughing at Lee, and tears rolled from his eyes.

    ''Time element, manifest.''

    The mockery on the face of the dark elf faded away as time manifested next to Lee. It was also the clone copy of Lee. It stepped forward as Leemanded-

    ''Reverse Time around those three women.''

    Xavi and his fellow cultivators could not see anything in the dim doughnut shaped moonlight. The faint outlines of the figures were vaguely visible. Even stealthy cultivators did not have the guts to probe forward. The Immortal ss cultivators sensed sudden and dense energy signatures appearing at a distance, and their curiosity skyrocketed. But the innumerous lives lost during the encounter acted as a warning.

    The Time element was struggling to reverse the temporal signature around An, Mia and Tera. The Malice consistently disrupted the rhythm of Time maniption, while slowly disintegrating. Hegerus was further crushed andpressed and his fingernails were beyond recognition.

    Then that bastard said-

 Chapter 198: Missing?

    Chapter 198: Missing?

    A wooden roof was the first thing he saw. Though his sight was blurry initially, Lee scanned the view and deduced that it is the inside of a room. The next instant, the visual interface lit up.

    Lee read the date and time that appeared just below the Qi and Mana counter. Assuming that the information is his hallucinations, he closed and opened his eyelids many times.

    ''22nd April. So, 21 days have passed since my arrival at Utopia.''

    The events and incidents in which Lee had partook shed through his mind. Innumerous faces came up and vanished in an instant, and many information flooded his brain.

    The recap finished with some painful memories. The faces of Mia, Tera and An were etched deep in his heart. Without his consent, his eyes began to fill up with tears and they rolled down through his cheeks.

    [Lee, we are uncertain whether they are dead or not. Perhaps, they could be well alive and waiting for you to rescue.]

    Lee nodded at D''s words. He could only hope for something like that.

    ''I heard someone else''s voice. Was it Hudson?''

    [Yes, it is. Previously, he did not have clearance to ess themunication channel.]

    ''And how did youe back? I saw you being thrown into the space.''

    [After being thrown into the space, I had lost all control over my direction and speed. All I could do was to wander aimlessly. Most of my powers were transformed into the system, thus the wisp of sentience stored in the human figurine was literally powerless. Though it took some time, I expended a good amount of my soul sentience to contact andmunicate the Will of the Dimension, which teleported me to the outer areas of Piscerent city.]

    ''When did youe back? How long have I been sleeping?''

    [ording to Hudson, you were asleep for more than a day. I came back to the city, and sneaked into the system barely two or three hours ago.]

    ''Sneak?''

    [You are in the medical ward of the Cultivator''s Guild.]

    D opened the Map and the 3D hologram appeared. Therge andplex architecture of the Cultivator''s Guild could be seen in detail. The projection was so big, D had to zoom it out to give Lee a full view.

    Now, Lee could see the reality of the entire architecture. The Guildplex was not one building, but the construction of two independent buildings so close that it looked like one giant one.

    The main architecture was simr to arge mall. It was here that the shops and stalls are present. Various products ranging from consumables to weapons and trinkets are avable in these shops.

    The second building was constructed independently. It was the real building of the Guild. When the mallplex had a two storeyed structure which consisted of more than 200 degrees of the entireplex, the Guild structure took the leftover space which was barely the size of a 150 degrees of aplete circle.

    The actual Guild building was a five storey building with two storeys above the ground and three below the surface. The first underground floor was for processing the mission request objects and beings. There were many experts busy with their works on that floor.

    The next two floors were transformed into onerge floor to amodate the dwarves and elves, and their works. The dwarves were busy with cksmithing and weapon making in a designated space, and the elves were manufacturing potions and pills, along with experiments and explosions.

    The walls were made up of a threeyer mechanism which gave quite a premium protection. The tremors from the outside could be felt, but it could not disrupt the processes going on in here.

    None were forced to work, and the Guild gives them a fixed base sry. If any new products could make a hit in the market, then the bonus will be rewarded.

    Among dwarves and elves, there were many wearing cultivator''s robes. Lee understood that most of them are free cultivators who have learned either alchemy or cksmithing in order to have the protection of the Guild from potential threats.

    A silent green beacon kept on blinking on the ground floor of the Guild building. Lee zoomed on it, and found that the room in which the beacon was, was the room in which he is now. Now Lee had trulyprehended the entire architecture of the Guild.

    [The time is 3 A.M. The duel with Miss Ganga is set for today. Take some rest, and then we can depart to the academy.]

    ''No need. Let''s move.''

    Lee raised his torso and sat on the wooden bed. The Hundred Leaf Sandalwood''s fragrance was undetectable, unless one consciously picked it up. The scent made him rxed, and urged him to stay on the bed. But Lee was determined to leave the idleness.

    ''D, what about Gauthama?''

    [He was nowhere to be found. Gauthama was beaten up so badly that he should be helplessly lying in a pit, but those who went to scan the premises came back with empty hands. Even his energy signature seems to have vanished.]

    ''borate.''

    [Gauthama is surely missing from the scene. He might have concealed himself and retreated to somewhere. I am sure that he would feel the same way you do. But, I am one hundred percent sure that he is not dead. If he was, then I would know his soul was being deported to his home dimension.]

    Lee sat on a side of the bed and looked around. There were a few more injured cultivators lying on the adjacent beds. A quick nce at them, and the Foresight pointed out the reason for their unstable health problems.

    "Malice?"

    The Foresight showed him that they had traces of Malice energy in their bodies. The aura of density was absent, and Lee found that they are simply disrupted by the energy.

    Lee stood up and walked to the nearest one. He took out 5 Qi from his reserve and attributed Serenity to it. Pressing the palm to the man''s forehead, the distressed expression began to weaken.

 Chapter 199: Soul Manifestation Realm

    Chapter 199: Soul Manifestation Realm

    Lee stood up and walked to the nearest one. He took out a few amounts of Qi from his reserve and attributed Serenity to it. Pressing the palm to the man''s forehead, the distressed expression began to weaken. After a couple of seconds, the clenched fists were rxed.

    ''Seems working.''

    As soon as that man''s breathing became calm and safe, Lee walked over to the next man and to the next cultivator beyond that bed. Within five minutes, he walked to more than 20 cultivators and removed the traces of Malice from them.

    *huff*

    Afterpleting the round, Lee went back to his bed and stood near it. His hands were sped behind his back and he saw the relieved faces of the unconscious men.

    [What do you think about your fight with the Tubian?]

    Lee sat on the wooden bed, and he was rewinding his memories. He analysed the scenes frame by frame and answered-

    ''Dangerous entities. Unbelievable stats. And the most unexpected part is the mentioning of Amortals.

    [If I am correct, then one of the Tubian, or the person Hegerus addressed as Mighty Yava, might have made contact with Amortals. The Amortals might have traced my arrival back home when we escaped the Origin Dimension.

    If that is the case, then we need to speed up the processes.]

    Lee was thinking the same possibility. Before D said it out loud, Lee had deduced that he needed to assemble the remaining Dimension Sovereigns.

    ''Disy Qi Cultivation progress.''

    =====

    Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm

    Qi: 65,565

    =====

    ''Breakthrough until I reach Peak Soul Manifestation Realm.''

    [Okay, rx your mind and body. This might sting a little. Your soul will be slightly configured.]

    Lee promptly rxed every muscle in his body. His mind was devoid of thoughts. But, somewhere in its depth was the image of three women dyed in blood.

    [Converting 90,968 Essence to Qi. Conditions optimal. Commencing break-through.]

    A wave of sensation enveloped Lee. It was as if innumerous ants were biting him simultaneously. The pain was not physical, but originating from his soul. A wave of irritation began to well inside him, and his finger twitched to scratch all over his body.

    Persistence was the key, and Lee had it more than enough. When he was living with his grandpa, who was a Shaolin Kung-fu expert, the body training Lee went through was like walking through fire. The intense physical exercises and extremely painful methods made his mind resistant to such urges.

    When Lee was taken to the monastery at Kathmandu, the healing of the poison was his major objective. But the days he trained there were not few, and his mind soon acquired a considerable invulnerability to external variables. The chilling cold prickled his skin, but failed to break his profound rhythm.

    Before he knew, the sensations of difort had faded away. Lee opened his eyes and saw the world in a new perspective. He felt as if a boundless pit of energy was ced inside him.

    [You are now at the peak stage of the Soul Manifestation realm. This is the maximum we can proceed at the moment, as your identity in the city is that of an adventurer. Even if we go away from the city to counter the tribtion, the high tier cultivators would sense the tribtion clouds gathering above us.

    Your elemental souls live inside your soul. If your soul is hurt, they will try to heal you. If they are hurt, they will retreat inside you. You are their leader andmander. Lead them well.]

    Lee nodded at the report of D. The impossibility to further proceed in the cultivation was as Lee had deduced. If the n elders or sect elders were to sense someone outside the city breaking through, then they would identify the person as a non-affiliated, and would rush to rope him in.

    This would create some serious identity crisis for Lee. Since no Utopian can have two affinities at the same time, Lee would be questioned of his origin. Such controversial news would spread faster than a wildfire, and his life would eventually be in grave danger.

    The possibility of breaking through while in System Space was also subjected for research. But the special property of that space as the product of spatial engineering, would never be able to withstand the overflowing power of tribtion. The chances for the space to break apart and disintegrate are higher than D had expected.

    Lee saw that the time was 4 in the morning. Using the Map, he saw very few people roaming around on the streets. There were cultivators roaming around in the streets to make sure no crimes happened. Some were enjoying their times in brothels. Yet, in the darkness of alleyways, many were mugged and illegal transactions were uring.

    The guild market was open, but customers were scarce. The Qinterns ced in front of each shop illuminated the inside of the mall. The wide and winding steps were a sight to behold, and sword wielding cultivators roamed inside, while chatting.

    Lee decided to step out of the medical bay. Standing up, he made a quick check of his clothes and possessions. The spatial ring was untouched by anyone, because of his poprity as the champion of the tournament. A rumour that the Moon Water sect was destroyed because they made him their enemy, was also spreading inside the city.

    The enchantments Lee casted, the abrasion resistance and resistance to water and fire, seemed to have been corroded away by the Malice of the Tubian. Lee was not taken aback, as he had expected something like this also to happen. At least, Hegerus was not a Tubian just because of his iparable stats.

    Quickly using Spotless on himself, Lee opened the Workshop to repair his clothings. Creating new ones was costly, so he chose to repair them. After spending a few tens of Essence, the full sleeve brown hoodie which resembled to be made of leather, and his deep blue jean pants were back to perfection. The loafers were not severely damaged, but Lee repaired it and casted ''Noise Nullification'' on it.

    As Lee walked to the door and reached for the handle, it was opened and a female figure appeared in front of him.

 Chapter 200: Day Of Duel (1)

    Chapter 200: Day Of Duel (1)

    As Lee walked to the door and reached for the handle, it was opened from the outside and a female figure appeared in front of him.

    "Mira?"

    Lee recognised the female and she stood at the door with eyes wide open. As she took a moment to observe him from top to bottom, a familiar voice came from her behind.

    "Oh, you are awake?"

    Jake raised his doubt, and stepped in front.

    "Why would I not be awake?"

    Lee did not understand the meaning of their question.

    "President Xavi told us both toe and pick you from the medical room. He said that when he found you, you almost died from a heart attack. As you did not wake up after a day, he informed us to take you to the academy. We thought that you were dead, but it turned out to be mere assumptions."

    Now Lee had an outline of the situation. Indeed, it was umon for a person who had fought a very strong opponent, to sleep with no sign of waking up. Anyone would be concerned, and Lee internally admitted that he also would have done something about the person.

    "I slept for a day?"

    Lee acted as if he had no idea that he had slept for a whole day. The knitted brows expressed his confusion.

    "ording to the Guild president, yes, you did sleep for a whole day. So, we are here to take you to the academy for treatment. It is also necessary to let the principal know of your situation, and postpone the duel."

    Lee did not object to what Jake said, and gave a nod in agreement. The siblings turned around and walked to the entrance, and Lee followed them. As Lee had observed, there were only one or two people walking inside the Guild market. None of them seemed to recognise him, and he exited the doors of the Guildplex.

    =====

    5 A.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "You can walk, right?"

    Jake halted, and turned his head to probe at Lee. The reply was simple.

    "Yes, I am not feeling anything wrong."

    Hearing the answer, Jake nodded at his sister. The siblings stood at both sides of Lee, and they walked. Their steps were guided by the torches andnterns ced all along the streets. The almost vacant paths hade beggars and thugs standing here and there.

    *rhythmic whistling*

    As the trio walked past an alleyway, a lowlife poked his head out of the darkness and scanned Mira. Though she was not a beauty, her features were well above average. Not that they were bigger, but the upper and lower parts had a particr synergy which could attract the eyes of men.

    "Don''t walk away girl. Lets chat for a minute. We are feeling lonely here."

    A voice reeking of vulgarity rose from the darkness. Through the Map, Lee saw three figures walking out of the darkness. Jake and Mira had to stop their tracks as two of them jumped and blocked their way. Without much difficulty, Lee predicted how this is about to end.

    "The girl stays. Try to resist, and-"

    Jake had his hand on his sword''s pommel for a few seconds. When the thug started to speak up, the intentions were clear. The swiftness with which the sword shed out of the scabbard was insanely fast, that the thug could only hear the sound. He raised his hand and touched his neck and felt something oozing out of the skin.

    The man blocking their way was beyond the sword''s range, and confident. He was unaware of the fact that they were not ordinary adventurers. Jake was good at manipting Mana through his weapon, and the sudden draw of the sword shed forth a faint sword aura. This aura had cut the neck of the thug, and it did not take more than a second for him to fall on the ground.

    For adventurers and cultivators, it was permissible to kill someone who had a criminal history or connections with criminals. Since this thug was a criminal, and tried to threaten an adventurer, who is also a civilian, Jake had the liberty to execute judgement.

    The swift movements and its result made the fellow hooligans take a step back. A sense of regret and helplessness crept up their face, as Jake walked to the alleyway.

    Lee saw that the alleyway does not have any hidden contraptions of traps, and did not interfere. The figure of Jake vanished into the darkness, and yells originated for a brief second, and it was cut off. The sound of a sword cutting the air could be heard.

    *footsteps*

    Jake came out of the alleyway, and swung his sword. The ground was marked with a series of red dots in a line, and the sword went back to its sheath.

    "Shall we continue?"

    Jake spoke, and walked in front of them. Lee and Mira followed him and no voice interrupted their peaceful strides. Many sets of eyes peered at them from the darkness in horror.

    -----

    =====

    6 A.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Four minutes after the notification disappeared, Lee was standing in front of a gate. Above the gate was a familiar arch, with a few words engraved on it - ''qvier Academy of Magic''.

    Mira pushed the gate open and they saw a few disciples roaming around with their weapons. Since it was his first time entering the academy at dawn, she exined that a group of students assure the safety of the academy at their assigned days of duty. Lee found the practice sensible and beneficial for the students.

    The students found the faces of Jake and Mira familiar, and Lee was recognised from his particr physique. They gave the trio a slight bow, as they passed them by. Jake and Mira nodded at them in response.

    As soon as they walked into the building, Drake greeted them. He wasing down from the library and had two books held close to his chest. His robe was covering the names of the book, but Lee found the titles using Map.

 Chapter 201: Day Of Duel (2)

    Chapter 201: Day Of Duel (2)

    Drake had a semi-circle spectacle in front of his eyes. For Lee, the fact that he was a bookworm, was unknown. His surprise to see two of the academy''s best disciples was evident on his face.

    "What a pleasant surprise. I never expected to see the champion with two of the finest students of the academy."

    Jake and Mira could not help, but feel shy at thisment. What Drake said was actually true. Those siblings were two of the finest students in the history of the academy.

    "We came here with Lee by the instruction of the Guild president."

    The mentioning of his brother''s name partially faded the smile on Drake''s face. Jake began to narrate why they were here. Drake was aware of the wild explosions and destruction that urred in the city, but he never thought that Lee would be involved in the battle. When Mira told him how Xavi found Lee in the rubbles and ruins, the books in his hand almost fell down.

    Drake scanned Lee as a whole, with a deep frown. He was surprised as well as concerned about him from all the narrations, as he was a person with enough potential to raise the academy to great heights.

    "Follow me quickly."

    Drake did not show the patience to hear the narration to its end, as he turned away and walked. His words were unexpected, and caught them off-guard. Without wasting a second, they promptly ran behind Drake.

    ---

    Medical room of the academy.

    An old woman was sleeping while leaning on the table in front of her. Her chin had slipped down from her palm, but she didn''t know. She had her head in between her V shaped arms. Her peaceful slumber was disrupted when Drake kicked the door, which opened with a-

    *BANG*

    She literally jumped up from her seat and nced around with her sleepy eyes. Her wrinkly face attributed more sluggishness to her actions. When her eyes picked up a blurry, but familiar figure walking towards the beds, she ran her right hand over the table and took her spectacles.

    "Professor Drake."

    She called out his name as she had already deduced the identity of the person without sses. But, she frowned as she saw Drake being furiously quick. Standing up, she walked at him.

    "Lie down quickly."

    Drake quickly inspected all the five beds there, and pointed at one, andmanded at Lee. He did not hesitate or dy to promptly do what he was told. Seeing all these, the old woman neared Drake.

    "Dolly, give him a thorough check-up immediately."

    The woman was confused and surprised. It has been over a decade since Drake had called her by her name. She remembered that thest time he addressed her as Dolly was when she was having a deathmatch with another professor. Without raising any objection, she came near Lee and raised both of her hands over him.

    "&$*@%^"

    The script was alien to him. It was not theirmonnguage, nor any other Lee knew of. He assumed that there is a greater powerful source from which magic is acquired. The time she took to chant was only a second, and a horizontal halo ran around Lee''s body. After a second, the halo slowly began to dissipate.

    [Lee, there is nothing to be worried about. This is an ancientnguage called ''Arachno''. It is also called the Language of Magic. Most chants and spells were originally in Arachno and waster tranted intoymannguage.]

    It was not thenguage that caught Lee''s attention, but a moment of split-second where the old woman had her eyespletely white. Her pupils disappeared for an instant and then appeared again. For a normal human, this would have been imperceivable. But Lee saw this clear as a sky.

    [The speciality of the spells in Arachno is not their explosive strength or shorter chant length, but direct integration of the host with the spell. What she used was a chant to observe your whole body like a sheet of paper in sunlight. It is like seeing you as a skeleton and a mass of muscles in a blink. The spell means no harm, and it cannot detect the changes made to your body by the system.]

    Dolly retracted her hands and crossed her arms in front of her. She rubbed her chin, as she looked at Lee as a whole.

    "What did you find?"

    Dolly raised her eyes after a second, and replied to Drake.

    "I cannot see why you brought a perfectly healthy man into the medical room. He is perfectly fine."

    Drake was relieved and confused. From the ount of the siblings, Lee had fought a being which killed a lot of cultivators in a short timespan. But as he was certified fine, the professor pushed all his concerns to the back of his head.

    "Professor Drake, what was the reason you brought this man here?"

    When Lee was about to leave the room with the professor and the siblings, Dolly raised a question. Drake replied that Lee had fought a band of bandits today, and only returned to the cityte night.

    ''Liar.''

    Dolly was able to tell that it was a fabricated story, as Drake made it up at that very moment. He stuttered and nced all around him, while avoiding direct eye contact with her. She let him go as she found him struggling with his creativity.

    ---

    Walking down the stairs, Drake was not concerned about Lee, and freely chatted with the siblings. Jake and Mira were happy to share their mission experiences. As Lee was all ears to the unending tale of hardship and adventure, the hourly notification came up.

    =====

    7 A.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The event that followed was never within Lee''s expectations.

    *GROWL*

    For someone who was asleep for over a day, Lee was super hungry. The walk from Guild to the academy and the run to the Medical room was all tiring, and Lee was losing his grip over the ravaging stomach. Atst, it sounded its desire to devour out loud, and three pairs of eyes turned to him.

    "Lets go to the cafeteria"

 Chapter 202: System Almost Crashed?!

    Chapter 202: System Almost Crashed?!

    "Lets go to the cafeteria"

    Drake said and walked in the direction of the cafeteria. Jake was also starting to feel hungry, so he quickly followed the professor. Lee stepped forward and followed Jake, and Mira walkedst.

    After a few seconds, as they were walking in a line, the visual interface began to twitch violently. Lee frowned as he witnessed this, but did not slow down his pace. He kept walking as the interface glitch furiously. After almost a minute of disturbance, the interface disappeared. Lee was confused as to what had just happened.

    ''D? Hudson?''

    Even after calling a couple of times, there was no reply. Lee began to storm his brain and recollected all the instances where Lee had talked about the system. Nowhere in his memory, had D mentioned about a glitch or bug.

    Hoping that everything was fine, Lee walked towards the cafeteria. But what he did not know was that there was a battle going on inside the system.

    The cafeteria was not vast andrge, but was about half the size of a football ground. Few students were sitting here and there as a group, and a very few sat alone. As their eyes fell on Drake, Jake, Mira and Lee entering the cafeteria, the dull sounds of conversations became silent.

    "Just a moment."

    The professor told them to wait for a moment, and walked towards a set of tables and chairs, different from themon ones. Those sets of furniture were isted from the rest, with a partition as tall as waist. As many pairs of eyes watched, Drake walked into the section named Executives, and ced the books in his hand onto a table. He then walked to the trio, and led them to the serving counters.

    "Breakfast for four, please"

    To Lee''s surprise, even those at the serving counters were students. An exnation was unnecessary as he deduced the reason. The students looked pleasant when they were serving and their hands moved with fluency and skill.

    Four sses of Coco Milk and four tes with Roasted Chicken was ced in front of them, and Drake picked one of each. Following him, Jake, Mira and Lee picked theirs and followed the professor to their seats.

    Drake went into the executive area, but Jake did not enter. He was not an executive of the academy, so he was hesitant. Drake only saw the trio standing, after he sat down. He saw Mira''s eyes ncing at the ''Executives'' board.

    "Don''t worry about the board. It was meant to let the students have their freedom and privacy, as we, older people, sit here silently."

    Jake was d to hear the exnation. Without any dy, the trio entered and sat around the table. The chairs around the round table were perfect for a small family of four.

    ---

    Slow and steady, Lee finished what was on his te. Jake was not behind him. They had a silentpetition between them as they saw each other''s speed of devouring. It was after Mira smacked Jake''s head, that he calmed his monstrous eating mode.

    The interface glitched a few more times as Lee was eating, but he did not give it any concern. Not that he did not want to, but none of his internal yells were answered. So he could only wait patiently for D to surface and give a report.

    And speaking of D, a panel appeared with a faint red exmation mark in the background. The words made Lee pause his appetite.

    ==+==+==+==

    D reporting. The system was at the verge of permanent crash, due to certain overlooked possibilities. The Tubian of Malice, Hegerus, had left a significant amount of Malice energy inside the system. How he did is unknown, but I specte that he might have left his energy signature when I exited the System Space.

    The threat was neutralised, but two irreversible damages have been sustained. First, the host, Lee, will no longer be immune to any element. The affinities are intact and untouched. It is assumed that the energy was targeted to take out your defenses. Two, the Quest feature has been corrupted beyond retrieval, and was thus lost.

    The Quest was the only means ofmunication we had with the Will of Dimension. Now that we are unaware of anything happening at the fabrics of the dimension, I urge the host, Lee, to be more cautious and vignt at times. Hegeus have sessfully made us blind to their moves.

    All traces of malicious energy have been removed. The energy is reported to have disintegrated itself, after being surrounded by the system sentience. Further in-depth scan is being carried on, and I will be unavable for the next two hours. Consult Hudson if necessary.

    ==+==+==+==

    Sweat drops appeared on the forehead, and Lee felt his heart have stopped for a brief moment. ncing around, he found that no one had found him going pale from the sudden and unexpected revtion.

    The system was his only assistance to contend in a world with Qi and Mana. For someone with neither of them, the existence of the system was crucial for his survival, as Tubians might have known about him by now.

    ''Hudson, do you hear me?''

    [Loud and clear.]

    ''What happened?''

    [It was about barely an hour ago. Lee suddenly felt the presence of something foreign inside the System Space. Within seconds, he found the energy of Malice hiding inside the space. We were attacked the moment it found itself exposed. D was injured and his right arm was cut off amidst the battle.

    D removed all limitations he had imposed on himself for the stability of the System Space. Then, he went all out. If I am correct, he deployed each and every element against Malice. I assume that you might have noticed its fluctuations in the visual interface.]

    ''You call that fluctuations? The interface was going crazy.''

    [Well, that was necessary to corner the Malice. The foreign energy found itself in a really troublesome situation, and broke down from within. The energy dissipated into nothing, and not even a trace existed. But there is a possibility that it might not havepletely left.]

 Chapter 203: Duel (1)

    Chapter 203: Duel (1)

    [But there is a possibility that it might not havepletely left.]

    Lee understood why D had mentioned the necessity of an in-depth analysis. He nodded at Hudson''s words, and stared at the empty te.

    =====

    8 A.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "Shall we get going?"

    Drake asked, as he saw that all three had finished their breakfast. Receiving the nods of agreement, the professor stood up and took the te. The trio followed his lead and walked to a set of taps under thebel ''Wash''.

    ---

    After washing the tes and sses thoroughly, the trio followed Drake''s example. The warm water was pleasant to touch, and was apt for germ cleansing. The tes and sses were ced inside a tray after washing. Drake went to take his books, and they went out of the cafeteria.

    The grey robed students were entering the cafeteria as they were exiting. Drake saw a few professors of the academy and greeted them, to which they greeted in response. The visual interface showed that the time was 8 in the morning, and he assumed the reason for the inflow.

    "Mira, can you lead Lee to principal Erikko''s office? I will join you three in a minute."

    The books in Drake''s hands wererger, and his hands were not feeling good after holding them for long. Mira nodded and the professor quickly disappeared after walking down an aisle.

    ---

    The principal''s office.

    *knock knock*

    "Come in."

    The voice from the inside permitted them to enter, and Lee followed Jake and Mira. In his chair was Erikko sitting and skimming through a thick file. Upon seeing the trio, he closed the file and ced it over the table.

    "Long time no see, Jake and Mira. And Lee, I was wondering when you woulde."

    The siblings gave a light bow, and spoke-

    "We have been busy with missions, principal."

    Erikko stood up from his chair, and walked to the window.

    "No worries, kids. I am happy that you both are living well. Take a seat."

    Jake and Mira sat down and Lee followed their lead. He was careful not to mess up anything in front of the principal.

    "I hope mister Lee is ready for the duel."

    "Yes sir, I am."

    Before Mira could speak up and defend him, Lee had already given an answer. She was confused and nced at Jake, who gestured to her to stay silent and let him speak. Since Lee was alright, it was natural to let him decide for himself.

    *knock knock*

    Drake poked his head and asked-

    "May Ie in?"

    Erikko looked over his shoulders and said-

    "If I am to say ''No'', will you stay outside?"

    "No."

    Drake had already entered inside and gave his response. He walked to the table, and handed over a file to the principal.

    "Any casualties?"

    "None yet, sir. But we have some students gravely wounded. They will have to stay put in the beds for a few months."

    Erikko nodded and opened the file. While he was ncing through the report, Lee used the Map to read the content of the file, which did not have a name.

    ''Hudson, can you scan the entire file and give me a report?''

    [On it.]

    Erikko quickly skimmed through the file, and closed it, saying-

    "Now.let us go to the arena, shall we?"

    When Drake was about to object to the principal''s words, Jake stood up and walked to him and whispered the events unrolled before he came in. Knitted brows scanned Lee''s face as it conveyed Drake''s expression.

    Without wasting a moment, Erikko walked out of the office and Drake, Mira, Jake and Lee followed him. They walked straight to the indoor stadium which had opened itsrge metallic gates for everyone.

    While they were walking, Drake came next to Lee and asked why he had epted the duel. Lee replied that he had no reason to deny it since he was alright, and if he denies for no reason, that would be cowardice.

    Drake shaked his head and picked up pace. He knew that youngsters are bound to make mistakes by their fragile and feeble moral views. He hoped not to see this young man lying in the Medical room.

    ---

    The time was half past eight in the morning, and many had finished their breakfasts quickly. Those who ate, ran to the stadium with all their might to get a hold of the best seats for best view.

    Yesterday at noon, Erikko announced that Lee, the champion of the city tournament, and professor Ganga Equis, head of the Magic Research department, would duel in the indoor stadium. He also stated that Miss Ganga objected to his decision of weing Lee as a tutor to the academy. Thus, the principal concluded his message by saying-

    "Professor Ganga would be evaluating the champion of the city tournament. I would notpel anyone toe and watch, but if you could, you may witness some serious magic brawl."

    Drake let Lee know of this information, and he deduced that these students are here to see some action.

    ----

    Each passing minute was like a year ticking away and the stadium was already filled with students. It was then Lee noticed a pattern with the students'' robes.

    Each student would have gold coloured circr bands on their cuffs. The long sleeve robes were specifically tailored for each student, and the position of the cuffs was precisely where they are to be.

    The gold coloured bands determined the year in which each student was studying. As he was standing next to the raised tform, he saw a familiar face among the crowd, and his mind recollected the name ''Janvi Stuart''. She had five golden bands on her cuff, and it proved that she was a fifth year student.

    Another face that caught his eyes was the girl named Val Dimin. The two golden bands on her cuffs told Lee that she was a second year student. Since it was possible for a student to study under more than one department in her lifetime, many dreamed of being well-versed in multiple talents.

    A set of footsteps entered the stadium and walked straight onto the raised tform.

 Chapter 204: The Duel Begins

    Chapter 204: The Duel Begins

    A set of footsteps entered the stadium and walked straight onto the raised tform. The slender figure skimmed her eyes over the students and gave a sharp gaze. It was a warning not to cheer up for the opposition.

    The students became pin-drop silent as professor Ganga registered her presence in the arena. Lee nced at Drake, and then walked to the center of the stadium. The building asrge as a ser stadium only had two people standing at the center of it, about 40 metres apart. As Lee reached his predetermined position, Erikko stood up and spoke.

    "Students and fellow professors of the prestigious qvier academy, we are here to spectate the duel between Lee and professor Ganga Equis. If the head of the Magic Research department wins, she can decide whether he can join the academy as a teacher. If Lee wins, then I shall appoint him to an appropriate department.

    The winner is decided when the other admits defeat or is knocked out. Consumption of potions is allowed. The duel begins!"

    Erikko stepped back and sat on his chair. The whole stadium was silent and eagerly peered at the two at the center, without blinking.

    =====

    9 A.M.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "....."

    "....."

    It was almost a minute, and neither of them made a move. Some of the students deduced that this match is not going anywhere, while many found professor Ganga''s silence interesting. As someone with extraordinary sensitivity to Mana, her stillness umted the anxiety of most students.

    "Ganga Equis. Head of the Magic Research department. Earth, wind and fire affinities."

    This was the highlight of Ganga Equis. She had three elements as her affinity. Not only the count of the affinities, but the implementation of these elements made her famous. Her precise usage of affinity elements to distract, confuse and defeat her opponents were a nightmare even for peak Soul Manifestation realm cultivators.

    Now it was his chance, and Lee introduced himself.

    "Lee. Lightning and water affinity."

    Lee had selected those two for some reasons. The fire affinity can be countered with water, and as far as he can provide Mana, the wind cannot disperse water. Lightning was selected as he was confident in his control and maneuverability. If he can provide enough Mana, then he can redirect the lethal strikes anywhere he desires.

    ''View.''

    =====

    Name: Ganga Equis

    Race: Dwarf Elven

    Age: 29 years

    -----

    Health: 680

    Power: 210

    Dexterity: 105

    Intelligence: 149

    =====

    ''Not bad for a hybrid of an elf and dwarf. Hudson, limit my physical stats to half.''

    [Limiter ced.]

    Ganga saw that Lee was not taking any initiative, so she decided to take the first step.

    "Fireball."

    Ganga raised her right arm towards Lee, and a burning ball of fire appeared out of thin air. It expanded for an instant, and then shot towards him. Lee took a few steps to his right. But therge fireball acted on its own.

    Lee had stepped out of its trajectory, but he had never expected that the fireball would suddenly split into many smaller chunks of fire. The process was sudden and the fireball was only about 3 metres from Lee.

    ''Crafty.''

    Lee disappeared from where he stood and re-appeared at a different location, about 10 metres backward. The ce he where stood a second ago was engulfed in mes. The fireball became a puddle of me and spread out on the floor.

    The instantaneous movement was witnessed by the gathered students and professors, and an awe of surprise arose from the crowd. Erikko had his eyes wide open as he saw Lee moving like a lightning. From his observations, Erikko decided to add him to the Physical Augmentation department.

    ''How did he move so fast?''

    Ganga was riddled by many questions in her head. She could not find a reason for his sudden jump in location. But she felt d to have known about his supernatural speed. She guessed that it is rted to his affinity with lightning.

    "....."

    ''?''

    Ganga was chanting something, and it was so feeble Lee could not pick it up. Lee extended his hand and shot arge puddle of water over the mes, and the fire died up. Turning around, he saw innumerous golems next to Ganga. She had a smirk on her face, and sweat dripped from her forehead.

    *swish*

    One of the golem shot forward and reached near Lee in a short time. Even without Foresight, Lee can see every movement of the golems. As the earth construct neared him, other golems had crept behind the one in front, so as to conceal their presence from Lee.

    Lee shot forward, and jumped forward as he reached at the verge of the puddle of water. The golem and Lee collided over the puddle, in mid-air. As Lee brought down his leg on the construct''s chest, the golem was thrown downward with an enormous momentum. The strength shattered the stone construct to pieces and the crumbled golem pieces fell into the puddle.

    *gasps*

    The action sequence was swift and wless, and Lee exhibited his strength to shatter a stone golem. For people with physical boost, this was a simple task, and many concluded that Lee is a fighter than an elemental user.

    Before Lee could reach the other side of the puddle, seven other stone golems had pounced on him. Without wasting a second, the nunchuck was pulled out of the Storage, and it was then everyone noticed the presence of a spatial ring in his left arm''s ring finger.

    *stones cracking*

    The right arm moved on its own, while Lee did a mid-air maneuver. The nunchuck drifted in the air and connected the chests on all the golems in a single line. When he reached the ground on one of his knees, small stones fell on him.

    Standing up and dusting, Lee saw the surprised face of his opponent. Ganga gritted her teeth and disclosed her arsenal. Arge orange arcane magic magic circle with numerous geometric figures in it, materialised vertically in front of her, as she extended both of her arms forward.

 Chapter 205: Own Version Of Summoning

    Chapter 205: Own ''Version'' Of Summoning

    ''Now what?''

    Lee was seeing something like this for the first time. He had no idea what it could do, and was not sensing any hostility from the suspended diagram.

    Therge circle had two triangles in it, one up straight and another upside down. At each point of the triangle was a symbol distinct and unique. The circle immediately started to rotate and Ganga had finished her chant.

    A dark portal was reced by the orange with a spectacr transition. It was as if the magical construct caved in and the reality was distorted. The orange circle remained in the air, and acted as a barrier which restricted the void inside from spreading outside.

    From the darkness within, a limb emerged. The leg resembled that of a giant lion''s paw. The next second, a head emerged from the void.

    "Advanced Summoning Magic!"

    Sulphur Quill, the head of the Summoning Magic department, shouted out and the whole of the stadium was stunned at this revtion. Everyone had two reasons to be surprised. One, it was summoning magic and the advanced at it. Two, the head of Magic Research department had unearthed this advanced art without the knowledge of anyone.

    Many shivered at their first draft of spection, when they imagined what the Magic Research department could be hiding. Even in the Summoning Magic department, Sulphur alone only knew about the advanced tier of summoning magic. But that was different from what Ganga had disyed.

    Lee also heard the exmation and was now aware about the trick. He probed at Hudson about this type of magic.

    [I am sorry Lee. All I remember is a few magic circles and I am not sure whether they are rted to summoning. Perhaps, I might have forgot about it.]

    The response was not as he had expected, but Lee was not disheartened. He had his own ''version'' of summoning magic. But before that, he decided to watch his opponent''s magic in detail.

    Resembling a two metre tall gigantic lion, the beast that exited the portal had a royal blue skin and had narrow orange coloured lines as design. The thick fur was aesthetically beautiful, and many students found it difficult to avert their gazes from the soft texture. The paws had sharp and long ws, and emitted a fierce aura. Exposing the sharp and well arranged array of teeth, it nced around and growled.

    The indoor arena resonated the beast''s scary presence. The beast turned around and skimmed through the faces seated around the arena, and finally reached Lee. The sharp gaze produced from its eyes were bone-chilling, but that was unfortunately far from enough to shake his resolve.

    "I was reserving this for a stronger opponent, but if you admit defeat, this beast may not tear you apart."

    Ganga took a step forth and touched the beast''s mane, and conveyed her intentions. She had drunk a medium quality Mana potion right after the beast came out, and thus was brimming with energy. The portal was closed immediately after the beast had exited.

    "That is some nice trick, but I have my own."

    Lee was not ready to admit defeat to such simple tricks, and gave out his answer. His voice resonated in the ears of everyone, and many frowned. Muffled gasps could be heard a second after and many were d that they hade to witness the duel.

    Ganga was curious as his words could only mean one thing. Erikko and Drake leaned forward with the same revtion. Sulphur was bing restless at this revtion. His fingers fidgeted constantly as his excitement skyrocketed.

    ''Activate light affinity.''

    Lee followed the exact same actions of Ganga, and extended his arms forward. To bring naturality and more focus, he closed his eyes. Arge lump of light materialised in his palm, and shone bright.

    ''Not too bright, and not too dull. As thick as an electric cable.''

    The closed eyes helped him to picturise his construct more vividly and in detail. As he poured Mana into his palms, the shining lump was quickly transformed into a less brighter circle. The construct made of light began to expand and became bigger than what Ganga had conjured.

    ''A little bit more, and stop. Now, the decorations.''

    After expanding the circle a bit more, he maintained it in the mid-air. Then extremely detailed shapes and constructs began to appear out of thin air. Within a minute, the circle was filled with innumerous unique glyphs, and geometrical shapes.

    The circle filled with many useless triangles, pentagons and hexagons inside it, yed its role wlessly. Theplex white construct was majestic and suspended in the air with a royal halo. At the centre of all these was a light construct that was the mirror image of a Rubix''s cube. It constantly rotated and shifted the blocks randomly.

    ''Let the gates be opened.''

    Lee raised the entire light construct into the air and it expanded exponentially. After it reached a towering height of 20 ft, Lee decided to open the System Space at its middle. He was careful to precisely manipte theplex light construct, and made it look like the entire ''magical circle'' dissolved into the portal.

    Like a gigantic snake eye iris, a vertical tear formed in the middle of the dissolving light particles. The darkness inside the portal was enormous and the fissure expanded to the sides. Ganga was taken aback by the size of the portal, and had a bad premonition about what was about to emerge from it.

    Even after a few seconds, nothing emerged from the inside. Many were almost at their threshold of excitement, and they could not help but stand up and peer at the portal. Even Erikko, the principal, had slid forward and was at the very edge of his chair. When students took a glimpse of the head of the Summoning Magic department, Sulphur''s eyes conveyed confusion and strangeness to the whole process.

    Lee hadmanded the beast to note out casually, but to make a dramatic entrance. The beast responded in agreement with a roar, and it shook the insides of the stadium. From the facial expressions, Lee spected that some were at the verge of fainting.

 Chapter 206: Snow Meets Flame

    Chapter 206: Snow Meets me

    ''Okay. Make your dramatic entrance.''

    A faint growl came out of the portal and some faint noises could be heard. Then tworge ws extended out of the fissure and caught the edges of it. The size of them made the lion beast frown as it peered into the darkness.

    A cloud of fog flowed out to the ground and a terrifying head followed it. The twisted horns were not at all intimidating, but the size of the monster made many go pale.

    The Snow Wyvern kept his promise and made a dramatic entry. A thick mist escaped its nose as it exhaled heavily. The beautiful pale blue pupils were in harmony with the smooth skin texture. Though it was not much, the appearance of therge hooked ws gave a gist of the uing beast''s size.

    "Mamma mia, is that a Snow Wyvern?"

    Sulphur lost his cool and jumped up from his seat and these words exited his mouth. Those who heard him were as if they had seen a dead alive. For the first time in their lives, the students saw a live wyvern in front of them.

    Erikko was puzzled by Lee''s identity. When he assumed him to be a physical augmenter, he turned into a summoner. The principal thus deduced that more tricks Ganga would disclose, more Lee would introduce himself.

    "How about you admitting defeat?"

    The Snow Wyvern was 6 metres tall, and that was thrice the size of the lion beast Ganga had summoned. Not only was it taller, the entire wingspan and the enormous body gave the lion beast a hint to concede.

    But, was Ganga ready to admit? NO! She was excited to see her seemingly harmless opponent bing a summoner, and bringing out a Snow Wyvern. She wanted to put her lion beast''s strength to that of the wyvern, but her summoned monster showed resistance.

    ''No, you don''t.''

    Gnaga red at the beast, and it found itself in a dilemma. Reluctantly, it stepped forth and powered up. The narrow orange stripes on its royal blue fur began to burn and began stripes of me. A mocking smile crept up her face, and she said-

    "This beast is pure fire. It will not fail to snow."

    "Then let''s see it for ourselves."

    Lee replied to the arrogance and overconfidence she disyed, and threw a nce at the wyvern and said-

    "Don''t freeze them to death."

    The wyvern growled in agreement and the students in the gallery were astounded. The summoned beast had a rather good rtionship to Lee, and it verbally replied to hismand. It was unseen among the summoners as they treated the beast as a tool to fight and defend.

    The lion beast was enraged. Though it was initially ready to admit defeat without a fight, now it felt insulted, as Ganga tranted his words in a ''different'' way. The mes burned with vigour and Ganga had to step back for her own safety.

    The wyvern stood up on its feet and rose its torso. It disyed its dominance in the fight by spreading itsrge wings. The wingspan which easily surpassed 30 foot was massive. Then, it''s mouth opened and arge amount of snow was shot at the lion beast.

    *shaaaaa....*

    The very sight of the wyvern spewing snow and mist was majestic. Therge frame supported by the hindlimbs were lowered and the wings were brought down to support the upper torso. Adjusting its head as it was lowered, the Snow Wyvern continued to spew its breath.

    The heat of the me Lion beast was equal in strength with the chilliness of the snow. The me Lion beast was a less powerful version of the Fire Lion beast, which can stand at minus degree temperatures without flinching or difort. The diluted lineage caused the beast to revert to a me Lion beast. But whether it would grow into a Fire Lion or not, was disputable.

    After about two minutes of continuous streaming, the wyvern took a break. It showed tiredness, because it had never faced a necessity where it needed to spew out its energy for so long. The beast took a step back and stared at the lion beast.

    The opponent was more or less in the same condition. A lot of its ming orange stripes were extinguished. The me Lion felt a faint chilliness around it, and shivered a little. But it was not injured in any way. The continuous cloud of mist and snow enveloping it, forced it to burn its energy to great heights. The exhausted beast ced its legs slightly apart from its normal position. In case it feels like losing bnce, the new stance would help to stand upright.

    Like an old diesel engine struggling to start up, the beast slowly umted its energy and mes. The faint snow particles on its fur began to recede rapidly as the orange stripes caught on fire. While the lion was charging itself, it detected an ominous presence.

    Due to its stable posture, it was not able to evade the iing ice particles. In fact, this attack stunned the beast as it was sure that the wyvern was tired. But, when it caught a glimpse of the beast, and the person standing next to it, the outline of the situation was guessable.

    It was an experiment, but Lee seeded in imbuing Ice attributed Mana into the wyvern. The same experiment was run using the Workshop''s simtion algorithm, and the result was 75% positive. Lee imbued very low quantities of Ice Mana and found that the best is responding positively.

    The audience only saw Lee gently cing his palm on the smooth scales of the wyvern. The wyvern looked back at him, as it felt invigorated. Lee mentally conveyed that it was his doing, and to absorb as much as it can.

    The overflooding Ice affinity was intoxicating and the Snow Wyvern was filled with energy. Regting his Mana flow, Lee gave ample time for the wyvern to fill its tummy.

    And as a result of Lee''s ''gentle touch'', what wyvern shot forth was not snow.

 Chapter 207: Winner Wyvern

    Chapter 207: Winner Wyvern

    The outpour of Ice crystals along with mist and snow signified the end of a one-sided brawl. The mist spread all across the stadium and those in the gallery felt its chill.

    ''Mana Transfer!''

    There were a few pairs of eyes who recognised Lee''s deed. Erikko, Drake and Ganga shouted out the name of this technique in their minds. This art was difficult to execute for a long time, as the beast in demand of energy, would end up sucking every bit of Mana from the provider. The fact that Lee was not using any Mana potions indicated that he was not an ordinary man.

    Ganga was pale as she witnessed her defeat. The me Lion had its mane and fur full of icicles, despite its futile resistance. Themand Lee previously gave to the wyvern was the only thing that held the flying behemoth from freezing the beast to death.

    Lee retracted his hand, as he can see the shivering beast through his Map. The Mana supply was cut off, and the wyvern was told to stop. It stepped backward, and lowered its head to Lee. As a beast which had grown up inside a dungeon, it was seeking pats and head rubs. Understanding the necessity, Lee rubbed its scales with affection.

    Professor Ganga had lost her luster and victorious smirk. The me Lion saw the wyvern and Lee together and turned around to re at her. She quickly summoned the return portal, and the beast walked in. Before it left, it gave onest stare at her, which literally meant-

    "Don''t summon me ever again!"

    More than the freezing defeat, what hurt the me Lion most, was the attitude of its summoner. As the beast went inside the portal, her head was staring at the ground. For the first time, thepetitive spirit of Ganga had faced defeat.

    Lee saw the me Lion returning into the portal and the magic fissure closed. He was now interested to make contact with these beasts from the portals. Making a quick mental note of the incident, he turned towards Erikko.

    Drake was also looking at Erikko through the corners of his eyes. For a few seconds, he was confused as to why everyone including Lee was staring at him. Then, it hit him.

    ''Oh shoot, I am the principal!''

    Erikko sprang up from his seat and picked up a serious face.

    "The winner of the duel is Lee!"

    Following his words, a loud round of apuse rose up. The wyvern was unaware of such customs, and was about to roar at them. But, Lee quickly transferred his memories about local and social customs to the beast and it calmed down. The beast quickly surfed through the received sets of information, and assimted them into its brain.

    It was then Erikko noticed the absence of Ganga in the stadium. His wandering eyes were noticed by the students and professors, and they too found her missing. Without waiting to hear the victor deration, she had silently exited the stadium and went back to her quarters.

    Though Lee was unaware of the reason for disappearance, many were sure that it was because of her first defeat since joining the academy. As a student and tutor, Ganga''s sensitivity and quickness to Mana and her passion to research Magic were her major advantages in a fight.

    "Anyone objecting my decision can enter the arena."

    Erikko observed the wyvern in detail, and spoke. A silence was followed by his words, and he was happy. After dispersing the students, Erikko asked the department heads to gather at his office.

    ---

    "Is it okay to leave that thing with the students?"

    Drake asked Lee, who was walking in front of him, while looking over his shoulder. Hearing this question, Lee turned around and saw the wyvern and a bunch of students next to it.

    "It will be fine. The wyvern is very obedient."

    Drake nodded as he took onest nce at the wyvern, and turned around to walk into the main building of the academy. Lee found the students trying to interact with the beast, amusing. Even though it was a dungeon boss, the beast would not break hismands.

    Following Drake, he entered the building and headed to the principal''s office.

    *knock knock*

    Erikko''s voice came from the inside of the room, and Drake and Lee entered the office. The principal was seated in his seat. Sulphur Quill of Summoning Magic department, Ganga Equis of Magic Research department, Merion Block of Weapon Mastery department, Serapha Kitt of Rune Mastery department, Walter Green of Fire Element department, Ivy Taurus of Water Element department, Uriel Yttrid of Wind Element department, Romal Dread of Earth Element department, Dolly Drake of Holy Element and Luigi Valor of Artifact department had already assembled in the office.

    Adding Drake Godson of Spell Development department and Erikko Te of Physical Augmentation department, the total number of departments in the qvier academy was 12. There were a few more departments in the past years, but the silent persecution from cultivators and the powerhouses of the city proved to be suppressing.

    The interior of the office had drastically changed. The table and set of chairs were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a big conference table with Erikko sitting at the head. There were a few chairs vacant. The principal gestured both to take a seat, they promptly did.

    "I hope you all are aware of the duel''s results. Lee had won the match, and had acquired the right to be a tutor of the academy. In today''s circumstances, the presence of a person like him is necessary."

    Erikko was serious, and his words conveyed an indisputable fact. Just because they have Mana affinity, many children are restricted from even leaving their houses. The pride of the cultivator powerhouses were founded on the objective of destruction of enemies.

    After a short pause, he continued-

    "The only thing that is left to do is to decide his department. So put forward your suggestions."

 Chapter 208: The Field Experience Department

    Chapter 208: The ''Field Experience'' Department

    The twelve departments only had a head and that was the only professor in that department. Thus, a tug-of-war for the new recruit was normal.

    Sulphur was the first to open his mouth.

    "Since he can summon beasts, he should join the Summoning Magic department."

    The argument was not to other''s liking, and it was natural that he was crossed.

    "If that is the case, then he should join the Water Element department."

    Ivy Taurus made herself clear.

    "Why don''t he take charge of the Lightning Element department?"

    Dolly, wife of Drake Godson, voiced her opinion. For a brief moment, nobody spoke against her.

    "Lightning is a rare element among students, and thest Lightning affinity student we had was over a decade ago."

    Merion shrugged and stated the truth. As a rare element, Lightning affinity was seen sparsely even in decades.

    "Then I believe it is better to ask for his decision."

    Erikko said and turned to Lee. Eleven pairs of eyes were now staring at him. Lee was unsure of what to say. Drake understood the reason for hesitance to speak, and conveyed what the principal meant by his words.

    "About that. Do we have a department for field experience?"

    Department heads looked at each other clueless about his inquiry. They could not find a reason from which his question had arisen.

    Lee had a specific reason behind this question. He had put together various pieces of information from multi sources and analysed it thoroughly, toe up with this uncertainty.

    Like everyone, Erikko was curious for the reason behind this doubt. When asked to borate, Lee spoke-

    "Throughout my travel through the city, I have only seen a very few adventurers and came across a very high number of cultivators. I have seen many capable students inside the campus, but very few outside. This academy has a history longer than the Cultivator''s Guild, yet it is like an isted area. I have also not seen any students outside the academy premises."

    Lee decided not to mention the conversation between Drake and Erikko this morning. The file had a list of students, who were somehow injured. There were more lists of names, and Lee had skimmed through all.

    The atmosphere was silent. The department heads were looking at Erikko for an answer. Understanding their gazes, he replied-

    "Your observations are correct, and I assume you have found the answers yourselves."

    Lee nodded. Erikko took out a file from one of the draws, and it was the same file which Drake had given to him.

    "Two days ago, we had sent the final year students of Magic Research, Weapon Mastery and Fire Element departments for a practical examination. This is the list of final year students that came back with injuries and wounds. Except for students from Weapon Mastery, many had sword shes on their body.

    The reason is simple. The cultivators are not fond of our presence. So they are trying to irritate and annoy us to such an extent that if we go for a war, it would only be a lopsided invasion"

    Erikko paused and the tension in the atmosphere was over the roof. The principal stood up from his chair, and walked to the window. He saw the Snow Wyvern lying on the green grass, and a few students sitting next to it. One of them was leaning onto its smooth scales and sleeping silently.

    "Lee."

    The voice did not have the pride and strength of the academy principal. It was as if a request followed it, and Lee assumed correct.

    "Can you help this academy? We are in dire need of someone like you."

    When Erikko turned from the window, everyone saw his expression. He looked no more than a dying grandfather asking a stranger to help his grandchild live without worries.

    [I find no tinge of falseness in him. ept the task.]

    [I find his concern about the academy and the lives of students genuine, and we cannot reject such an earnest request.]

    Both D and Hudson voiced their support in this matter. Lee had a faint smile as he nodded at Erikko in agreement.

    Without any further ado, the department of Field Experience was established and Lee was appointed as the head of the department. Erikko made an announcement and the information was known

    The meeting was adjourned, and the H.O.Ds went back to their offices. Drake and Lee were asked to stay put.

    "Drake will show your room and your office. You can start from tomorrow."

    "Can I start today itself?"

    Lee showed his enthusiasm and the principal was pleased. A nod was received in response, and Lee thanked him and left the office.

    [So what is the n?]

    ''Simple. Bring qvier academy back to its former glory. Take students outside for practical experiences. Teach them to tackle situations. Prepare them for their own adventure, and make every batch better than previous.''

    Lee checked the time and it was almost 11 A.M. He then opened the Map and saw that almost all students were in sses. The wyvern was basking in the daylight and there were students sitting next to it.

    ''Let''s start from there.''

    The outdoor training ground was vast and a major portion was in and hard ground. Only a small area had grass, and thereid the beast.

    Lee walked to the wyvern and it recognised his presence. It raised its head and the students realised that someone was approaching. ncing around, Lee was caught in their view.

    "Hello. May I know which departments you are from?"

    The students took a step back, as the announcement clearly said that Lee is a department now. With a sense of respect, one of the four replied-

    "We are from the Fire Element department, sir."

    The wyvern came next to Lee and rubbed its head to Lee. He moved backward a few steps and ''conjured'' the summoning portal.

    ''I wille and see you soon.''

    With his reassurance, the Snow Wyvern went inside the portal and the fissure disappeared. He then turned to the four students with two golden bands on their cuffs.

    "Do you four want to learn something interesting?"

 Chapter 209: Professor Lee

    Chapter 209: Professor Lee

    "Do you four want to learn something interesting?"

    The students were surprised. They had listened to the principal''s information transmission array throughout the academy that Lee had been appointed as the head of the Field Experience department. Since the name was partially confusing, the students were also excited as to what this man could teach them.

    "Come here."

    Lee turned around and walked towards the training ground, where grass doesn''t grow. He called the students and they followed him.

    "Stand side by side. Cast the most powerful Fire magic you know of, and fire all at once. Make sure it can hit me."

    As soon as Lee finished his instructions, Water element imbued Mana materialised and formed a wall of water in between them. The quick and solid formation of water without chant, stunned the students.

    Now that Lee had activated his defense, the four students conjured their fire magic. Three of them were ''Burn Trail'' and the fourth one was a ''Giant Fire''.

    From the physical sizes of the constructs, the wall of water would easily evaporate at the faintest contact with the fire magic. What Lee conjured was thin enough for the students to see through it and see the wavering outline behind the wall.

    *shaaa...*

    The fire magic fiercely dashed at the wall of water. And the next second, it disappeared. It should have been the opposite, but the fire magic did disappear.

    For second tier spells like Giant Fire and Burn Trail, this result was different, and it made the students frown. They could swear that they saw the fire constructs smashing into the water, but the result was unsatisfactory.

    "Once more."

    This time, all the four students casted a different spell called Pyro Beam. This spell, which stands with one leg in the third tier, was powerful enough to break the water shield, or the students thought so. But disappointment was the result.

    The intense 3 second beam of fire was powerful enough to leave trails on the ground. Yet, it could not scratch the integrity of the wall.

    Not that it was notpletely ineffective, but the concentration of Mana, and focus of the students were not to the mandatory level. Thus the Pyro Beam from these students conjoined could barely produce half the power of an original and well-executed one.

    *huff...huff....*

    This spell took a toll on their Mana reserve. These four were not in Official mastery level, and thus began to breath roughly after executing a pinnacle second tier spell.

    "Do you know why you four had failed to break the water wall?"

    The students regted their breaths as Lee walked to them. They looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

    The concept of Mana and Magic was different in Utopia. There was a belief that the spells could be reduced in the chant length and to almost be chantless, and it was also taught to not fiddle with the formation of spells. The experimenting with shortening and strengthening of the spells were done by the Spell Research department.

    The wizards are also restricted from using free-will with the magic spells. To not cause any unwanted results, the Magic research department would cleverly and harmlessly study the anatomy of the spells and the effect of magic with every minute change.

    Mana is channeled through the person who casts the spell. The spell is a set of words that help one channel this energy. But, when ites to spell casting, everyone has an expectation of a set of results.

    And this was a w, Lee had found.

    The very versatility of Mana is underrated when ites to magic, in Utopia. Thus, Lee decided to incorporate creative magic sessions in his Field Experience sses.

    "The reason why I won is not because of spell or experience, but because of the overrated value of spells."

    His words made sense to the students. The in usage of spells had made the battles predictable and boring. Though the students wanted some creative action, they tend to end up failing or exploding when executing the technique.

    "Professor Lee, we have tried to be creative, but we have only consistently failed."

    The reason why the students have failed, was simple. They tried to use the pre-programmed spells as a base for their creativity. The sensitivity to Mana was gradually being dulled in the uing generations. And the head of the Magic Research department was able to pull off many tricks because of her increased Mana sensitivity.

    "That was because you used the spells as the raw material for experimenting. Try doing it with raw Mana."

    What Lee said was true, but not simple. The Mana is not something that could be easily manipted, because of its affinity with the nature and the world around us. Thus, intense practice and tiresome sessions would be needed before the students could build their own spells from the energy source.

    And it was to eliminate this tedious draining that the spells were implemented. The society of wizards found the predetermined set of instructions much easy andfortable to handle. Theborious act of voluntarily channeling the Mana was non-existent since the dawn of spells. Likewise, the dusk of the Magic society had arrived.

    To take these children back to the stage of Mana maniption would be fatiguing, and Lee decided to use the system for the betterment of the wizards. Hudson supported Lee with all of his heart, and also transferred every memory of magic and spells to itsst bit.

    The students were hesitant to act right away, and the professor sensed the reluctance. To invigorate the young mind, Lee also said that they might even be able to produce their own sets of spells, if they can sessfully undergo this training.

    All four of the second year students were excited to hear this. To be able to make a personalised spell, was equivalent to creating an offensive technique in Qi cultivation. Instantly, they nodded with bright faces, and let Lee know of their interest.

    "Let us start by sensing Mana."

 Chapter 210: Creative Magic

    Chapter 210: Creative Magic

    "Let us start by sensing the Mana."

    Another feature of Foresight was to detect the presence of Mana or Qi in the surroundings and to point out those areas with colouration. Depending on the density of the energy, the colour varies from pale grey to ck.

    Lee directed the students to the shades of the trees. The time was half past eleven, and the twin stars were energetic as ever.

    "Sit down. Two of you blindfold the other two, and watch their sensitivity to the Mana."

    The students did not question his methods, and promptly did as he told them. Two of the students sat on the grass with their eyes blindfolded, and the other two stood a metre apart from them. Lee gestured to them to watch closely, and they sharpened their senses.

    ''Convert 8 million Essence to Mana.''

    [Done.]

    Lee sat in front of the two blindfolded students, about two metres away from them. He had given Erikko his promise to uplift the academy to its former glory, and he had started to execute his n. For a few minutes, he closed his eyes and meditated. Then, he open his eyes and, spoke-

    "I will condense a little amount of Mana and bring it to your vicinity. You are to point your index finger to where you feel its presence. If you cannot feel it, you are to tell me."

    The blindfolded students nodded. Lee brought his palms together in front of his chest, and kept them about 7 inches away from each other. The vertical palms did not waver, and his breathing became shallow and undetectable. It was as if he was not breathing anymore.

    ''Activate Light affinity.''

    Lee activated Light affinity to form a mirage-like effect so that when he condenses Mana, the two spectating students could witness the process. And as he had expected, the two students had their eyes open wide as they witnessed faint optical fluctuations in between his palm. Lee had attributed very little amount of Light affinity to it, and it still was expensive at each second.

    The two students were witnessing the pure form of Mana, or they thought so. When the faint fluctuations wax and wane, their heartbeats were irregrly high, and their minds murmured, ''I want to achieve that stage''.

    Now, a tiny ball of Mana had materialised in his palm. Lee slowly extended his palm to the students and they did not show any response. He was cautious not to make any sudden move, so that his act is perfect.

    Due to the distance between him and the students, they could not detect the presence of the manifested energy. The students deduced this fact and Lee slowly stood up, and walked to the duo.

    As he tiptoed forward, one of the two showed slight response to the energy. There was a gentle breeze flowing nurturing the wild, and it caressed their faces. The variable was not a hindrance to their sensing, but it kind of pacified their sensitivity.

    Taking one more step forward, both of the students began to doubtfully raise their hands to their surroundings. The duo was sitting about a metre from the materialised Mana, and they still had trouble sensing it.

    The two students watching this became aware of their degraded sensitivity to Mana. The spoon-feeding of stock created spells had made themzy and less sensitive to Mana, just how machines and development makes humans idiotic and chaotic.

    Lee kept the faint lump of Mana in his palms for more than a minute, and the two could not pinpoint the location of origin. What''s more is, that they failed to even sense the presence of Mana consistently.

    Lee brought his palms together, and erged the Mana concentration a bit more. The vagueness of the outline had condensed into a barely perceivable shape. The Light attribute was slightly increased, and the two students saw the translucent sphere of energy.

    Their surprise was soon distracted, as the two blindfolded began to respond. Their fingers pointed forward, but Lee was actually silently walking around them. The professor was happy to know that they still have some speck of sensitivity to the pure energy of Mana.

    After a few more rounds, Lee stopped wandering. The students'' sensitivity to Mana was faulty to a great extent, but he had faith that diligent and intelligent training can bring back their lost acuteness.

    "Untie their folds."

    Lee said to the two spectating, and they immediately untied the folds of the other two. Faint gasps and muffled exmation could be heard as the two had their sight fallen on the translucent Mana sphere.

    "These two had closely observed your magnitude of perception. Now you may go and learn how you performed, from their narration. If you feel a desire to continue, do not hesitate to let me know."

    After saying this, he dispersed the lump of Mana to the surroundings. It spread across the air and dissipated. But before vanishing, the Mana had its energy signature graze the students and all four of them felt the energy emitted from it.

    The four students received a revtion and took a moment to digest it. Then, they quickly greeted Lee and hurriedly walked to the dormitory. As they moved further away, Lee could still hear their suppressed exmations and expressions of surprises.

    [That was clever and concise.]

    ''Thank you.''

    [What next?]

    ''We wait.''

    [For whom?]

    ''Those who want to add a pinch of imagination to their magic.''

    Lee sat on the grass cross-legged. His arms extended backward, and supported his torso as he leaned backward.

    ''How did the in-depth analysis go?''

    [It went well. I did not find any leftover traces of Malice.]

    ''What about the damages?''

    [Irreversible. The corrosion of Malice was quite frightening. The loss of every immunity you had might have been okay, but theck of potential to nurture any future immunities will be a real pain.]

    Lee closed his eyes, and recollected his memories about Hegerus. After asking D to create a record of his data, Leeid down to rest his mind.

    "Professor Lee?"

 Chapter 211: Summoned To The Guild

    Chapter 211: Summoned To The Guild

    "Professor Lee?"

    [Now what?]

    Lee quickly sat up and nced around. Behind him was a boy with four golden bands on his cuffs. He was visibly polite, and gave a bow.

    "Yes. What is it?"

    Lee asked, with his brows raised, as he had no familiarity with this young man.

    "Professor, someone from the Adventurer''s Guild is asking for you."

    His raised brows knitted together as he stood up. Asking the boy to lead the way, Lee followed him. As he entered the academic building and exited through the front door, a man in pale grey robe was visible.

    Lee neared the man and asked the reason.

    "The president of Cultivator''s Guild is asking for your presence. He also said that it is very urgent."

    The voice of the cultivator had seriousness filled in it. Without a second thought, Lee agree =d to go with him. Before departing, he turned to the boy.

    "Let the principal know that I have gone to the Guild for a quick chat with the president. Please tell him that I would be back in no time."

    The boy nodded, and Lee left for the Guild.

    ---

    =====

    12 Mid-day.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The cultivator felt a desire to check the limits of Lee, and he changed his route to the rooftops. Leeprehended his intention, and he easily matched the speed of the cultivator. The man in grey robe struggled to further increase his speed, and Lee caught up with him again. Like an insult, Lee simply flew past him and he was astounded by this Mana user''s agility.

    Lee stood at the gates of the Guild, and it was after a few dozens of seconds that that cultivator reached the spot. He was panting withck of breath, and stared at Lee. With the bitter reality that adventurers are slowly picking up strength, he guided Lee inside.

    Lee quickly summoned the 3D Map, and scanned the upper floors.

    ''D, why am I seeing a familiar wretched figure in the president''s office?''

    [That is because she is Chu Hua.]

    ''Ohhh.I wonder how she would react to my appearance.''

    [Let us see for ourselves.]

    The messenger led Lee to the office of Xavi and Lee knocked the door.

    "Come in."

    Xavi sounded rather distressed. To find the reason, Lee poked his head inside. After seeing two figures sitting and heads drooped forward, he entered inside. Lee did not forget to close the door behind his back.

    "Do you know why I called you here?" (Xavi)

    "I don''t know." (Lee)

    The president looked at Chu Hua, and asked-

    "Do you know her?" (Xavi)

    "Yes, I do." (Lee)

    "How?" (Xavi)

    "I have seen her at the tournament." (Lee)

    "Anywhere recently?" (Xavi)

    "Yes." (Lee)

    "Where?" (Xavi)

    "Here." (Lee)

    "Not here, before that." (Xavi)

    "Yes." (Lee)

    "Where was it?" (Xavi)

    "She imprisoned and tortured me at her sect." (Lee)

    The questions stopped at once, and Xavi peered at Chu Hua through the corners of his eyes. After a couple of seconds, she raised her head, and Lee saw burning rage in her eyes.

    "Do you have any involvement in the destruction of the Moon Water Sect and the death of more than 700 disciples and 12 elders?"

    Xavi made himself clear and precise, so that Lee does not have any difficulty inprehending the question. Lee, standing in front of the table, was calcting a number of ways through which he might have known about his involvement in the destion.

    "Why would you ask that to me?"

    Lee expressed his confusion, with a frown.

    "Because the Snow Wyvern that killed most of the disciples of that sect was found in the qvier academy premise, and we came to know that it was yours."

    [We forgot that variable.]

    [Indeed. I am sure that even Lee overlooked that possibility.]

    Lee loosened his brows upon hearing Xavi''s statement. He admitted to the two elders that he never expected the possibility of finding the trail of his deed through the Snow Wyvern.

    "The beast is mine, I admit. But you have to provide proof to validate your ims."

    Xavi''s brows twitched. Staring at his face, the president did not sense a tinge of fear. Instead, what he felt was an invitation to debate.

    Chu Hua red at Lee with immense resentment. She was not sure that he was behind the destruction of the sect, and she did not have any proof for that. But her conscience continuously murmured that he knew what had happened in the dungeon, so as to force the beasts out of the seal.

    She stood up while maintaining herposure. But the rage was evident in her eyes.

    "I saw you running into the dungeon. I saw my disciples closing the seal after you entered inside. Yet, you escaped. How?"

    The question had curiosity and anger brimming in it. Her aura was faintly leaking, despite her struggles to contain it.

    Xavi came to know about Lee''s misfortune when Chu Hua teleported herself to the Cultivator''s Guild. She was quickly taken to the medical bay, as her Qi was dangerously low. Under an expert doctor''s influence, she was brought back to life.

    As Chu Hua was unconscious for more than a day, Xavi used the Mind Reading Formation on her. It was to know what sort of incident had happened, which leveled the entire sect building. If it was a terrorist threat or a distinguishable reason, he could promptly warn other sects too.

    Her memories were vague and broken. But after a few minutes of patience, the memories be crystal clear. It was through those images, that Xavi came to know about her doing. He was most astonished to know that Lee, who was trapped inside the dungeon, was in themoner''s medical bay, after fighting an almighty being.

    Since the possible exnations are not fitting now the events turned out, he summoned Lee to hear the truth. What Chu Hua had done to him was indeed cruel, but she is now in a more pathetic state than he will ever be.

    A pair of eyes emitted boundless resentment, while the other was full of curiosity. Sensing their res on him, Lee sat on a chair and asked-

 Chapter 212: Framing Hegerus

    Chapter 212: Framing Hegerus

    A pair of eyes emitted boundless resentment, while the other was full of curiosity. Sensing their res on him, Lee sat on a chair and asked-

    "What makes you think that I destroyed the sect? Do you think that there has never been anyone in this city, powerful enough to kill a hundred cultivators?"

    [Lee, what are plotting?]

    ''Simple. Divert their attention to the Tubians. Frame Hegerus for the destruction of the sect.''

    What Lee asked made Xavi frown. He leaned forward on the table, and Chu Hua deduced from this reaction, that Lee is disclosing the truth. She quickly suppressed her anger and gave ears to his words.

    "What do you mean by that, Lee? Are you mentioning that person?"

    Xavi could easily figure out the identity of the person from Lee''s words. It was on the same day of destruction that Lee met with a stranger who killed many cultivators with a gentle wave of his hand.

    "Yes. He was a Dark Elf with the power of evil. He was too strong for any human, and I saw him in the dungeon....."

    ----

    =====

    1 PM.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "..."

    "..."

    A detailed crime investigation thriller was born. The conjoined brains of Lee, Hudson and D, cooked up a wless story where Lee ys the role of a helpless youngman who got trapped in the dungeon. Through some events, he had run into the path to the second floor, and there he saw a very strange magical circle appearing out of thin air.

    Curiosity made him witness the whole incident and a dark elf stepped into the dungeon. Many beasts ran at that person, but his strength far surpassed them. After a few showdown, none dared to go near him.

    The Dark Elf then walked to the crystal embedded in a stone pir. After touching it, the being chanted something which was inaudible for Lee. But after a few minutes, the whole dungeon shook.

    Lee quickly and quietly retreated to the entrance of the dungeon, which he found to be closed and sealed. Within a few seconds, the dungeon began to shake and Lee ran from there. The entrance exploded and an army of beasts exited the dungeon. Lee ran to the nearest bamboo forest, where he hid and thenter, escaped from there.

    Both Chu Hua and Xavi found the story believable. ording to the president, the strange dark elf''s performance easily outssed Lee, who was the champion of the tournament. Even if he did not find the culprit fierce, he was able to kill many cultivators in a blink of an eye. The damage and puddle of blood at the scene pointed to the dark elf as the culprit.

    ording to Chu Hua, what Lee said seems to be matching with what had really happened. The Nine Swan Formation seal was no simple seal. It consisted of nineyers of stacked binding which made the escape impossible. Lee''s ount of running into the bamboo forest seems to add up with the story where one of the elders of the sect found a few Minotaurs running towards the said forest.

    The instance of a spatial tear opening in the forest somehow skipped the eyes of the woman. What''s more is that a guard who barely survived the incident by the width of a hair, had reported to have seen weird humanoid objects shing through the sect, prior to the destruction.

    "Just because I saw his face, he hunted me down. But I barely escaped because of the Guild''s intervention. If I am not wrong, then that dark elf woulde back to the city for sure. I highly doubt that he might be living in the city."

    Lee could swear that he heard Xavi''s heart skipping a beat. A glimpse of Chu Hua''s face and her intent to kill the dark elf in the worst way possible, was evident. Xavi immediately jumped up from his chair and asked-

    "If what you said is true, then that dark elf might not have left the city. We must find him."

    Turning to Chu Hua, he added-

    "And he must pay for his actions!"

    The president asked Lee and Chu Hua to follow him, as he walked to the door. They went straight to the underground chambers, where the elves and dwarves live and work.

    Xavi asked Lee to describe the dark elf''s physique and he promptly did. None of the elves could find any familiarity with the person he had described.

    Xavi quickly climbed the stairs and headed for the main reception desk. At the first nce of his arrival, the receptionist and other workers respectfully bowed in front of him. Quickly dismissing them, he ced his hand on the desk and a secondter, a ring-like structure elevated itself from the top of the table and suspended about a centimetre from the surface.

    "Attention all cultivators!! This is the Guild president speaking. I have an immediate announcement to make."

    When the ring rose up and his palm was nted inside the structure, Xavi''s voice was exponentially increased and the whole of the Guildplex could hear him. Not only the inside, but the outside of the Guild was also fixed with transmitters that could ry his voice.

    We all are well aware of the destruction of the Moon Water Sect. The identity of the culprit was unknown to us until now. We have an eye witness confirming that the mastermind behind the massacre and the rted dungeon break is one and the same person.

    The person is a dark elf. I repeat, the identity of the culprit is a dark elf. If a dark elf is to be seen anywhere inside the city, he/she is to be brought to the Guild for examination. Proceed with caution, because the dark elf has some special powers. Do not forget that he is the one who killed our fellow cultivators, and I, the president of the Guild, is the witness for it!"

    Just a second after the announcement, the president dered 20 gold coins as prize money for the person who catches the right dark elf. The entirety of the Guild was emptied as everyone in the Guild ran outside to catch the culprit.

    The voice transmission was an array that should only be used at times of distress. It conveyed the voice transmission, and the elders and leaders were astounded. They heard the president''s description about the culprit, and became vignt. But the deration of the prize money made everyone run frantically while looking for anyone who is a dark elf.

 Chapter 213: Memories Of Mercenaries

    Chapter 213: Memories Of Mercenaries

    The streets became chaotic. Every dark elf was forcefully brought to the Guild office to find the culprit under disguise. But, even after extensive searching, Hegerus could not be found.

    When all sorts ofmotion were happening on the streets, the mastermind behind framing the dark elf, Lee, was peacefully eating a slice of deep roasted pork rib. Looking through the window, he can see cultivators roaming around with extra caution.

    [That was a good move. Now Hegerus is a well-known criminal.]

    But Lee was not happy or his face did not show any luster. He was wondering where Gauthama might have disappeared to. D scanned the entire city, and his energy signature could not be found.

    =====

    2 PM.

    32655 Essence harvested.

    =====

    It was then that Lee remembered something very important. He was surprised to realise that not even D did not mention that topic. His astonishment and exmation resonated inside and the two souls in his head became silent.

    D, find a ce where I can assimte with the Law fragment of Lightning and the Thunder.''

    [Oh shoot! How did I forget about that thing.]

    ''Open Map.''

    Lee opened the Map and saw the cultivators searching for anyone who is a dark elf far and wide. Thus everywhere around the city, in a distance of 3 kilometres, was under constant surveince.

    [Let us go back to the academy. The indoor arena has some serious defense mechanisms and energy suppression runes on the inside. I suggest you try the assimtion in there.]

    Both Lee and D nodded at Hudson''s suggestion. Using the Map, Lee further found out that the interior lining of the arena is with some durable metal, which will definitely help in concealing the energy of lightning to the insides of the stadium.

    ''Then let us assimte at night.''

    [No. I would not suggest that. Darkness would highlight the presence of lightning inside the stadium. So do it in the daylight, when there is no one in the stadium.]

    ''Makes sense.''

    ---

    After paying for the food, Lee exited the restaurant. Remembering something, he quickly slid into the nearest and darkest alleyway.

    [What is it boy?]

    ''Open Workshop.''

    The nk screen opened and Lee opened the Foresight skill in it. He quickly removed the mini-map from the corner, instead ced the Map as a watermark background. Lee felt much morefortable with this new setup, and it cost very little.

    ''Tubians are very powerful. They can detect detection skills. So I need something that detects them without detecting them.''

    The next addition cost 44,000 Essence. What Lee fed in the Workshop was a simplemand to detect Tubians without making them alert or counter the detection. It was quite difficult, but Workshop fulfilled hismand. The secrets of Workshop were unknown to Lee.

    ''Locate Tubians.''

    Upon uttering the keyword, the Map zoomed out and the whole was visible like a basketball. The next instant, several small dots began to appear on the globe. Below the globe, a number came appearing and D eximed.

    [777 Tubians?!]

    Before D made any further ruckus, Lee closed the Map in relief. In the globe, there was no Tubian in a 50 mile distance of the Piscerent city. The possibility of Hegerus lurking around was thus discarded and Lee asked D-

    ''The beacons on the two mercenaries, they are active, right?''

    [Yes, they are.]

    ''Show me.''

    In the background of the Foresight, the Map appeared. It was faint and barely perceivable, and was adjustable to the host''s will.

    The beacons were blinking very slowly, and that indicated that the targets also were moving slowly. But the next second, the blink frequency increased by four times, and the movement of the mercenaries became more quick.

    Slightly zooming out, Lee got the gist of the situation. Those mercenaries were following someone, and were quickly closing in the distance.

    Like a sh of light, Lee leaped upward and reached the rooftop of the nearest building. Looking around, he saw two beacons moving towards him.

    ''Light affinity and Flight activate.''

    Lee disappeared the very instant, and a gust of wind shot forward. The people on the streets heard a sonic boom, but could not tell what that was. Within an instant, Lee had flown over a distance of 3 kilometres and reached very close to the mercenaries.

    His arms extended forward, and his palms caught the two mercenaries by their necks. The duo was stunned and the next second, was raised into the air. The Light element attributed to Mana covered them too, and they suddenly became invisible to the eyes.

    Voice failed to escape their throats as they can tell that a very powerful force has grabbed them by their neck. After futile attempts of escape, their hands became sloppy. Due to the strong grip on their necks, theck of air made them faint.

    [Lee, they have fainted fromck of oxygen. Let us descend and extract some useful information from them.]

    From the height of about 12 kilometres, Lee did a nose dive. A thick envelope of air had surrounded him and he was unscathed from the extreme descent.

    Lee safely stepped on a rooftop after an intense maneuver. The Light and Wind affinity were deactivated, and he ced the two mercenaries on the rooftop.

    The elf and beastfolk did not have any distinct physical features, except for their slightlyrger build. Their clothings made of ck linen was attractive and gave them enough space for mobility, while sticking to their skin. It was while inspecting their body, that Lee came to realise their gender. They were both female!

    ''Okay. No more searching. Activate Telepathy.''

    With the activation of the mind surveying skill, Lee saw the memories of these two women, and every single detail they know of the mercenary gang. Almost every information they had was rted to cold blooded murder and personnel hunting. But then, there was a particr set of memories that attracted him.

    ---------------------

    =+=+=+=+=

    PERSONAL INFO:

    Name: Lee Shen

    Race: -

    Age: 20

    Essence: 78,969,558,766

    Money: 6,426 Gold, 950 Silver, 86 Copper

    Date: 22nd April

    Time: 2 PM

    ATTRIBUTES:

    Health: 7,750

    Power: 2,200

    Stamina: 2,600

    Guard: 2,550

    Dexterity: 3,900

    Perception: 875

    Intelligence: 350

    Resolve: 2,000

    PROGRESS:

    Cultivation: Peak Soul Manifestation

    Qi: 0

    Mastery: Lord Level Mastery

    Mana: 15,999,400

    ELEMENTS:

    Poison

    Lightning

    Fire

    Water

    Ice

    Stone

    Metal

    Nature

    Wind

    Sound

    Dark

    Light

    Death

    Gravity

    Space

    Life

    Time

    Serenity

    PROFICIENCY:

    de

    Nunchuck

    Bow - (1,198/10,000)

    Scythe - (1/100)

    SKILLS:

    Flight - E (2/30)

    Spotless

    Telepathy

    Taming - D (7/210)

    STORAGE:

    1. ck (Lower Force)

    2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)

    3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)

    MAP:

    WORKSHOP:

    SYSTEM SPACE:

    =+=+=+=+=

 Chapter 214: The Conspiracy Behind The Curtain

    Chapter 214: The Conspiracy Behind The Curtain

    ''D, Hudson, are you seeing this?''

    [I had a hunch that the Cultivator''s Guild is behind the suppression, and it turned out to be right.]

    That one particr memory which caught Lee''s attention was rted to the qvier academy. In those fragments of memories, arge list can be seen, and it has above 100 names in it. At a nce, it was nothing more than a list of targets. But there was more to it.

    All the names in the list were people with Mana affinity! Along with the name, there are remarks given in brackets. They were ''confirmed Mana affinity'',''assumed to have Mana affinity'' and ''vague Mana affinity''. From these remarks, it was evident that this list was a highly personalised one.

    By the dull lighting of the room, the face of Xavi Godson could be partially seen. Opposite to him, next to the beast folk woman, was the person named Musk. The name ringed familiarity and Lee recollected his identity.

    [This memory is from yesterday, and the windows show the daylight of dusk. That means we still have time to save at least half of these people.]

    Agreeing to D''s evaluation, Lee quickly skimmed through the memories and collected the names. It was then Hudson gave his opinion.

    [Why waste time to save those in the list, when you can catch the mercenaries and halt their attempt?]

    ''That sounds more practical and quicker.''

    The EsGen opened its mouth, and the two women disappeared. Before sending them for Essence harvesting, Lee had made sure to acquire the faces of all the members in the mercenary gang.

    The faces of four orcs, five elves, three goblins and six beastfolks had been acquired, and D immediately ran the faces through the Map. Not too distant from where he was, the remaining members of the gang stood spread out and stationary. They behaved as if they were expecting some sort of signal.

    [If they find that their members are missing, then they will be very alert. Proceed now and finish the task.]

    The Light element and the Flight were activated. Lee became one with the air, and flew to the nearest target. Silently sneaking from his behind, Lee took him into the EsGen.

    Lee travelled around the city, and the remaining 15 people were no longer in reality. They were standing in the darkness of alleyways, which was favourable to Lee. Their leader, Musk, was the easiest to take down, as he was ogling at the breasts of a maturedy, when Lee sneaked behind him.

    =====

    3 PM.

    444,55 Essence harvested.

    =====

    A few minutester, the hourly notification appeared. Lee dismissed it and found the increase in harvest was lesser than expected. But, he was d to have a bunch of mercenary bastards as his Essence farnds.

    ---

    Without wasting a second, Lee flew towards the academy. From a distance, the Map showed him a crowd of students at the training grounds. He saw the familiar faces of four students among the crowd, and a gist of the situation was known to him.

    Lee walked through the gates of the academy, and a few students ran away at the first nce of him. Wondering whether he has be a monster, Lee walked to his residence area, which was beyond the training grounds.

    As he entered the ground, the crowd of students became silent and gave him a way to pass. Lee saw a reluctance reflecting on the faces of the students, and he asked to the crowd-

    "Is there anything that I should know?"

    For about a minute, nobody replied. Then, a boy with five golden bands on his cuffs stepped forward and spoke-

    "Professor, is it true that you can truly manipte Mana?"

    Lee turned to the boy and scanned him from top to bottom, and raised his right palm to the height of his elbow. Vague ripples and fluctuations manifested inside his palm, and Lee asked-

    "What do you think?"

    The boy was literally shocked to see such an amazing feat done with ease. His eyes expressed exmation and shock. As Lee turned around to show all the students of his ability, muffled gasps and faint cries of shock could be heard around him.

    "Professor, can you teach us?"

    Lee looked to his right and saw a nerd-looking girl with round spectacles. Her hands were sped in front of her, as if a request was being submitted.

    "I cannot teach you how to manipte Mana. I can only guide you to sense it and be creative in Magic."

    The nerd girl brightened up like sunshine on a hot summer day. Not only her, but everyone around him was excited to hear these words. Lee added-

    "But don''t think that you can quit halfway. This will be extremely tiresome that you will have to go through rigorous training and have to be diligent and sincere at practice. Your mind may yell at you to stick to the spells, but you cannot quit once your foot is on the board."

    Lee spoke as he turned around and walked to the indoor training stadium. The excitement of students were drenched in buckets of cold water. The seriousness in his voice was evident, and Lee made sure that only those with the strongest will should step forward to this process.

    As Lee walked away, the students began to murmur and discuss. While many found the necessity of being sensitive to Mana an unnecessary essory, a few among the crowd were ready to step forward.

    Lee had entered inside the stadium and was walking to the center of the arena, when he heard footsteps running towards him. He looked over his shoulders and saw 13 students with determination and desire written on their faces. He turned around and gave a smile of encouragement, and spoke-

    "Let me remind you, the foot that steps forward should not be taken backward. If you are one hundred percent ready to learn, then I shall help you. Are you ready or not?"

    "We are ready, professor!"

    The thirteen cried in unison and Lee was pleased.

    "Now, go and sit in the gallery, and observe me."

 Chapter 215: Assimilating Law Fragment

    Chapter 215: Assimting Law Fragment

    "Now, go and sit in the gallery, and observe me."

    The students promptly walked to the gallery and began to look for a seat next. As they were busy with deciding their choice of seat, Lee took off his hoodie and sleeveless T shirt and folded it appropriately before cing them on the floor.

    There were five girls in the 13 disciples, and their eyes caught the details of his excellent physique. The boys did not have such a chiseled body, so it was natural that they were envious of Lee.

    The distance from the center of the arena and the set of seats in which the 13 students sat, was over 75 metres. So Lee walked close when he gave instructions.

    "Sensing Mana is not only sensing the energy, but also fundamentally changing yourself. If you have enough sensitivity and control over your Mana, then you can use the flowing energy inside you to eliminate stagnant and umted waste in your body. So it is very easy to have a chiseled body, if you can have suchprecision control over Mana."

    The envious eyes widened at this revtion. They had no idea that the Mana could be used in such ways. But their excitement was shunned by the requirement to achieve that stage. With encouragement and discouragement equally neutralising each other, the thirteen students listened to his lecture.

    "Have anyone heard of the term ''Elemental Constitution''?"

    All thirteen of them shook their head, and admitted theirck of knowledge. Lee then created an intense ball of lightning within his palm. The crackling was faint, but it resonated inside the stadium.

    "When your elemental affinity has reached a certain threshold, your magic would show signs of stagnation. But it is also the consent to step into the next stage. That stage is called Elemental Constitution, where your body assimtes small quantities of energy over a long period, andpletely forms a physical bond with the element.

    This step is very special, and is a lost art. My body has been assimting the Lightning element for over five years, and it has been recently showing submission to my mind. That is my cue to perform Elemental Constitution.

    So, I want you to stay as far as possible from me, because Lightning is a really dangerous element to those who do not have its affinity. Watch me close, and find what happens to me."

    Lee walked back to the center of the arena, and sat cross-legged on the floor. The students stood up and walked to the corner-most set of chairs and sat there.

    [Damn boy. You are really calcting. I can''t believe that you are using the assimtion with the Law fragment of Lightning and the Thunder as an example to inspire your students.]

    ''Tough times need stronger solutions. To raise the morale of the students and show them a different and higher position to achieve, it is necessary to act in such a way. Since it is also benefiting me, I don''t see a reason to not use it to teach the students a thing or two.''

    [You both can chatter. We have a task toplete. When assimtion starts, you might feel a sting. Endure the pain, and make sure your mind is not going insane.]

    Asecondter, D opened the EsGen and brought out the Law fragment of Lightning and the Thunder. The appearance of this fragment changed the atmosphere inside the stadium, and the students felt a majestic, yet ominous aura descending on professor Lee.

    ''Start the process.''

    When Lee gave the green signal, the Law fragment entered into his body.

    *gritting teeth*

    Though the students were standing at the corner of the gallery, they could hear a faint grinding noise in the air. But the crackling of the lightning covered it up. It was then the second element in thew fragment sounded its presence.

    *BOOM!*

    The thunder roared and it made the students jump up from their seats. The sound of the thunder was many times more powerful than the lightning''s crackling, and gave off a deafening boom!

    [Lightning and Thunder at 50% integration.]

    ''Is it not too fast?''

    [The system acts as a positive catalyst in the process. So it is only natural that the assimtion speeds up by a great margin. The chance of failure is negligible at the moment.]

    The loud outbursts of thunder made a ruckus in the academy. Every department head heard the gigantic boom originating from the indoor stadium. The students were also alert and some ran towards the arena to watch what it was.

    Erikko was the first to run towards the stadium. The unbelievably dense energy radiating from the inside of the stadium was equal to the advent of a disaster. Quickly ordering the students to stay away from the building, he cautiously walked to the stadium.

    ''Processplete. Assimtion sessful.''

    As Erikko was about to touch the doors of the stadium, the presence of dense radiation vanished. Sensing the sudden disappearance, he quickly opened the door and entered inside.

    Except for 13 students in a corner and Lee sitting in the arena, there was no potential threat inside. Erikko walked to the students and asked what had happened, and the students gave him a detailed ount of what had happened.

    At the center of the arena was Lee sitting cross-legged. His face and expressions did not show any kind of difort or uneasiness. Instead, his face radiated peace and satisfaction. A few secondster, Lee opened his eyes and breathed out a mouthful of air. To his surprise, a tiny lightning flickered with the exhaled air.

    [The assimtion was sessful. But thew fragment''s energy is yet to settle down in your body. So, until it settles, there will be unexpected releases of lightning. Also, the thunder has been assimted to your body. Since it does not have any physical form, it will show its might when you do something with huge force.]

    Lee continued to hear D''s exnation, and stood up from where he sat. Looking around, he saw that his clothes ced on the floor had been disintegrated to ashes.

    "Professor Lee, how do you feel now?"

 Chapter 216: Taking A Head Count

    Chapter 216: Taking A Head Count

    "Professor Lee, how do you feel now?"

    Erikko''s voice came from his behind, and Lee turned around. The principal had to take a step back as tiny lightning strikes flickered over his body.

    "I heard about the incident from the students. So, you now have an Elemental Constitution?"

    Lee raised his arm and waved to his side, and lightning shed out of his hand. It dashed at the seats, but soon disappeared as Lee had retracted his hand. Erikko took it as a yes, and he was impressed by this new knowledge.

    ---

    =====

    4 PM.

    11,500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee had quickly gone to his quarters to get a new set of dress. After settling the energy through meditation, he came back to the training ground where his 13 disciples were waiting for him.

    Blindfolding one by one, he evaluated each student''s sensitivity to Mana. When he manifested a lump of Mana in his arms, the surprise was for him, as the Mana showed properties of lightning. It silently flickered from time to time, and it was a feast to eyes for the remaining 12.

    ---

    After evaluating their level of keenness, Lee spoke-

    "We will keep training your sensitivity with Mana for a week. Then we will switch to Mana containing objects. Until everyone of you could sense Mana from a distance of 10 metres, we will keep this going on."

    Additionally, Lee asked the students to try and sense the Mana inside them and if possible, try and manifest it. The request proved its difficulty as the students began to feel tired and sloppy very quickly. For those who are ustomed with using spells, this voluntary act was troublesome.

    ---

    =====

    6 PM.

    11,500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The serenity of the dusk rippled across the orange sky. The twin stars were showing an urge to hide behind the sea. Birds flew with vigour, in an effort to reach their nests. Nature and the animals embraced the soothing starsets.

    *rough breathings*

    A long edge of the training ground had a lot of short grasses growing, and the thirteen students sat while breathing heavily. Sweat flowed like a stream from their foreheads and their robes were drenched. For the first time after entering the academy, these students sweated buckets for the first time.

    "It is okay to feel tired. This is your first time voluntarily manipting Mana, and that is why you all feel powerless. Let us stop today''s training here. We will meet again tomorrow at noon."

    Lee spoke with vigour and strength. Unlike these kids, he was energetic. His endurance was at least twice thebined stamina of all these students. His words gave a sense of relief to the students and some of them slopped on the grass. Some tried to stand up, but found that their hindlimbs are too weak to support their body.

    Finding their helpless condition, Lee produced 13 low quality Stamina potions. Upon drinking them, the students felt a quarter of their strengthing back. Without questioning the content of the potion bottle, they thanked the professor and promptly went to their dormitories.

    Lee also went to his residence. It was a small room next to the boy''s dormitory, and had a bed and an attached bathroom. A small table with a chair next to it could be seen in that 8 metre long and 5 metre wide room. A pair of windows on one of the walls was facing the setting sun.

    *vague conversations*

    Since that independent room was next to the dormitory, Lee''s acute auditory senses picked up vague conversations. It had nothing informative in it, and Lee closed the curtains andid down on the bed.

    ''D, how long for the next earthquake?''

    [It wont go beyond a year.]

    ''Okay.''

    Lee opened the System Space and entered inside. The mansion proudly stood in a distance, and the cafeteria was visible next to it. The wyverns were flying high in the sky, and four minotaurs were snoring loudly as they slept.

    Upon sensing Lee''s arrival, D walked to him. The oldman was slightly younger than Lee had seen. Behind him was Hudson following his footsteps. Lee scanned around and gave ament on the space.

    "The space had be more lively."

    It was then the four dretrills came into his sight from behind the house. They were ying with each other, as they did not have anything else to do. Hudson found Lee''s sight following the beasts and spoke-

    "They are untamed, and can contend toe-to-toe with a lesser wyvern. Maybe it is because ofck of nutrition."

    Lee remembered that he had not tamed those four beasts. D whistled and they halted their yful actions, and strided towards him. They promptly sat in front of D, as if waiting for order.

    "They were rebellious when first released from the cages. I had to tie them down with some chains when they tried to pounce on me. It''s been awhile since they have shown any expression of hostility. You may tame them now."

    Lee stepped forward, and those beasts recognised his face. They have taken a glimpse of Lee''s face when he was defeating the Illians. As he walked closer, they lowered their heads and looked him straight in the eye.

    Without any further ado, Lee ced his palm on the beast''s forehead, and the beast epted him as its familiar. Repeating the task, Lee tamed the four Dretrils. When thinking about their Qi affinity, the memories of An came up in his mind. But he distracted himself from overthinking, and saved himself from welling his eyes.

    Now the System Space had a Snow Wyvern, four Minotaurs, two Lesser Wyverns and four Dretrils. Lee was d to know that one of the lesser wyvern was a fire variant, and the other was a wind variant.

    "How do Lesser Wyverns be Greater Elemental Wyverns?"

    Lee expressed his curiosity as he looked over his shoulders to two of them. D went into recollection of his memories and scratched his head for a second. Then he answered-

    "By flooding with appropriate Elemental Energy."

 Chapter 217: Can A Wyvern Become A Dragon?

    Chapter 217: Can A Wyvern Be A Dragon?

    "By flooding with appropriate Elemental Energy."

    D''s answer made Lee turn around, and nod after a second, inprehension. The sovereign added-

    "When a lesser wyvernes across an area with suitable elemental presence, like a volcano for lesser fire wyverns or a chilling mountain peak for lesser ice wyverns, they find a suitable ce where they are not inured, but can absorb a massive quantities of the elemental energy. After continuing this process for years, the elemental assimtiones to an end, and the beast wakes up as a greater wyvern.

    The beast must also be very careful. In this time period, it can only open and close its eyes, and that is the only movement it could do. It is literally equal to a helpless infant. A wyvern can only go through this process once in its lifetime, so it must be careful and prepared when choosing the location.

    The purity and concentration of the elemental energy can influence the degree of the wyvern''s greatness. If the lesser fire wyvern floods itself with the energy emitting from a passive volcano, then its transformation gives a lesser boost to its attributes."

    Lee sat down on a chair, and was thinking about what D had just said. After staring at the blue sky for a few minutes, he peered at D and asked-

    "Is there any possibility that the Snow Wyvern had gone through the flooding process? It has been living in a dungeon, so."

    Hudson sat on the nearest chair, and spoke-

    "Your assumption is true. It has not gone through the flooding process."

    Lee jumped up from the chair and raised a different question-

    "Can a wyvern transform into a dragon through any process?"

    D, who was making a smoothie, looked at Lee with a frown. His face had disbelief written all over his face. Quickly producing three smoothies, D walked to the table.

    "I am sorry, what? A wyvern to transform into a dragon? That is absurd! Though both belong to onerge family, they are distinct and cannot change from one to another."

    Hudson replied to the question with his opinions and evaluations. A silence followed his shouting, and D slowly slid one smoothie to Lee, and one to Hudson. After taking a sip, the sovereign rified-

    "Actually, it is possible."

    Hudson was stunned by this revtion. Until now, this Mana user had thought that a wyvern cannot be a dragon under any circumstances. The sudden disclosure of a fact which toppled down this belief was quite breathtaking.

    "The process is called Metamorphosis. It is a very rare phenomenon, because it has a few strict conditions that must be fulfilled. The strength, affinity, power, element, resolve, constitution and luck of the beast influences the process. It is so rare that in my entire lifetime, I have only seen one such transformation." (D)

    "Let us first transform the wyverns to its greater elemental form. Then we will think about Metamorphosis.

    D, can you construct a flooding chamber for these wyverns?" (Lee)

    =====

    7 PM.

    11,500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    D nodded and tapped the table''s surface. The Workshop interface opened, and D began to createplex and gigantic constructs in it. Lee and Hudson closely observed the process, while D''s hands drifted in the air without breaking the flow.

    Time moved forward without any concern. The flying fingers of Dnekewy was too fast for an eye can follow, but Lee precisely saw every tiny movements of his hand. Hudson had finished his smoothie, and had emptied D''s cup too. ncing at the workaholic sovereign, he went to grab a couple of smoothies. Its taste was to his liking.

    ---

    "Done."

    Thirty nine thousand seven hundred Essence was used to materialise three cubic chambers with sides 14 metres each. At a nce, it looked nothing more than a giant cubic aquarium, with nothing inside.

    When the ss chambers appeared out of thin air, the three wyverns felt something, and quickly stood up on their limbs and scanned their surroundings. After seeing the cubes, they sensed an unknown pull towards it, and Lee too perceived this pull felt in those beasts'' souls.

    "Tell those wyverns to step into it."

    As D gave instruction, one of the ss walls surrounding the chambers disappeared. Lee promptly conveyed the instruction to the wyverns and they vigorously flew into the chamber. At once, the disappeared ss wall appeared back, and the wyverns did not show any signs of distress.

    "..."

    "..."

    Nothing happened. Other than the wyvernsfortably falling asleep, nothing happened.

    Lee and Hudson peerd at D for an exnation. D felt the stares and spoke as his eyes were fixed on the giant ss cubes.

    "These boxes look simple and transparent, because of many sophisticated andplex machineries I have integrated into this construct. More than 300 independent mechanisms are designed in these ss cubes. It is all for the sake of the wyverns.

    Normally, it would take at least a decade for these wyverns toplete the flooding and transform into greater versions. But these chambers would decrease the decade into a few days."

    Lee was sure that the physical appearance of ss is actually a deception, and is to provide real-time observation. But he never expected D to have integrated so many mechanisms in these transparent boxes.

    Hudson was not surprised anymore, because he was expecting something extraordinary with these boxes. From his evaluation of Dnekewy, he would only be surprised if he spent thousands of Essence on useless ss trinkets, with no hidden contraptions.

    "Can you exin, D?"

    Lee asked, and D replied-

    "The time that a wyvern needs to transform into a greater version, is at least a decade. In this long span of time, the wyvern will have its muscles, bones, nerves, blood, internal organs and skin slowly and steadily reconstructed. That is why it can only open and close its eyes, so that it can only observe the surroundings and calcte the time that has passed by. If it even moved by a millimetre, the process would be wed.

    As beings of less patience, their urge to stay active may overshadow the will to stay put. So I designed these ss chambers to drastically cut down the time consumption, without any side effects. And about the mechanisms I have installed, see them for yourselves."

 Chapter 218: When Nature Meets Technology

    Chapter 218: When Nature Meets Technology

    "As beings of less patience, their urge to stay active may overshadow the will to stay put. So I designed these ss chambers to drastically cut down the time consumption, without any side effects. And about the mechanisms I have installed, see them for yourselves.

    And I hope Lee wouldn''t mind using some of his Essence."

    D extended his right hand, and his index finger pointed at the chambers. Lee and Hudson turned to look at the ss constructs, and saw the three chambers in distinct three colours. The chamber in which Lesser Fire Wyvernid, had a red tint on its ss. The one in which Snow Wyvern was, had a blue tint. The third one which contained the Lesser Wind Wyvern had a pale grey tint. Despite the colouration, the inside of the chamber was clearly visible.

    A few secondster, several geometrical shapes began to appear on the ss walls. They had such faint outlines that it was difficult for Hudson to see it clearly. As he moved forward towards the chambers, he could see the vast array of two dimensional shapes on the sses. After inspecting them closely, Lee deduced that they are the multiple mechanisms D spoke about.

    The geometrical outlines suddenly illuminated and the walls were filled with aesthetic beauty. As Lee and Hudson took a few steps forward in confusion and anxiety, several bizarre mechanical arms popped out of those geometrical shapes. Simultaneously, the bodies of the three wyverns rose up, as if they were in zero gravity.

    "Wyverns sleep for decades because they have to let their bodies naturally assimte with the elemental energy. The reconstruction of their entire being must be done carefully. It is slow and is the way it is supposed to be. The effectiveness of an external help is questionable, because no wyvern had one.

    What you see inside these ss constructs are the mechanism that can bypass the slow and tedious process of decades, wlessly. There are high precision mechanical arms which regte the process while amplifying the reconstruction rate to at least 1,000 times."

    By the time the narration was halfway, the mechanical arms began to move and executed themands fed by D. In front of Lee and Hudson, the wyverns were literally skinned, dissected and were being reconstructed artificially. Both of them witnessed the mechanical arms creating solid holograms to perform minute and delicate tasks, with amazement.

    Within a minute, the beasts were in pieces. The meat and bones of the beasts were drained of blood, and the zero gravity inside the chambers helped the solid holograms to take the shape of vessels, so as to contain the freely floating blood.

    Then, the actual process began. The bones and flesh remained stationary in the air, while the mechanisms run around it to perform precise alteration from subcellr level. It was not some ordinary alteration as each element could be seen raging inside respective chambers.

    The fire inside the Lesser Fire Wyvern''s ss box was equivalent to hells undying mes. The purity of the heat was beyond describing, and every inch of the beast was soaked in it, while going through modifications. The same was the case of Snow Wyvern, where the beast was frozen beyondprehension, and it looked so brittle that a flick of a finger could shatter it to pieces!

    The Lesser Wind Wyvern''s chamber was not visibly chaotic, but the assumption that was deduced from the first two boxes proved right. The invisible Wind element was rampaging inside and restlessly saturating each cell of the wyvern with its energy.

    The most important part of this apparatus was the continuing function of the internal organs. The wyverns'' hearts, which were in the shape of arge noble cut diamond, did not cease its function. The expansion and contraction of the lungs were as if the beasts were actually breathing. The peculiar shape of the brain and the constitution of the spine were disclosed to the eyes of Lee and Hudson.

    As time went by, the reconstruction picked up speed and the actions turned nearly impossible to witness by naked eyes. The agile and nonlinear movements of the hands were beyond Hudson''sprehension, and even Lee found it difficult to follow the solid hologram constructs urately.

    "You both can stop staring at the ss boxes for now. It is not like they would be reassembled in a few minutes. The least to which I could decrease the time consumption is a little more than 10 days. Until then, the process would go on."

    Lee turned around and walked to the table, as D spoke. But Hudson was hesitant to move. This was a chance which he never had when alive. To see the inner structure and anatomy of a wyvern, that too alive, was something he observed with utmost devotion. When his sight skimmed over the three chambers periodically, his mind registered the findings and evaluations of keen observations.

    =====

    8 PM.

    11,500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The hourly notification came up and let Lee know that it is 8 PM. ncing around, he felt that somebody was nowhere to be seen.

    "Where is Rue?" (Lee)

    Hudson was busy with his observations, so D gave the answer.

    "She has been sitting beneath a tree for almost two days. She had not eaten anything, but she is not exhibiting any signs of exhaustion." (D)

    D expressed his evaluation, as he could not find what she was doing. Hudson heard thisment and looked over his shoulder to answer-

    "She is simply sitting. She is upgrading herself." (Hudson)

    D frowned at this revtion, and ced the teacup in his hand back on the table. Lee nced at D with confusion and expressed hisck of knowledge about what Hudson had spoken.

    "Hudson, can you borate?" (D)

    Hudson sped his hands behind his back and spoke, as he keenly observed the artificial reconstruction process inside the chambers.

    "Rue has some rituals to go through, in order to be a full-fledged Dryad. Her posture may look simple, but she is on her way to be a True Nature Spirit."

 Chapter 219: From The Depths (1)

    Chapter 219: From The Depths (1)

    "Rue has some rituals to go through, in order to be a full-fledged Dryad. Her posture may look simple, but she is on her way to be a True Nature Spirit."

    That was new information for Lee. The term ''Spirit'' caught his attention, and he sharpened his ears for more.

    "Dryads have a veryrge untapped reserve of Mana in them. The process is to simultaneously make contact with this reserve, and to upgrade self with this pure energy. From the rate of her progression, she wouldplete the process in a week or two."

    Hudson quickly concluded his narration, as he wanted to observe the reconstruction process. Both D and Lee found his want to closely witness the chambers'' activities amusing. So they did not probe further and let him watch the show to his satisfaction.

    Lee turned to D and asked about the System Space''s condition. The sovereign assured him that the space is in optimum state, and there is no need to worry about anything.

    "What about Dretrils? Do they have a chance to evolve into anything?" (Lee)

    "Nope. Though they are considered as a part of the Draconic family, they have notpletely inherited the feature to evolve. To be honest, these beasts are best unevolved." (D)

    Lee nodded and epted the fact. The information about Dretrils was non-existent in the book of Codex Fero, and he temporarily dismissed his thoughts of those beasts.

    *yawns*

    "I am going back to reality. I need to get some sleep."

    Without wasting a moment, Lee disappeared from the System Space and appeared next to his bed. The stomach growled and he quickly ate a few Honey Bread loaves before drinking a full bottle of Horned-Mow Milk. Thebination was heavenly as ever, and it became his favorite for some indescribable reasons.

    Leeid on the bed, and slowly slipped into slumber. Within a minute, he had fallen asleep. The fatigue, suppressed by his consciousness, tok effect, and he slept peacefully. The night moved on without troubling Lee. But unbeknownst to him, an enormous threat was homing in on the city!

    ---

    [[LEE, WE HAVE TROUBLE!!!]]

    Lee jumped out of the bed at once, when he heard a thunderous shouting inside his head. His peaceful slumber had vanished into thin air, and alertness enveloped him. It was as if he was not even asleep.

    Foresight unconditionally turned itself on, and Lee could see the time. He wondered why would both D and Hudson make a racket at 2.55 AM. Not even a sliver of light of the twin stars could be seen.

    ''What is it?''

    [An incredibly chaotic energy swept across the city. It is possible that only a few people might have faintly noticed it.]

    The term ''Chaos'' brought unrest to Lee''s heart. He quickly nced through the window and confirmed that it was still dark outside. The 3D Map was summoned and Lee quickly zoomed it out and noticed thend surrounding the city, and he could see nothing chaotic.

    [You are looking in the wrong direction. Take a peep into the ocean.]

    Eagerness skyrocketed, and Lee zoomed into the sea. What he saw was beyond his belief. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not hallucinating.

    Almost 2 kilometres from the port where shipwrecks and floating remnants are salvaged and kept, was a fissure in the seabed. It was one big crack that resembled a cat''s pupil, and pitch ck coloured ink emitted from it. The vision was obstructed by the repulsing substance oozing out of the fissure.

    ''D, Hudson, any evaluations?''

    [Nope. I am seeing something like this for the first time.]

    But Hudson''s answer was different.

    [Is it just me or are you both not able to find familiarity with this repulsive energy?]

    Lee frowned at thisment, and peered further. He could see something tiny crawling out of it.

    ''Fish?''

    [Fish don''t have arms.]

    Lee quickly opened the door and activated the Light affinity. With the Flight skill, heunched himself into the air, and shot towards the port.

    ''Open Workshop.''

    The customization panel opened with a nk screen. Lee quickly created an active skill called ''Waterworld'' using it. It had features like underwater jet propulsion, increased agility, and undetectable SONAR embedded in it. Paying a total of 49,890 Essence, the skill was added to his status.

    The actions were quick and he reached the ports in a few seconds. The area was under lockdown, as the remnants of shipwrecks were piled up in the port. Withplete silence in the air, Lee walked to the edge of the port.

    He could see a vague ck mist at a distance. It crept out of the water and spread over the sea, like dense fog. Every now and then, there were one or two bubbles popping up from the depths of the ocean.

    It might be due to the high Perception value, Lee detected somethinging towards the port from the city. Lee turned around and a secondter, an old man descended with a thud. The ground cracked beneath his feet, and he casually stood up. The darkness was not a concern to the old man, as the person could vaguely see Lee.

    "Tell me young man. Are you the reason behind the energy wave?"

    The old man asked and there was a tinge of threat in his voice. Unfortunately, his intimidation failed to make an impact in Lee.

    "I came here just like you. The energy was too chaotic to not notice."

    Lee spoke and was about to turn around, when he perceived two people homing in at the port. The old man also felt the iing people''s presence and turned to them.

    A secondter, two more men descended in the open areas of the port. Just like the first old man, the other two were also old, and they seemed to have recognised each other. Lee witnessed their faces and his mind recollected certain instances where he had seen them in the city.

 Chapter 221: From The Depths (3)

    Chapter 221: From The Depths (3)

    [If I am correct, then this ink-like substance is actually a Fallen Tubian.]

    ''Wait what?''

    [A Fallen Tubian.]

    ''How do you know about them?''

    [Gauthama warned us about a special type of Tubians.]

    Lee probed further as his Light affinity was activated. His whole body began to shine like a star in the darkness.

    ''borate the term ''Special''.''

    [Tubians are souls with a second chance to live because of their previous life''s enlightenment with elements or emotions. They are very powerful existences with unnatural stats, but are bound to the Will of the Dimension.

    But some of them turn extremists. Rather than supporting the indigenious people, they enforce their ideas of living and lifestyle upon others. Thus they be haunted by the fellow Tubians.

    Because of their aggressive behaviour, they end up corrupting the organisms. Thus their anti-social attitude gave them the prefix ''Fallen''.]

    Lee heard this description and became vignt. He tried to perceive the affinity of the Tubian, but ended up fruitless.

    [The major peculiarity of a Fallen is its ability to conceal its affinity. You may try to, but it is virtually impossible to evaluate and determine the affinity. Due to their mindset, they are especially cautious and extremely hostile.]

    Lee was distracted for a second, and an energy spike pierced his right shoulder. He was able to break free, but sensed an invasion through the wound. D yelled to quickly retreat to a higher ground above the surface, and Lee used spatial magic to escape from the water.

    The Flight skill was activated and he appeared about a kilometre above sea level. With his left palm pressing on his shoulder, the Life affinity imbued Mana covered his whole body. Tiny were the scratches over his body, but they did disy the Fallen Tubian''s prowess.

    Through the map, Lee spectated the war while his Mana reserved began to deplete faster than usual. Yet, the wound was resisting the force of Life. Lee found this unexpected event ufortable and it made him cautious.

    ''This Tubian is troublesome. D, Hudson, find a way. I am unknown of this creature and am struggling to even heal myself.

    Meanwhile, let me try another way.''

    Lee opened the Workshop and designed thirty metallic hollow spheres. It was muchrger than the previous ones, and were a little bigger than a ser ball. Lee coded the entire construct to dissolve when came in contact with water, and added stuffed its insides with ''Anti-Undead'' substances. It was nothing more than some ordinary power, but with Anti-Undead attributes. The entire set of constructs proved to be worthy of 16,082,500,000 Essence, and Lee did not concern himself with counting the Essence cost.

    The spheres materialised and fell into the sea, and the agony of undead creatures rippled through the waves. The spheres dissolved into the water like salt, and its effect spread far and wide. All undeads in the water began to writhe in pain and agony. The chaos picked up a notch, but it was the final disy before dying down.

    [The Anti-Undead substance seems working, and we were unable to figure out the affinity of the Fallen. I suggest you use more of it.]

    Lee constructed anotherrge ball, which is given the function of arge grenade. When it explodes, the substance would reach a muchrger radius, and the undead would have no other way than to retreat to the fissure. The Fissure also made Lee concerned, as he couldn''t probe to find whether anything was still hiding inside.

    The Undead had not reached thend. Thus, a great tragedy was avoided. The n head of the Typhoon n witnessed the undead creatures slowly moving towards the shore, and he fortunately did not see Lee fighting with the Fallen.

    As he readied himself, the n head was unaware of Lee''s actions. Before the creatures could reach a 100 metres within the port, the Anti-Undead substance did its trick. Like fishes in water struck by lightning, the unholy creations twitched and ran twice the speed with which it came to the shore.

    Clueless, the n head thanked all the gods watching over him. While he was letting the gods know of his gratitude, the Anti-Undead atom bomb hadunched.

    The 18 million Essence worth of creation was silent and disintegrated into the water, as it came in contact with the sea. The octopus was the only creature to witness the descent and it freaked out, and was running while holding its precious life. Before it could enter the crevice and escape, the purifying agent had enveloped the undead octopus and suffocated it.

    When the decayed flesh of the octopus began to burn with scorching pain, a ck ink began to ooze out of the ugly cephalopod.

    [That is the true body of Fallen. These creatures discard their physical body to prevent themselves from getting deported. Catch it!!]

    The Workshop was opened again and arge enclosed ss cube was designed. It was specifically assigned to home in on, and absorb and capture the Fallen. It was made of Diamond ss and had the Anti-Undead substance saturated within the molecules. Lee let D add the tiny details which sealed the fate of the ink creature.

    More than 30 million Essence vanished from the reserve just to materialise this construct. But Lee found that the cost was worth its function. Within a second, the construct was produced, and the Fallen was captured.

    Yet...it resisted! It tried to swim towards the fissure, like a glutton trying to run towards a buffet. But, the Essence was not spent for recreation. The Diamond ss proved its absurd sturdiness and integrity, and the purifying effect of the substance soon made the Fallen die down from its rampage.

    Surprisingly, the wound began to close up very quickly. It was as if the Life affinity was clogged till now, and was released all at once. A sense of satisfaction crept up his mind, and Leemanded the jar to restrict the Fallen''s movements.

 Chapter 222: Troublesome Tubian

    Chapter 222: Troublesome Tubian

    Like a hydraulic press, the jar began to decrease its internal volume. The amorphous being showed its reluctance to be confined to a small space, but in vain. The volume of Diamond ss and Anti-Undead particles did not change a bit, but changed their molecr arrangement, and stacked upon each other. More the size was decreased, more it became an unbreakable fortress!

    With a slight wave of Lee''s arm, the jar floated upward, broke the surface of the ocean and approached his side. Due to curiosity, Lee ced it in the EsGen, only to know that this creature can only generate a maximum of 27 or 28 thousand. He asked D and Hudson to carefully observe this being for any kind of irregrities or specialities.

    =====

    4 AM.

    39,300 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The hourly notification came up and Lee saw where the sky touched the sea, it was brighter by a grain to the surrounding darkness. While the n heads and sect leaders were assembling their men, a human silently flew almost a mile above them.

    The addition of Tubian Finder to the Map could not locate where Hegerus was. All 777 Tubians had the same extra-dimension signature on them, and Lee was unable to pinpoint which was who. The search for the Tubian of Malice was still running in the background with a minimal Essence consumption and D gave the daily report to him.

    If ever was Lee to find Hegerus, that would be the hour the Tubian will wish to be deported to his home dimension as quickly as possible!

    The return was slow and peaceful. Lee skimmed his eyes over the city streets below him. It was a sight to behold, as the streetnterns lit the streets at each intersection and clearly presented the civil outline of the city. He enjoyed the scenery and he finally reached the academy.

    As quiet as an owl, Lee flew inside the academy, and entered his room. Since the students wake up at 6 in the morning, Lee almost has two hours. So he opened the Map and began to trace the location of each extra-dimension signature. The location was an approximate, and the Tubian could be anywhere a kilometre inside the range.

    Time went by, and 6 AM arrived. After searching the vicinity of 170 markers, Hegerus was nowhere to be found. A bell rang, and it was the indication that students are to wake up andplete their necessary activities. Lee closed the Map, and asked D for a report on the captured being.

    [Squishy, amorphous gtin being. I assume that it''s affinity is either control of the undead, or maniption of the dead. It is difficult to tell as the Fallen is aggressive. This being should have shed its body at least two millennia ago, because after the shedding, the Fallen''s soul and the affinity literally mix together, and this being is virtually iprehensible.]

    *Growls*

    [Is that your stomach?]

    ''.....yes.''

    Lee did not speak anything, and made 3 Honey Bread loaves and 2 bottles of Horned-Mow Milk. After making it disappear in a minute, Lee walked to the indoor stadium.

    ---

    Opening the door, Lee saw none inside. He stepped in silently, and walked forth, while his left hand shed down. A spatial tear opened, and the Perrafin and Fero jumped out of it.

    *Gurrrr....*

    The Perrafin gave out a loud and deep purr, and Lee rubbed its smooth fur. Because of the Lightning constitution, the beast began to nibble his fingers, skin and hair. Lee was not irritated, but found it amusing.

    Lee assumed the reason, and he found that his assumption was true. When he gently waved his hand, flickering crackles were produced and Perrafin bit it. The beast licked its tongue, and indicated that it found the lightning ''tasty''.

    Fero, on the other hand, was sitting on the floor. Like the exhibitionist winged beast, it had proved that Lee is his master by his presence alone. But it was sad for some reasons, because it could not find any sign of An, Mia or Tera near Lee.

    ''They are away on a task. We will go and meet them soon.''

    When Lee uttered these words in the hyena''s mind, it wagged its tail and showed enthusiasm. It produced a few muffled howls of happiness, andid on its back and stretched its limbs. Lee then turned to the Perrafin and fed it lumps of lightning by mere snaps of his fingers.

    Then, a sharp sting came up on his right shoulder. The sudden uprising made him wince and grab his shoulder with all his might. Fero and the Perrafin sensed his emotional fluctuations and neared him.

    A secondter, the pain vanished. Lee was totally confused by this sudden appearance and traceless disappearance of a sharp sting where he was stabbed by the Fallen Tubian. D was surprised by this incident, and Hudson quickly did a thorough check of Lee''s right shoulder. Unfortunately, he reported that nothing could be found as a reason.

    ''Just like that?''

    [Just like that.]

    [We did check your body thoroughly. But nothing could be found.]

    Though the residents of the System Space could not find anything, Lee did not back up so easily. Something murmured in his mind that there is a foreign particle in his body.

    ''Open Workshop.''

    Lee proved again that imaginations have no limits, as he designed a particle so tiny that it can enter and exit a human cell without any trouble. It was made entirely out of the Anti-Undead particles, and was embedded withplexmands that made it behave like a sentient being.

    Only 8,300 of them were produced as one of such teeny tiny particles demanded Lee a whooping 7,500,000 (seven and a half million) due to the microscopic andplex structure, and innumerous minisculemands.

    With the billionaire status gone, he stared at his remaining Essence reserve of almost 368 million. The particles were directly injected into Lee''s bloodstream, and it began to spread all over inside of him.

    A secondter, D, who was the control panel of these tiny robots, reported the discovery.

 Chapter 223: The Dark Sentience

    Chapter 223: The Dark Sentience

    A secondter, D, who was the control panel of these tiny robots, reported the discovery.

    [A sliver of the Fallen''s ink-like body was hiding inside your body, and now it is in the run. Brace for sting.]

    Without giving a moment to ready himself, a sharp pain erupted on his shoulder. With pain and agony, Lee saw something pitch ck running down his blood vessels. As the hostile substance moved, it destroyed most of his nerve tissues and gave a scorching sensation.

    Lee grabbed his wrist as it entered his palm. The pain was simply unbearable, but something empowered Lee to struggle to the end. It was then he felt a predator''s eyes falling on his hand.

    It was quick, but Lee clearly saw Perrafin''s eyes changing colour from green to bloodred. The next instant, the array of sharp teeth had gone down into his palm and Lee''s surprise was over the roof!

    The fierce beast had Lee''s palm bit and jammed between it''s jaws. After sucking a lot of blood from his wound, the Perrafin let his hand go. Lee cautiously took a step back, but the beast had reverted to its normal self.

    [Lee, the Fallen''s body is inside the Perrafin''s stomach!]

    The sudden disappearance of the pain and the inkling gave Lee a gist of what had happened. The supeputerpiled all the details he had seen, heard and felt, and prepared a set of conclusions.

    ''Guys, tell me whether my assumptions are right or wrong.''

    The Perrafin licked the trace of blood it had on its lips, and showed no reaction of eating a Fallen''s squishy body. As the Foresight disyed the metabolism of the Perrafin, Lee saw the sentient ink substance vaporising from the lightning energy running through its body. The amorphous being disintegrated into nothing and it''s signaturepletely dissipated.

    The reaction was from the prison jar in which the Fallen was contained. It vigorously rampaged inside the ss construct, but that was all it could do. Hudson reported that what Lee concluded is indeed true.

    [The Fallen had left a tiny fragment of its body inside your shoulder bone, when it was pierced. It was slowly corrupting your bone, without even raising an rm. The silent feeding on your life wasfortable for it. But when you began to feed the Perrafin with Lightning, it became hostile.

    As suspected, the stimted Lightning energy in your body was the factor that disturbed it''s stability. Then it began to run rampage in your body, in hope of distracting you from feeding the Perrafin, and thus stopping you from voluntarily stimting the element.

    When it moved towards your palm, Perrafin had an instantaneous change in its attitude. This is directly rted to the Fallen''s concealed elemental affinity. The sudden and uncontroble urge to bite your palm stemmed from the perception of Fallen''s mysterious energy from its vicinity.

    When the Perrafin digested itpletely, the element was confirmed to be the opposite of the lightning, and weaker in defense. From its property to manipte and control dead beings, it can be confirmed to have a puppeting behaviour. When it reacted against the purifying particles, it was as if it was the very incarnate of unholiness.

    The equal hostility against both Lightning and Life was proven. Thus the Fallen can be finalized as the Tubian of Dark Sentience!]

    Lee had guessed the properties of the entity, but the correct term was unknown to him. The word ''Dark Sentience'' resonated in his ears with a tinge of amazement, as it was a variant of Life affinity, but with evil property.

    But he still had his doubts.

    ''So the Dark Sentience is the pr opposite of Lightning?''

    [Nope. Life affinity is the actual opposite of Dark Sentience. But Lightning is the most powerful affinity that can disrupt the Dark Sentience. The difference is in its energy distribution method.

    Life affinity is not offensive or defensive, and thus have literally no means to ward off the Dark Sentience. But due to the energizing property, Lightning manages to create a misalignment in the structure of the sinister energy, which also has tiny impulses in it.

    Due to the fiery temper, Lightning is chaotic. This is also a problem to the silent evil. Thus, Dark Sentience easily shows disapproval to the presence of Lightning.

    Do not forget that Lightning was one of theponents that made the concept of life a reality.]

    Lee sat on the floor and Fero came to him wagging his tail. After producing 2 kilos of pork meat for both beasts, Lee asked-

    ''Then, is it possible to purify the Fallen''s Dark Sentience, like how we did with Hudson?''

    [The Dark Sentience is an affinity itself. So an act of purifying or reversing an affinity is impossible.

    But I would not dere it as virtually impossible.]

    ''Then give it a try.''

    Lee asked Hudson to give a try because he had a hunch that it was reversible. Since the Tubian corrupts the organisms, there exists a miniscule chance to get itself corrupted too.

    Lee was talking about this probability. If the Dark Sentience was the result of a corruption, then the purification might be a trick worth pulling off.

    Not that D or Hudson forgot about it, but they did not give much emphasis to this sliver of probability.

    [We shall give it a try a week or twoter. Since the Wyverns are currently going on their reconstruction, we cannot have any kind of mishaps. We both are well aware of the power of Dark Sentience. So.]

    ''I understand.''

    The duo of beasts had finished their meal. After having something in their tummy, their energy skyrocketed. Without wasting any time, they began to run around inside the stadium. When the noise became too much, Lee shushed them to quiet down.

    Since he was also sitting simply, Lee got up and joined them. He disyed a sample of his unnatural agility, and the beasts admitted defeat within no time.

    While ying with the beasts, Lee noticed two things. One, the Perrafin''s agility had been increased by a slight margin. Not only that it became fast, but it also developed in its endurance. He assumed that this change might have some connection with the digestion of the Fallen''s ink body.

    The second detail was more surprising. Fero seems to have an affinity with Darkness!

 Chapter 224: Responsibility Of The Field Experience Head

    Chapter 224: Responsibility Of The Field Experience Head

    The second detail was more surprising. Fero seems to have an affinity with Darkness!

    It was faint, but Lee noticed it''s fur turning pitch ck at some point. When Lee teased the beasts to chase him and catch him if they can, the beasts put their everything into it, and Lee witnessed this vague transformation.

    His heart was filled with joy, as he had never expected his two familiars to develop two lethal affinities. Lightning, as we all know, was capable of disintegrating it''s opponent. Darkness enables anything to be one with the shadow and darkness, and to execute silent killing sprees!

    [It is 7 AM, and two students are approaching the stadium.]

    Lee took a nce at the Map and two boys approaching the stadium door. One had a magic staff in his hand, and the other had a spear. They were dressed appropriately for training and their intention was found friendly by Lee.

    Lee slowed down his speed, and let the beasts catch him. They showed their affection by rubbing their heads to his torso, while attempting some yful bites.

    About twenty secondster, the door was opened and two students entered the stadium. The next moment, they were stunned and raised their weapon as a precaution.

    "Don''t worry. They will not harm anyone."

    While remaining seated cross-legged on the floor, Lee assured the students that these two beings are harmless. But his assurance was never enough to let their guard down.

    All the departments teach a few basic information that one should know about the world, and its beings. In the 1-10 scale of danger, the Perrafin is at 5 and the Split-jaw Hyena holds a score of 4.5. A human is 1, and the stoutest mainstream race called Orc is slightly above 4.

    The students held their ground, while staring at the two beasts. The sudden appearance of the students made the beats go cautious, but Lee told them that they are students and they do not mean harm.

    Listening to his words, the Perrafin lowered its head and ced it on Lee''sp. It closed its eyes in her master''s reassurance. But Fero was cautious. The students were holding their weapons up and it made him reluctant to back off.

    "Fero,e here."

    Seeing the hyena''s adamant behaviour, Lee called him. It immediately turned around and walked towards him. Like a toddler, it slipped down on hisp, next to Perrafin''s head. Yet, both of the beasts'' eyes were partially open and were observing the students. No hostility arose from them.

    The students calmed their vigorously beating heart and lowered the weapons. Seeing their fear toe forward, Lee reassured-

    "I promise you both. They arepletely harmless. Come near."

    Taking the professor''s words to consideration, they cautiously stepped forth. The duo was on alert, because they can see the muscr physiques of the beasts. But they encouraged themselves, as it was the academy professor calling them to walk forward.

    As the duo reached a distance of about forty metres from Lee, the hyena suddenly raised its head. The students jumped back by a metre by this action. Surprise was for them, as Feroughed at them. It''s voice resonated in the stadium, and the students found it amusing.

    "Are you here to spar with each other?"

    The two averted their eyes from the beasts'' beautiful fur and stared at Lee for a second, and then nodded. They added their name and their element in their response.

    "Casper Row, Fire Element, Spear."

    "Zachary Folk, Wind Element, Staff."

    The Fire and Earth always gave a good match to witness. Being projectile, both had short and close range uses in a battle. Lee found that they sparring with each other, would never give an opportunity of real battle, thus he said-

    "Wind and Fire. The Wind would fan the Fire, and increase its destructive capabilities. The Fire can embed itself into Wind and can create scorching winds."

    Lee took a pause, and asked-

    "Why don''t you form a pair, and fight one of these?"

    Lee ced his hands on the beasts'' heads, as words exited his mouth. The students were stunned by this question. Their face clearly depicted their hesitance to agree.

    Seeing their expressions, he spoke-

    "I am the head of the Field Experience department, and I am supposed to give you battle experiences, so that none of you bes a coward in the future. Get me?"

    The students were disclosed to his intentions. They understood that he did not mean any harm by his words, but the betterment of the students. It took a minute for them to decide, and they nodded.

    "Good.

    Fero, stand up."

    The hyena stood up at once, and sat. Lee rose up on his feet and said to the students-

    "You two, go and stand at the centre of the stadium. The hyena will run around you in random directions. It will not harm you in any way, I promise.

    You are supposed to hit him with all your might. Don''t worry about wounding it, you won''t."

    Promptly, they walked to the centre of the stadium. There were gridlines on the ground, so it was easy to spot the position. Lee kneeled near Fero and gavemands. The hyena was told to run non-stop around the students like in Brownian motion, and at a fixed speed.

    "Casper, Zachary, are you ready?"

    The two students nodded and replied-

    "Yes professor."

    Lee walked to the side, and stood about 25 metres away from the students. The students were so nervous by witnessing the fierce hyena in front of them. As Leemanded, it did not bare its teeth or showed hostility. Fero also refrained from instilling fear in their minds.

    "Begin."

    Lee spoke, and Fero began to jump here and there. The students almost lost theirposure, but the presence of the professor invoked them to give their all. Fire and Wind spells began to shoot at Fero, who easily evaded the projectiles.

    Even after three minutes, the students could not chant the spells, or swing their weapons, without trembling their hands. Lee found this as theck of exposure to wildlings, and asked Fero to provoke them.

    And he nailed it!

 Chapter 225: Casper & Zachary

    Chapter 225: Casper & Zachary

    And he nailed it!

    Lee found it funny as the hyena produced it''s peculiarughter. Though a Split-jaw Hyena was a fierce beast, it''sughter was meant to invoke some sense of amusement in the opponent.

    The students saw the beast looking down on them, and they became angry. Their rage fuelled the chants and many powerful winddes originated. The spear began to dance in the air, and Fero found the helpless duo getting empowered.

    Lee witnessed the winddes and fire shots, as he sat on the Perrafin''s back. The winged beastid on its belly, and it also observed the ongoing event.

    The rage blinded the students and their spells began to go forth regardless of the directions. The fireballs and wind des did dash at Lee, but he immediately neutralised them. Using the waterballs against the fireballs, and winddes to counter wind des, Lee safeguarded himself and the beauty.

    ---

    13 minutester.

    *Thud*

    Fero pridefully strided in front of the two students who had fallen on their knees. The rage made them drain their energy quickly, and they barely had the strength to stand upright.

    The spells began to dwindle in strength, and Zachary supported his torso with his staff. His hands trembled and he no more had Mana in him. He was able to hold on much longer than hispanion Casper, who had fallen on his back t. Casper''s breathing was much rougher and louder than Zachary.

    "Fero, that is enough."

    Lee spoke as he walked towards the two students. Seeing the professor approaching, they tried to stand up, but Lee gestured to remain at ease. Finding his signal, Zachary bent his knees and sat on the ground, with his staff next to him.

    Perrafin followed Lee behind him. It saw the two sweating like rain, and felt sympathy. Thus the winged beast raised one of its wings, and fanned the two. Casper and Zachary were amazed by this act of benevolence.

    "Do you know what went wrong?"

    Lee stood a few metres in front of the students. Casper raised his head and took a nce of Lee and said-

    "We fought.individually."

    The surprise could be seen on Lee''s face, as he agreed to Casper.

    "Yes. One of the two factors that led to your defeat was theck of coordination. You forgot that your elements canplement each other, and thus ended up forgetting the powerfulbo.

    The second factor was loss ofposure."

    Saying this, Lee extended his hand forward, and his palm was facing upward. The next second, a dense ball of lightning materialised in the palm, and Zachary''s eyes went wide. The crackling lightning sphere condensed and became stable.

    "If I did not had concentration, then this feat would have been impossible."

    As he finished saying, he extended the lightning sphere to the Perrafin, and it devoured it. The dense energy of Lightning gave it a shiver, which produced a faint strike of lightning to crackle out of its jaw.

    The two students were amazed to witness this, and were bbergasted. The sight of a tamed Perrafin was already speechless, and now they saw the beast eating a condensed ball of lightning, without any trouble.

    "To summarise, your individual efforts are good, but you will need more than this to survive in the wild. Fero is tamed, so he did not do any harm to you. But if you were to face an untamed beast, then.you both will surely die.

    So eat well, practice and build your body and mind to withstand the toughest troubles."

    Lee turned around and created the spatial tear with a few illuminated decorations. After the Perrafin and Fero entered inside, the spatial tear closed by itself because the Mana reserve had depleted at the same moment.

    After the beasts disappeared, Lee helped both the students to get up on their feet. The Perrafin''s wing swing had cooled them down and relieved their exhaustion to a great extent.

    While walking towards the door of the stadium, the students conveyed that this was the first time they had copsed from running out of Mana. Hudson promptlymented that the Mana reserve can only grow the more it is depleted and reinforced with physical and mental training.

    After repeating the advice of Hudson, to the students, Lee went back to his residence. Quickly cleansing himself with Spotless, Lee repaired his jacket and then wore it back on. He did not forget to clean his clothings using Workshop.

    ---

    =====

    8 AM.

    39,500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The food would be avable for all the students and professors of the academy at the cafeteria. The daily quota is three meals a day; breakfast, lunch and dinner. The amount of food is determined and fixed, and is equally distributed.

    The sses start at 9, and then the daily lectures begin. Every day has a total of four hours of tutoring, each session with 55 minutes. The five minutes is for rxation of students.

    The sses have aplex structure which Lee is yet to be introduced to. All he knows is that he can teach anyone who approaches him earnestly. He has the right to reject, which he never exercises.

    Wearing the professors'' robe, Lee dawdled to the main building of the academy. Students greeted him as they went past him, and he politely greeted them back. The faint breeze messed up his hair, which Lee repeatedly had tob down with his hand.

    As he reached the doors of the cafeteria, he could hear the noises from the inside. Maybe it was because of his enhanced auditory senses, Lee could hear them loud and clear. Quite a few times, he did hear someone mentioning his name.

    As he stepped inside, many pairs of eyes fell on him. Some talked hushedly, while some gestured to each other. Whatever they thought to be doing behind his back, was actually visible to him through the Map.

    Walking to the server, Lee asked for the usual. The student recognised Lee as a professor from his outfit, and gave a set of breakfast. As he silently walked to the executives'' area, Drake and Dolly were waiting for him.

    "I heard something about you this morning. Is it true?"

 Chapter 226: Accumulating Adversities

    Chapter 226: umting Adversities

    "I overheard something about you this morning. Is it true?"

    As Lee sat next to the couple, Dolly asked. Lee initially frowned, then got the outline of the information. But he did not let go of the perplexed expression, and probed-

    "What is it, professor?"

    Lee nced at Drake, to see him silently chewing down the meat. His mind soaked with the vour of tenderness. Lee nced back at Dolly and saw her brows knitted ever so slightly.

    "Two students seem to have met you in the stadium, and have spared with a Split-jaw Hyena, which they certified as yours. Is it true?"

    Lee gulped the cup, and responded-

    "Yes. That is correct."

    Dolly leaned onto the table and asked-

    "Then is it true that you have tamed a Perrafin?"

    *nod*

    Lee just nodded in acknowledgement to her query.

    "A Perrafin?"

    The name of the infamous winged beast snatched Drake''s attention. As he heard the question, he also saw the response of Lee and winced.

    *nod*

    Lee nodded again as he chewed on another slice of meat. After taking a sip of the Coco Milk, he nced at Drake and saw his grimace face.

    [Maybe he has some past with a Perrafin.]

    ''Could be.''

    Lee was busy with his activity and finished his meal within ten minutes. The food was more delicious than the Honey Bread and was drooling at first sight. This breakfast has always been great to savour and refreshing to the mind.

    "You have tamed a Perrafin?"

    Lee Shen peered at Drake with an innocent face. He gave a smile and nodded in reply, which indicated that he agrees with his statement.

    "How did you manage to tame the beast? That is a nightmare to most adventurers and cultivators alike."

    Dolly probed as she expressed her curiosity. Lee ced the fork and knife back on the table and answered-

    "I came across the beast when it was severely wounded by someone. I was initially cautious. When I realised that the beast was injured, I attended its wounds. It appreciated my act of kindness. It was the Perrafin which initiated to form a soul link."

    Without burdening himself to provide a detailed exnation, Lee Shen stood up from his seat and silently went to wash the dish. He came back from the washroom, and ced the utensils at appropriate ces, and left the cafeteria.

    Drake and Dolly found his behaviour slightly unusual. Drake guessed that it might be because of prying into his secrets. Other than that, the head of the Spell Research department could not find any.

    ---

    After exiting the academic building, Lee went straight to his room. Something had triggered him to walk straight to his residence.

    "Hudson, D, what was the urgency?"

    When he was responding to Dolly''s query, a red panel had popped up with bold letters saying ''Warning!!''. It was this prompt which made Lee exit the cafeteria early and silently. Since Drake did not know about the system''s existence, he attributed the reason to their probing for answers.

    [The energy signature of an Amortal appeared in Zaxaluke!]

    *Ba-dum*

    Lee was pale by this revtion. His legs lost their strength, and he slumped on the bed. He very well knows what these entities are and what they are capable of. His heart began to beat irregrly, and Lee felt a weight over his chest.

    Touching his chest, Lee forcefully calmed his troubled drums. An unknown sensation of fear had been overshadowing his mind, and he felt his hands faintly trembling. But, he steeled his conscience and the tinge of threat went away.

    "When was it?"

    [When you were eating. It was very faint to even notice, but I was able to sense it. From its intensity, it seems that one of the Tubians living on Intellus made contact with the malicious masterminds.]

    "Then we have no time to lose! I am nothing in front of an Amortal. But I may be able to overpower a Tubian easily.

    D, can you trace and lock on the energy signature''s location?"

    [That seems to be impossible. The concealment is extreme to its perfection, and did not leave any clues.]

    While sitting on the bed, Lee Shen leaned forward. His elbows supported by his knees pressed the palms onto his face. The odd coldness of his hand felt aberrant.

    "What are the Tubians trying to achieve by contacting Amortals?"

    His mind was nk. The uneasiness of perplexion shadowed his face and Lee Shen was calcting the possible oues but to avail. Hisputations found a dead end.

    ''Stats.''

    =+=+=+=+=

    PERSONAL INFO:

    Name: Lee Shen

    Race: Lightning Element Unknown Race

    Age: 20

    Essence: 367,757,173

    Money: 6,426 Gold; 950 Silver; 86 Copper

    Date: 23rd April

    Time: 7 PM

    ATTRIBUTES:

    Health: 7,750

    Power: 2,200

    Stamina: 2,600

    Guard: 2,550

    Dexterity: 4,000

    Perception: 875

    Intelligence: 350

    Resolve: 2,000

    PROGRESS:

    Cultivation: Peak Soul Manifestation

    Qi: 0

    Mastery: Lord Level Mastery

    Mana: 0

    CONSTITUTION:

    Lightning

    ELEMENTS:

    Poison

    Fire

    Water

    Ice

    Stone

    Metal

    Nature

    Wind

    Sound

    Dark

    Light

    Death

    Gravity

    Space

    Life

    Time

    Serenity

    =+=+=+=+=

    Gazing at the screen, his unbelievably calm heartbeats made Hudson and D narrow their eyes. It was the first time they saw Lee Shen clueless and nk. Finding the possibility of a full-scale war, they remained silent.

    Hudson turned around and walked to the three chambers. His favourite part of the day was to observe and be in awe of the processes happening inside the ss cubes.

    D sat in his chair like a statue. Whenever Lee began to brainstorm, an unshaped suspended blob of mass would appear. It was a symbolic expression of Lee''s thinking. The absence of this amorphous object greatly disturbed Dnekewy.

    "We had the resurrection of continents as a major problem, and that was more than sufficient. The info about Tubians only multiplied the level of difficulty.

    And when I was thinking of befriending Tubians, they went and contacted the Amortals. Now I am like a toddler gawking at the oing waves of Tsunami."

 Chapter 227: Progress Of The Academy Students

    Chapter 227: Progress Of The Academy Students

    [....]

    Theck of response from the souls in the System Space hinted that Lee Shen was right. The next moment, his thoughts of despair were ovee by an urge to fight and live.

    ''D, exin my race.''

    [Before you assimted with the Lightning Law fragment, your body had gone through reconstruction and voluntary remodelling. This made your racial features unidentifiable, unique and thus nameless.

    After the integration, the Lightning element simply gave the elemental specifics about your body, while your race is still unidentified. You can name it if you are not thinking about further reconfiguration.]

    ''So that''s how it is.

    Tell me, is the constitution of a person limited to only one element?''

    D went silent and did not answer right away. He could clearly see and hear his thoughts from the System Space.

    [Commonly, that is the case. But there have been people reported to have a hybrid constitution of two elements. Those elements will be close to each other andplement each other.

    When I was alive, I had met a woman with Ice and Water constitution. She was able to use Ice as defence and water as an offence.

    And the ExistenceTransformation itself was a feast to the eyes.]

    Lee Shen had heard a new term.

    ''Existence Transformation?''

    [It is the process through which a person bes one with his/her constitution element soul. In this process, the body metamorphoses to bring forth and disy the power and features of the soul.

    Your soul would be one with the element and the boost in the attributes are simply unfathomable. The element will manifest around you and submit itself.

    But this feat requires an enormous amount of Qi or Mana. Although I have not heard of an adventurer who could pull off this trick, I assume that they should be able to do with apatibly high mastery level.]

    ''So I can acquire the constitution of every element.''

    [It is not easy as said. Your Lightning constitution ispatible with Water, Metal, Poison and Fire. But it opposes Stone, Dark, Death, Time, Space and Ice. Thus you will either perish or will face an unsurpassable barricade in the process.

    But you might be able to pull it off if you could cause a transition in the acquiring of the elemental constitution.]

    ''Slowly turning the tides in favour, right?''

    [Precisely.]

    Lee stood up from the bed, and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. He was contemting the order of inter-elemental harmony.

    ''Scan the entire for any Law fragment signatures. Keep a tab on the position of Tubians. Trace the approximate location of Amortal signatures. Chart out the tectonic te movements.

    How are my three wyverns doing?''

    [They are doing just fine. you should see the processes. It is simply awe-inspiring.]

    ''I noticed that Fero is exhibiting Dark element affinity. Take care of him and the Perrafin. D, use Essence to construct Metamorphosis Chambers of necessary.''

    There was no verbal answer, but Lee was sure that they have started to work on his instructions. To stay idle inside the System Space was suffocating, and D and Hudson dly carried out their respective tasks.

    Everything about Tubians, Amortals and the continents were on D''s shoulders, while Hudson took the responsibilities of the beasts and the Law fragments.

    A nce to the screen, and it vanished. Lee walked to the door and stepped out of his room. As he took a few steps to the academic building,

    ------

    Minutes became hours, and hours became days. Before Lee Shen knew, 9 days have passed in a blink of an eye.

    Academically, his teachings bore fruit. The number of disciples he had increased day by day, and was now fourty-seven. The initial twelve disciples sessfully regained their Mana sensing ability, and they can create unstable elemental Mana constructs at will.

    As the students continued their journey in Mana sensing, many revealed that their physical attributes are slightly increasing, or they could feel so. A monthly physical exercise proved their ims to be true, and Lee attributed this achievement to the voluntary sensing of Mana.

    The students no longer used spells to create their offence and defence, but used Mana to materialise their imagination into the reality. It was painful and exhausting, that many fell unconscious at the first try even after one or two days. After a week of thorough practice, Lee could tell that their stamina has risen without using the View.

    The Perrafin and Fero acted as sparring partners for students as Hudson assured Lee that beasts like Split-jaw Hyena does not need a Metamosphosis Chamber to awaken their elemental constitution. These sessions beneficial for both sides, as the students could experience a real battle with a beast while Fero could boost his constitution awakening through rigorous training.

    The restaints on the beasts were slowly lifted and the duo began to use about 60% of their strength in the matches within a week. Both the Perrafin and Fero were told to do so, so that the students would have a few rounds of wounds so as to make them familiarise pain.

    The rate at which the students progressed, surprised Erikko and the department heads. The Physical Augmentation department students began to tell the principal about the advantages of Lee''s training, and his heart jumped with joy. He knew that he had rested the future of the academy in the right hands.

    Seeing the rate of progression, the mastermind behind this change was incredibly happy. A sense of satisfaction could be sensed from his face whenever he took effort to train and mould the students. What made him more happy was the Erikko''s decision to let the Field Experience department head to ess the further floors of library.

    Finding satisfaction in his students, Lee thought of an idea which couldpletely change the inverted mentality of the academy. When he put forward the concept, Erikko found it highly beneficial to the students. The principal promised him to share this idea in the next Head of Departments'' meeting.

    On the 9th day of continuous training, Lee dered that the next day would not have any sses, so as to give the students a short break among the tedious sessions. His actual intention was to free himself from the bust schedule, as tomorrow marked 10th day of something.

 Chapter 228: Transition Between Two Realities

    Chapter 228: Transition Between Two Realities

    3rd May.

    5 AM.

    Lee woke up and stretched his limbs. After recognising the room, Lee got out of the bed and walked to the window. From his room on the first floor, Lee could see the three ss chambers standing in front of the mansion.

    The daylight in the System Space never vanished, and it was always bright there. Lee slowly descended the stairs and walked out of the mansion''s front door. Taking a nce to his right, Lee could see Rue sitting below a tree. The tree leaned forward and let her be in its shade. nts had surrounded her like a cage, and Rue emitted a faint ambience of tranquillity.

    Since it was not her time to wake up anew from the meditation, Lee Shen went straight to Hudson and D, who was standing anxiously in front of the chambers. The transparent walls of the chambers have be almost opaque, and only a vague outline of the beasts could be seen.

    "How long?"

    Lee Shen asked softly as he stood next to the duo. D looked at him through the corner of his eyes and replied-

    "Within a few minutes."

    Lee raised his brows from the answer and peered at the chambers. No matter how keenly he observed, his vision could not make out anything from the obscure outlines behind the ss panes.

    Lee walked to the three ss constructs and saw the same obscurity in them all. The chamber which contained the Lesser Fire Wyvern was as if it contained the hell itself. The scorching heat could be sensed just by standing next to it. The chamber in which Snow Wyvern was, hadyers of thick ice on the outside of the ss. It did not show any signs of weakness even under the exposure of Lee''s Fire affinity.

    The Lesser Wind Wyvern''s ss construct was purely opaque. No energy fluctuations or sense of terror could be felt even if you touch the surface of the ss. All Lee was able to sense was a boundless pit of silence. The whiteness covered the entire structure from top to bottom and from all sides. Lee assumed that the Lesser Wind Wyvern had finished its metamorphosis.

    "Lee, we should step back a little."

    D said as he walked past him with Hudson in two. He did not probe and promptly distanced himself from the ss constructs. Now, the trio was standing about 45 meters from the chambers.

    A minuteter, their eagerness was answered by a sound.

    *PSSSSS.....*

    The walls of the chambers facing the trio opened downward, creating a ramp. Jets of air were released from the chamber of Lesser Wind Wyvern. Intense bone-chilling air was shot of the Snow Wyvern''s chamber. The scorching hot air released from the ss construct of the Lesser Fire Wyvern was not inferior in its aura.

    "Here we go."

    Hudson rubbed his palms in excitement. His face had an ear to ear grin and his body showed unrest. His excitement intensified Lee''s interest and wondered what had happened to the Wyverns. Lee stared at the chambers but his eyesight could not pierce the dense energy.

    The next second, the ss chambers shattered! Like normal ssware, it was destroyed beyond repair. The fragments did not disperse around but dposed in the mid-air. The scene made Lee inhale with excitement and a grin appeared on his face. His eyes reflected great anticipations.

    A secondter, three monstrous outlines could be seen. As the mist and steam dispersed, Dnekewy, Hudson and Lee witnessed the final products of their effort. A sense of sess and ecstasy filled their hearts as their sights fell on the three Greater Wyverns.

    Red, blue and yellow were the respective colours of the Fire, Ice and Wind element Wyverns. Theirplexions were light and attractive. The beasts had a simr lean but muscr physique and were in slumber. Two menacing pair of horns rose from their heads. The horns had acquired a darker shade of the wyvern''s colour.

    One of the two pairs originated from the brows of the beasts and travelled straight backwards before taking arge but steep U-turn downward and lining parallel to the jawline to its length. The tips of the lower pair were slightly turned upward and added a menacing attribute to the face.

    The second pair was different from the first one, as it was the very condensed form of the elemental trait of the wyvern. The scorching, freezing and translucent surfaces of the respective Fire, Ice and Wind affinity upper pairs were eye-catching, and Lee picturised them leaving a trail as they flew.

    Except for the elemental affinity, colour and the difference in the upper pair of horns, everything was identical to each other. The length of the beasts from snout to the tip of the tail almost reached 20 metres, and their wingspan had increased by a great margin. By their current anatomy, gliding in the air for hours was a reality!

    The closed mouth concealed the deadly set of jaws and the array of teeth it housed well. A series of small spikes ran on the back of the beasts and it extended to the end of its tail. As Lee further observed the sleeping behemoths, a truth was unveiled in front of him.

    Before the transformation, the Lesser Wyverns had a pair of hind limbs and a pair of winged forelimbs. It was the characteristic figure of a Wyvern, and this anatomy made them different from Dragons, Drakes and Wyrms.

    A Wyvern''s scales were smoother than a Dragon''s scales. The arrangements of ws also differed. Wyverns also possessed a narrowly smaller head whenparing with that of a Dragon. At a single nce, anyone could easily distinguish between both the creatures.

    But now? The Wyverns have been reconstructed in a way that these three beasts exist at a transition point between Dragons and true Wyverns. Perhaps it is the influence of the ss chamber''s artificial atmosphere and mechanisms, that enhanced the physique of the three beasts to rival Dragons. Thus the Wyverns sessfully formed a bridge between the two realities.

 Chapter 229: The Wyvern Trio

    Chapter 229: The Wyvern Trio

    The second set of wings right below the winged forelimbs made Hudson and D knit their brows cluelessly. They could only nce at each other in wonder. Lee stepped near the beasts and saw that all three Wyverns had this addition.

    Unlike the forelimbs, this pair was purely wings. It was small and about a third of the major lift provider, thus it could only produce flight when inpany with the winged forelimbs. It was folded well and stuck close to the scales. A nce of the beasts'' anatomy and people would try it difficult to spot this inconspicuous part.

    The beasts looked rather simple with faint symmetrical stripes and designs running along their body. This peculiar texture was provided by the coloured scales which ranged from fair to darkest variants of the Wyverns'' elemental colour.

    It was after keen analysis that Lee found the second and third pair of eyes hiding among the decorations. It was just behind the primary pair of eyes, a pair a little elevated in position and the other below them. The two extra pair were three quarter the size of the original set and formed a triangr structure.

    The three toes on the hindlimbs exposed intimidating sharp ws. The enhanced muscr outline of the hindlimb was a sight to behold. Walking closely around the beasts, he could feel their vague thoughts through their serene slumber.

    As Lee turned around, he saw D and Hudson pointing at the bellies of the three beasts. Following their sights, Lee found that the underbellies of the three Wyverns haverge and wide scales to protect their tummies. It astonished Lee as this adaptation was something only seen in Dragons and some variants of Drakes.

    *faint growling*

    Lee pressed his stomach and walked to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. D and Hudson heard this auditory sensation and chuckled before walking to Lee. Without wasting a moment, three cups of Chocte Milk appeared out of the Workshop screen, and the trio gulped down the mind-soothing drink.

    ---

    =====

    6 AM.

    13,500 Essence harvested.

    =====

    "D, did you find the whereabouts of the Law Fragments?"

    Lee inquired after taking a sip of his Chocte Milk. The question made D open one of his eyelids as he was sitting on the rocking chair.

    "At present, searching for the Law Fragments is like looking for a coriander seed in a haystack. The possibility for the Law Fragments to exist as a single entity, like how we encountered the Law of Lightning, is barely 1%. Furthermore, there is also a chance that some people might have acquired the constitution of elements.

    All I was able to do is match the continents and the Laws they house. Decarna, the continent of vegetation and animal life, would contain Poison, Nature and Wind Law Fragments. The continent of Romoke could have Fire, Ice and Stone Law Fragments. The Exiriado is known to house the Law Fragments of Metal, Dark and Light. The Law Fragments of Gravity, Space and Time are supposed to be in the continent of Chreith.

    The Water Law Fragment should be in the oceans, and it is most probably hidden in the depths of darkness. The possibility for it to be in the custody of a mythical beast does exist. Until we are in a range with the Law Fragment, it will be hidden from my senses."

    The term ''Mythical Beast'' caught Hudson''s attention. He hushedly asked D about it, and D gave an borate exnation, adding the exnation of the four zones of the ocean. The exposure to the information of the Trial Zone and the Unknown Zone made Hudson pale. With eyes open wide in horror, he listened to the narration of Dnekewy.

    "What about Tubians and Amortals?"

    About a minute after D''s narration, Lee raised his doubt again.

    "Still nothing. The Amortal''s energy signature is nowhere to be found. The Tubian that made contact with the entity is also unknown at the moment. We are also facing some difficulty as the approximate location of the Tubians shown in the Map is increasing the radius by each hour. The camouge is also wlessly perfect."

    D expressed his inability toplete the tasks and shook his head. His voice was gloomy and had a tinge ofining in it.

    "The Tectonic tes?"

    D''s face brightened and he leaned forward in his rocking chair.

    "About that, I have some good news. Something seems to be obstructing the movements of the tes and the time dy is increasing by each day. Previously it was 30 years to the next major earthquake, but now it has increased to 37 years.

    The reason is unknown. It is just that I couldn''t find anything visibly blocking the advance."

    Lee nodded as he understood D''s situation. Even as a Dimension Sovereign, there were many things unknown to him. This revtion only hinted him that Lee himself will have to venture into the world to find them.

    Gulping down the drink to itsst drop, Lee ced the cup on the table and stood up to walk to the beasts. Their slumber was peaceful and cute to behold, but Lee was able to sense their emotions and could hear their thoughts.

    "Enough with the slumber!"

    Lee spoke in a cold tone, and the Wyverns opened their eyes and raised their heads to look at Lee. Seeing the familiar figure of Lee, they produced sounds of joy and happiness and walked towards him.

    In front of Lee stood the Greater Wyverns of Fire, Ice and Wind elements. Their presence alone gave off their elemental pressure which Lee found ufortable and enjoyable simultaneously.

    "How does it feel?"

    Lee asked in a friendly tone and the beasts roared in unison. Their reply rippled across the System Space and the little beasts, including Perrafin and Fero, were shaken.

    The three roars amplified each other and swept their respective elemental trait across space. The warmth of the Fire, coolness of the Ice and the refreshing wave of Wind, swept past Rue, and she slightly opened his right eye. After registering the presence of the three Draconic beasts, she had a faint smile on her face before sinking back into her meditation.

    ''View.''

 Chapter 230: Finding Fresh Farmlands

    Chapter 230: Finding Fresh Farnds

    Shuttling his eyes between the three beasts lying in front of him, Lee used the View skill and the beasts'' stats were disclosed to him. D and Hudson were able to see the screen, and they immediately walked to him.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: Grand Fire Wyvern</strong>

    <strong>Race: Draconic Wyvern</strong>

    <strong>Age: Newborn</strong>

    <strong>-----</strong>

    <strong>Health: 25,000</strong>

    <strong>Power: 19,000</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 8,000</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 350</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: Grand Ice Wyvern</strong>

    <strong>Race: Draconic Wyvern</strong>

    <strong>Age: Newborn</strong>

    <strong>-----</strong>

    <strong>Health: 25,000</strong>

    <strong>Power: 19,000</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 8,000</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 350</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: Grand Wind Wyvern</strong>

    <strong>Race: Draconic Wyvern</strong>

    <strong>Age: Newborn</strong>

    <strong>-----</strong>

    <strong>Health: 25,000</strong>

    <strong>Power: 19,000</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 8,000</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 350</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    "Are they triplets? Just asking."

    Hudson expressed his confusion on the beasts'' alike stats. D gave an assumption that this could be the initial stats of a Wyvern after the reconstruction. The age shown as Newborn should be rted to the reconstruction process.

    The ''Grand'' in the names piqued the trio''s interest. Until now, they have known about Greater and Lesser versions of Wyverns, but not anything like this. Lee guessed that this addition is due to the unique racial title.

    What made him raise his brows were the stats. The beasts are as intelligent as Lee but surpassed him in Health, Power and Dexterity.

    "If a Newborn Draconic Wyvern is this powerful, I wonder what an adult would be like?"

    D sounded his doubt and Lee nodded in agreement with his eyes still fixed on the stats. He had an urge to take these three ''kids'' for a round around the mansion, but a second thought restricted his actions.

    The screen vanished with a gentle wave of his hands, and Lee walked to the beasts. Due to theck of Immunity, he found it difficult to even stand near the scorching and freezing scales of the Fire and Ice Wyverns.

    The Wind affinity Wyvern emitted a sense of peacefulness and stability. It was if that beast was not even existing there. The air around it was different and it was the most calm-headed among the three.

    After taking a few steps back to see the beasts as a whole, Lee pointed at the Wyverns starting from the Fire affinity one, and then to the Ice affinity and the Wind affinity atst.

    "I name you as Pyro, you as Cryo and you will be Aero."

    A screen immediately popped up and conveyed that the Grand Wyverns'' names had been changed. Lee dismissed the panel and looked at the beasts. Upon receiving names, those three stared at each other and giggled in their own way.

    ''Go and take rest.''

    Lee spoke in his mind and the beasts retreated by two steps before lying down on the grassynd. With their long tails circling their bodies, Wyverns quickly slipped into slumber.

    Turning to D, he asked-

    "Are there any possibility that these beasts could sense the presence of Law Fragments?"

    Lee nced at Hudson as he spoke, and invited his answer too.

    "The Wyverns could resonate with the presence of the Law Fragments, but it will not be any time soon. Let these beasts grow and develop in their elemental proficiency." (D)

    "Looks like the Essence consumption is about to increase beyond twice or thrice." (Hudson)

    "True." (Lee)

    D had already informed the other two about the appetite of the Wyverns. After a sessful reconstruction, these beasts tend to eat enormous quantities of food.

    Since their age is also shown as Newborn, Hudson raised the possibility where the Essence reserve might not suffice to quench their hunger before reaching maturity.

    A few minutester, the next hourly notification popped up.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>7 AM.</strong>

    <strong>13,500 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ''Oh, is it already 7 in the morning?''

    Lee did not give much attention to the previous notification and thus had no idea about the time. He had some other ns to proceed with.

    ncing at the screen, he understood that 4.5 million Essence had already disappeared from the reserve. Turning around, his eyes met the three Wyverns chewing down small mounds of meat and food. Hudson was standing next to them and refilled their portions ordingly.

    "Don''t worry about the Essence usage. We are trying our best to decrease the consumption, and have adopted a few measures for it.

    Notice the difference between the three piles of flesh?"

    D came next to Lee and asked. Lee had already observed the distinct colouration of the three piles of flesh. One had a tinge of red, the other with an aquamarine colour and the third had an off-white hue.

    "They are Fire, Wind and Ice Greater Wyverns'' meat. It contains the energy of the respective element, which would fill their tummies much faster than ordinary meat. Since the meat belongs to Greater Wyverns, the beasts are expected to mature quicker than usual."

    Hearing the exnation, Lee turned to D.

    "So each meal session costs 4.5 million Essence alone, right?"

    "And these beasts must eat 4 times a day."

    Lee couldn''t help but agree to the fact as D walked to the rocking chair. Lee did a quick calction and found that the current reserve would not even go beyond 20 days.

    Turning to D, he asked again.

    "Anything from the Tubian of Dark Sentience?"

    "Nothing. The Diamond ss Prison is a fortress. Not even Essence could be harvested. But we were able to deduce that the Tubian''s stats are all in tens of millions." (D)

    Lee nodded in response and then walked away. He casually shed his hand diagonally and a spatial tear was formed.

    "I will go and get some fresh Essence farnds. In the meanwhile, you and Hudson do something about extracting Essence from the Tubian."

    Lee Shen''s voice came as disappeared through the portal. the spatial tear was closed and D gave a thumbs up in reply. Though Lee did not see it, the Wyverns saw the formation of the spatial tear and D''s response.

    "The demand for Essence is increasing. I wonder what this boy is about to do?"

    D mumbled to himself and rxed his soul. The chair rocked to and fro and Hudson came back to the cafeteria after feeding the Wyverns.

    "Nothing troublesome, I assume."

 Chapter 231: Trolling The Trolls

    Chapter 231: Trolling The Trolls

    Outside the System Space, in the reality.

    Lee sat on his bed staring at the Map. He rubbed his chin as he thought of a way to solve the uing Essence crisis. He skimmed over the Map, quickly moving from one ce to another at the speed of his thoughts.

    Many million thoughts were processed by his brain in seconds. After closing the Map, he concluded his search.

    "The Trolls, it is."

    After mumbling to himself, Lee exited his room and walked to the principal''s room.

    *knock knock*

    Erikko granted permission to enter and he promptly went inside. His eyes met the principal hitting on his chair, and Ganga sitting across the table.

    Without any further ado, Lee spoke up.

    "Principal, I would like to go out of the campus to train for a day."

    Lee did not expose his actual intention to the principal. Instead, he simply conveyed that he wanted to go out of the campus to train.

    Erikko did not respond verbally but nodded in consent. Lee immediately bowed and took his leave.

    Lee moved like the wind after exiting the office. A gust of wind rippled through the building as he left the premises.

    Leaping onto the terrace of the nearby building, Lee advanced in the northern direction. The speed with which he moved, enabled him to float in the air. His feet never actually touched the rooftops, but kicked the air beneath him.

    ''Trolls, here Ie.''

    As soon as he saw the city gate, the Flight was activated and he rose into the sky like an arrow. He easily flew at an altitude of 3 kilometres over the walls protecting the city.

    At the moment, his speed had surpassed the actual Dexterity value. It was because the Wind Element Soul had enveloped him which nullified the drag and resistance. It also gave him a boost which made him soar at deafening speed.

    ---

    When the time was 10 minutes to 8 AM, Lee Shen had descended at the entrance of the Troll caves. Through the Interface, Lee saw the undergroundwork beneath his feet like an X-ray machine.

    The disclosedwork of tunnels exposed the presence of all the Trolls underground. Without wasting a moment, he disappeared into the dark and inconspicuous cave, hiding in the in sight.

    ---

    Like a roller coaster ride, Lee Shen scurried through the dark tunnels. The path twisted and diverged as he went forward, but the assist of Interface was more than a blessing.

    The Trolls could not react in time and had no space to evade the oing projectile. The winding and coiling paths had made the possibility of a sonic boom an imagination, but the resonance of his cannonball shuttling through thework was loud and clear.

    Before they could register what was happening, the Trolls disappeared into the EsGen storage. Since the storage did not cause harm to any lifeforms, Lee Shen did not hesitate to absorb every Troll in the cavework. Infants, toddlers, adults and old age were indiscriminately taken into the EsGen.

    Though he was shuttling like a lightning, the structure andplexity of the caves made him grow tired. But to his surprise, D notified that he had already dashed for over 60 kilometres through the tunnels.

    ''Damn. You really are not joking, right?''

    [Not at all. The architecture of the cave system wasplex and you sometimes had to go through the same path more than twice.

    But if you calcte the distance you have explored through the Troll cavework, it is sure to surpass 47 kilometres.]

    A few secondster, Lee came to an abrupt halt. The path in which he currently was, inclined 30 degrees downward. The inclination was not a problem. The real reason for the halt was the flooded chambers of thework!

    Through the Map, Lee saw that next 30% of the undergroundwork was floodedpletely. The presence of lifeforms in the water made him take a step backwards. As D and Hudson thought the action as a sign of retreat, the feet pushed his body forward and Lee dove into the water.

    Waterworld was activated, and the water became his turf. With aquatic breathing, the problem of air shortage was solved. The Foresight interface adjusted the brightness of his eyes and the reality behind the darkness was disclosed to his eyes.

    The water was thicker than normal. With ample brightness, Lee saw that the water was green in colour. The presence of moss and fungus inside the tunnels hinted him the origin of the colour.

    Thin and long creatures could be seen swimming in the shadows and they were afraid ofing to Lee''s vicinity. The unstirred watercked any trail of a Troll''s presence.

    When Lee recollected his travel through the tunnels, he found that the Trolls lived in caves away from the waters. Although it was freshwater, D and Hudson wondered as to why these humanoid beasts have been cautious of this source.

    [Lee, the dirt below you has some vicious beast.]

    ''What?''

    Lee came to a stop and scanned his surroundings. In the narrow passage with room to upy three or four people at a time, Lee suspended himself in the water and nced at the mud below him.

    A pair of eyelids opened and something shot at him instantly. Lee was quick enough to react and evade and twisted his body. His hand drew an arc andnded on the elongated marine animal''s skin. The next instant, it disappeared from the water and appeared in the EsGen.

    This sudden turbulence created a ripple in the water and many pairs of simr eyes red at Lee. Before he could swim back to surface, he was swarmed by elongated aquatic animals.

    [Hmmm..... I never expected to see Mud Eels in here.]

    ''Care to borate?''

    [Mud Eel is a sneaky attacker. It is very fast and the depths of the ocean are their yground. They can be seen even in Trial Zone of the deep waters. Poison attributed aquatic beings.]

    ''Thanks for the info.''

    The absence of Poison Immunity made Lee vignt. But he was careful not to kill any of these little beasts identally. Thus he used his hands to teleport all the Eels that swarmed at him.

    Seeing the mysterious disappearance of theirrades, the Eels were confused and began to hesitate to attack. Taking this opportunity, Lee propelled himself like an underwater jet and quickly fled the area.

    [Lee, we are 740 metres below the ground.]

 Chapter 232: Unearthing Lost History

    Chapter 232: Unearthing Lost History

    ''Deep!''

    Sparing a fraction of a second toment on the notification, Lee swam through the floodedworks.

    Sometimes he had to swim back to the intersection due to mud umting in the path. But every such encounter increased the number of his followers.

    Using the Map as a guide, Lee quickly found the nearest exit. To his surprise, all the flooded paths converged at that one big underground area. Lee pushed all the suspicions into the back of the head as he can feel his body aching from the intense acrobatic session.

    Before the Mud Eels could catch up with his shuttling through the tunnels, Lee exited the water with the umted momentum. Even at thest moments of the underwater propulsion, Lee was careful to take away as many Mud Eels he could.

    Lee bolted forward without resting and finally came to an open area. This underground chamber was spacious and burning torches were on the walls. The illumination lit up space, and he could see the polished stone walls. At a nce, Lee felt something different.

    [A total of 318 Trolls and 96 Mud Eels were absorbed into the EsGen. Let us wait and see the harvest.]

    "That should suffice, or I hope so."

    *hufff....*

    Exhaling through his mouth, Lee Shen wiped off the sweat from his forehead. He can feel the fatigue taking over his bones and muscles, making his body numb.

    Lee settled on the floor with his arms extending backwards to support his weary torso. His legs extended forward and did not have any energy to move. While exhaling heavily, he regted his breath and quickly stabilised his beating heart.

    ''Where are we? This ce is sufficiently illuminated.''

    Lee asked as he scanned the surrounding by turning his head to all sides. The torches ced in the grooves of the wall caught his attention.

    [I think we are in an underground assembly hall. This ce is absolute unexplored.]

    [And there is a tform a little away of us.]

    ''What? Where?.''

    Lee had already flopped on the floor and raised his head and asked. At a distance, he could see something with dark grey colour and he assumed that to be the tform Hudson talked about.

    ---

    About 10 minutester.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>9 AM.</strong>

    <strong>471,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    After regaining enough energy, Lee opened the Map and took a holistic view of thework. No matter how hard he tried or how extensively he searched, the origin of the underground water blockage could not be found.

    [That is weird. There should be something that maintains the water level for a long time.]

    The presence of mud and fungi pointed out that the waterbody had been existing in the twisting tunnels for at least more than a decade. In contrast to this, the water table in the area was rather low.

    ''Then you two find the source of the water. Let me go and take a look at the tform.''

    Lee dusted his clothes and stood up and walked to therge stone tform. The tform was only half a metre elevated from the rest of the floor. The rocky texture was standing out in the chamber made and surrounded by hardened soil and stones.

    On the hexagonal stone tform, there was arge carving. It had many delicate figures and shapes intertwining and ovepping to form one big and elegant piece of art. Lee had to walk around the tform to get a good view of it.

    [I never knew Trolls had an artistic side.]

    [This does not belong to Trolls. Take a good look from the air.]

    Lee floated upward with the help of Flight. As he rose, he could see the artwork as a whole. Lee almost eximed out aloud.

    ''This is a war portrait!''

    Apart from a few inches of the border along the edge, the whole tform was a gigantic canvas! With no less than 25 metres as radius, the entire structure was filled with portraits of war and violence to the brim.

    But, the intricate carvings were of a single colour, grey. Due to the uniform colouration, Lee had difficulty in distinguishing what was actually depicted.

    ''Colour the portrait.''

    Upon Lee Shen''smand, the interface scanned the portrait and painted it in detail. When colours picked up the beauty, a long forgotten history was unearthened.

    [Who in the world spectated this battle?!]

    From the six edges of the hexagon came six kingdoms led by six kings. Their armies rampaged thend and fought against each other. Arrows flew and spears drifted in the air. Blood dyed swords reflected the daylight. The sky carried the stench of blood.

    The vast quantities of soldiers were carefully and wlessly etched in the stone. The six armies were visibly different from each other. One of the six armies looked beastial and wild, while another had the primary elemental texture of stone and fire etched on them.

    Opposing the human kingdom, a fiendish race held position and rushed at them. Thest two were different from them all, as one among the two looked ethereal while the other was simr to mannequins.

    The six kingdoms had their gs etched at the edge of the hexagonal border. The fluttering pieces of fabrics only had a few weird symbols on them. Except the king of human kingdom, all others were depicted as savage. Two among the six barbaric kings were carved as skeletons.

    The borders that separated the kingdoms resembled lightning on rampage. The mounts of the kings were unrecognisable beasts of ancient ages. Then, the sight of soldiers trying to grab onto something, piqued the attention of the trio.

    And at the centre of all this chaos and conflict was a small and ordinary wooden axe. The kings'' majestic weapons were extending towards thismon axe, and on its de were some faded words etched.

    [Wait, there is something written at the centre of the portrait.]

    Hudson''s words distracted Lee and D. As he had spoken, there were a few letters carved at the centre of the portrait. To their surprise, that part had faded away beyond recognition.

 Chapter 233: Mysterious Stone Platform

    Chapter 233: Mysterious Stone tform

    [To...the...to the...choice....no, that is chosen.

    Argh! Who in the world would scribble away the centre of arge stone portrait?!]

    D''sment was unanswered. Lee was closely observing the words, and his deduction was close to that of D. But, Hudson found the culprit of the vandalism.

    [It was not scribbled and deformed, but set up to deform itself in the duration of time.]

    Lee frowned at once.

    ["What?"]

    Both Lee and D sounded their doubt in unison. The words of Hudson never appeared in their wildest investigations.

    [Both of you did not notice the fact that the central stone in which the words are etched are different from the surroundings. Take a good look.]

    It was then both lee and D closely observed the central stone. The hexagonal piece of stone was slightly darker than the surrounding stones.

    Because of its one and a half inch miniature radius, it only appeared that the words are given a different background.

    After a few seconds, Hudson spoke again.

    [Before you do anything, take a look at what lies below the tform, through the Map.]

    The words carried surprise, distress and seriousness in it. Lee promptly summoned the Map. What they saw was only an outline, but that was enough to leave them bbergasted!

    "A coffin?"

    Be it Earth or Utopia, the shape of a coffin was more or less simr. Due to its specific function, the six-foot-long box was easily recognisable.

    [Suspicious. The object is made out of something that obstructs detection and scanning.]

    D could not see into the coffin. Though the Map surpassed even the highest detection technique, the space inside the coffin was restricted from exploring from the outside.

    The reason for the awe-inspired faces of Lee and D was not the coffin alone, but the entire stone tform. It was at least 12 metres deep and was a hexagonal container with 2 metres thick wall. The carving was found to be slightly thicker than two metres.

    What astonished their minds were the fact that it was a single structure!

    And the coffin rested inside this hexagonal stone box.

    But, how did it end up inside?

    This question haunted Lee, D and Hudson as they walked around and continuously scanned the entire structure. No matter how many times they search for it, the astonishment remained undissolved.

    "We have searched every side of this tform. This object is one big stone construct, and is sealed tight."

    The conclusion was quickly drawn without much difficulty.

    [Search the portrait. Maybe it contains some clues.]

    Promptly, Lee climbed on the portrait and walked over it cautiously. He had taken off his footwear so that his feet could feel the irregrities of the surface. The umon sturdiness of the three-dimensional carving of the war scene supported Lee''s body weight.

    Because of his extraordinary Guard value, he was confident that traps could not harm him. To affirm his faith, he did not see any such hidden contraptions through the Map. Not that there was none, but there was no space left to integrate a trap into the block.

    [Nothing. This is just a simple portrait.

    If there was any, then we would have seen it already.]

    Like a skilled dancer, Lee moved from one point to the other. His eyes and legs continuously searched for a clue or contraption.

    It took a second for Dnekewy to reply.

    [Not all clues are readily avable. Sometimes we need to stitch the facts and figures to get the clue.]

    Rubbing his chin, Lee stepped left and right on the tform. After going in circles for about an hour, the next hourly notification came up.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>10 AM.</strong>

    <strong>471,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The updated Essence count in the Foresight interface gave Lee a sense of relief.

    ''The shortage of Essence is solved. Now let us solve this mystery.''

    Lee twirled on his left leg and took a U-turn to scan for a second round. As soon as he ced his foot touched the surface, the tform faintly vibrated for a second and then became silent.

    Lee had jumped up into the air and levitated himself with Flight at the first sensation of tremor. He was inwardly startled with the sudden disturbance. Alertness skyrocketed in his heart and his senses became heightened.

    [You stepped on a soldier''s axe. That is the only axe apart from the central carving in the whole portrait. Coincidence? I think not!]

    A single nce of this high morale portrait was enough to make a normal person dizzy. Theplex andplicated carving skillfully executed by a grandmaster was beautiful and jaw-dropping too.

    Lee quickly spotted the aforementioned soldier. The tiny figure with a hunched back was standing next to one of the skeletonised king. The non-militant was wearing simple clothing made of leather. The pointed hat over his head was spooky and the hideous facial features were repulsing. In his hand was a concealed miniature axe.

    In that particr triangr portion, only he alone was a human. The soldiers were beastly in nature and the king had ws in his arms. He found D''s observation true as the rampaging soldiers had spears and swords in their hands. The hunchback was smaller than the spirited soldier waging war.

    Lee swiftly spotted the other five kings and scanned their premises. To his wonder, such a hunchback was not seen anywhere near them. Instead, they hadmanders and army generals which fought bravely and inspired the hearts of the infantry.

    [It moved.]

    In front of their eyes, the hunched back figure''s axe sunk into the tform. A minuscule wedge appeared in its position and the hexagonal stone construct began to tremble violently.

    Lee quickly moved away from the tform and maintained a distance while closely observing the changes. For about half a minute, the tremors maintained their vigour and then began to weaken. When a minute hadpletely passed, the tform was stable and silent.

    CRACK!

    A thunderous crack resonated across the chamber and it was deafening! Lee wrapped his arms around his head at once and guarded his ears. The momentary loudness quickly vanished and the portrait was gone!

 Chapter 234: Never Back Down

    Chapter 234: Never Back Down

    The war portrait was gone!

    Standing about 12 metres from the tform, Lee was vignt of any sudden changes. If anything adverse urs, he was ready to turn around and disappear into the water.

    Crumble!

    A cloud of dust rose from the tform and the portrait had crumbled into tiny bits. The delicate pinnacle of intricate stone carving was reduced to rubbles with a slight disturbance.

    [I think that little axe was a keystone.]

    ''You think? After seeing what just happened, you think?''

    A nk expression covered Lee Shen''s face as he uttered in his mind. His eyes maintained the sharpness and his heart was drumming a little faster than normal.

    [Will you two shut up?! We have no idea what is in that coffin. Be alert.]

    The grey coloured cloud stayed suspended in the air for a few minutes without any significant change. Then, it quickly settled within 5 seconds. It was like turning off an old noisy car engine.

    Lee saw this sudden change and cautiously moved forward. Each step was gentle and silent. He was careful not to trigger any more contraptions.

    D was thoroughly scanning the construct and the entire chamber, but nothing hostile or harmful could be found. He conveyed his helplessness at the moment.

    Somehow, Hudson was having an indescribable sensation of danger in the vicinity. He had no idea what it was, but D''s words affirming safety calmed the storm in his heart.

    Through the Map, D and Hudson saw that a coffin was exposed after the dust settled. The shattered bits of stone were uniformly distributed inside the tform. The thick envelope of dust had coated the coffin''s cover with a rock grey colour.

    As Lee came to the edge of the stone tform, he could see the deep brown rectangr casket with a wooden texture. The coffin was almost 10 metres below the current ground level.

    [The object looks wooden, but it definitely is not anything organic.]

    Lee gave a slight nod at thisment and ced his right foot on the stone. He had asked about D''s and Hudson''s opinion in climbing down into the construct. both of them approved in unison.

    At once, the tform began to tremble violently. This time, it was much fierce and web-like cracks were forming on the structure at a rate visible to naked eye.

    [I think somebody has ced a gigantic vibrator beneath this thing.]

    Thement was meant to be humourous, but neither Lee nor D gave any attention to it. After retreating again to a distance, Lee scanned the entire area thoroughly while the Dimension Sovereign immersed himself in the Hologram Map.

    The search bore no fruit, but the Sovereign suddenly sensed something sinister.

    [DANGER!!!]

    Before Lee could react, an array formation appeared illuminating on top of the coffin and it exploded immediately. A blinding light erupted forth with an intense shockwave.

    Lee was caught off-guard and was literally thrown away by the st force. The intense pressure that pushed him away from the coffin made him stumble and roll without support.

    ''Goddammit!''

    When Lee took out ck and thrust it deep into the ground to stabilise his body, he was only a few metres away from the other end of the chamber.

    [What was that? I did not see it clearly.]

    [LEE...BRACE FOR IMPACT!!]

    Lee who was stunned by this unanticipated explosion did not get enough time to protect himself from what followed after the explosion.

    SCREECH!!!

    An intense cry sted out from the inside of the stone construct. Lee was stunned as he saw ripples rushing at him. He felt a blood rival''s hostility from the wave.

    Like an unexpected facepalm by a stranger, it hit Lee. The unbearable pain provided by the high pitch cry made Lee let go of his sword and plug his ears with his index fingers. Still, that was far from enough to protect his eardrums.

    The 53 metres long underground chamber efficiently channelled the cry to the other end. The dome-like roofing concentrated the banshee''s resentment towards the opposite end.

    The architecture boosted the force of the punch in the face! At the moment, he was nothing less than an ant being torched by a magnifying ss.

    The shockwaves kept pushing him and Lee''s footing loosened. Against his consent, he was drifting backwards. Within no time, his sole touched the wall and he came to a halt.

    The unending and destabilising noise made Lee copsed on the floor. He can tell that despite his resistance, the innards of the ears were at the verge of tearing apart.

    The shockwaves dashed through the air and the ripples began to pick up strength. Lee did not get a chance to open his eyes, as his entire body was screaming in pain. Despite the violent atmosphere, he could smell his own blood.

    The shockwave that originated from the stone tform had an immense threat in it. When it hit Lee''s body, it ravaged his insides and made his internal organs stretch and twist. Tears and blood came dripping from his eyes and his nose and mouth were no exception.

    Each second felt like a day. Each minute was like a year. Lee, who was soaked in sweat and pain, gritted his teeth as he held onto his life.

    ''Guys, what the hell is this? Just gimme an answer.''

    His voice was filled with weakness. A cloud of invisible burden overshadowed his body. When Lee struggled to open his eyes, an avnche of pain weed his head and he saw blood dripping on the floor, drop by drop.

    No reply came for his query. As a part of his soul, Dnekewy was also being tortured by this unreasonable torment. Hudson, who was clueless about this situation, had no idea about what to do and repeatedly said-

    [Just stay low! Just stay low!]

    But, Lee Shen was hesitant to admit defeat without a fight. When Hudson shouted to lie down, he shook his head in disagreement and said-

    "Sound the trumpets, guys. We are going on a war!"

 Chapter 235: Escape To Surface

    Chapter 235: Escape To Surface

    Every muscle in his body said, ''stay down''. Every bone in his being shouted, ''do not resist''. Even the flesh tormented his resolve to stand up.

    When D also joined their chorus, Lee spoke-

    "Once you enter a path, you go all the way. There should not be any second thoughts after.

    We saw the tform, we found the coffin. I am not going back without knowing what is inside it!"

    To add difficulty, a cover of dense fog was spreading from the inside of the hexagonal stone construct. The fog emitted a weird aura, and Lee exhaled heavily through his nostrils.

    [First, a banshee cries. Now a freaky cloud descends.]

    The presence of opaque gaseous substance was not a matter to him and Lee slowly shifted the rear support from right knees to the right sole. Though it was an excruciating experience, the sensation did not shunt his spirit.

    ''Create 20 thousand Mana and Qi.''

    Though the eyes were partially shut in pain, the interface was visible like daylight to him. As the count of the two energy forms increased to the desired value, Lee proceeded to the next step.

    While squatting on one knee, a veil of calmness came upon him. At the same time, the air around him condensed and formed an invisible wall. A great number of sufferings were lifted off by this adaptation.

    When D took a nce at Lee''s stats, the Health value had gone from 7,900 to 5,020. This piece of information was a shock to Hudson and D, but Lee was expecting at least this from those hostile screaming.

    Life attributed Qi repaired all the internal organs and fixed his physical damages. The itchiness was remaining, and Serenity suppressed it to oblivion.

    ''Map.''

    The coffin was as it was, untouched. To the trio''s surprise, numerous magical circles were glittering on it. Numerous talisman papers stuck on it had blended with the wooden texture, and Lee failed to see it previously.

    Violent winds created a miniature tornado inside the hexagonal structure. With the coffin as the eye of the tornado, the wind des surrounded it with ferocity. The talisman papers fluttered violently.

    [There are precisely 14 formations and 32 talismans on the coffin. This seems to be done by at least 7 cultivators with God ss cultivation.]

    God ss!

    The pinnacle stages of cultivation!

    This remained a dream for many, and many attempted to reach this height. But due to theck of serendipity and fate, many perished. Those who achieved this stage became the beacons of growth.

    [Such a vast amount of Qi could only be produced by God ss cultivators. Their control and uracy would skyrocket just by stepping into this ss. Give me a minute to analyse the formations and talismans.

    But... I wonder what was so safely imprisoned inside it?]

    Speak of the devil, the coffin began to produce banging noises from the inside. Through the Map, the trio saw that the coffin was unbreakably sturdy and the top was not budging a bit.

    The frequency and strength of the gales increased slightly, and the wind barrier was swaying slightly.

    [Found it. The formations are ced to camouge and prevent people from finding the coffin. The talismans are ced to imprison whatever is inside it.

    The talismans used are Life Drain Talisman and Yellow River Talisman. These two are known for their immense power to drain Qi and life-force from its victims.

    While the Yellow River Talisman keeps the imprisoned in a tormenting stasis condition, the Life Drain Talisman continuously takes out the life-force of the imprisoned being and transfers it to the outside.

    It is this life-force that is fuelling up the formations.]

    ''So whatever that is inside it, is notpletely dead, right?''

    [Yes. It looks like we have stepped on andmine.]

    ''Not necessarily.''

    [Why?]

    ''If the imprisoned entity is an undying beast, and if the Qi and lifeforce drained from it is so vast, then this coffin is a goose thatys golden egg.''

    [Beautiful.

    But tell me, how are you nning to go near it?]

    Lee did not give any attention to answer the query.

    Under the cover of the Air Wall, he stood up. The Qi became saturated with Sound affinity and Wind Affinity and enveloped his fists.

    ''Break!''

    At Lee''smand, the Air Wall opened outward. Simultaneously, he shot his right fist forward followed by the left fist. The punches travelled while nullifying the oing screeches.

    Boom!

    The dense balls of Qi flew towards the swirling wind and bombarded against it. The abruptly ended miniature tornado stumbled to kick start itself. But before it could, Lee hade in contact with the coffin.

    At the exact moment when the bombardment urred, Lee had shot himself forward following the trail of the two Qi ball projectiles. The explosion disrupted the rhythm of the formation and created a split-second interval of silence.

    It was by exploiting this moment that Lee passed by the security formations. The moment his fingers touched the coffin, it disappeared from reality.

    Whoosh!

    Faint turbulence went over the System Space and D lost bnce and stumbled. Fortunately, Hudson caught him before embracing the ground.

    [That has never happened before! What exactly is sealed inside this coffin?!]

    Lee also felt something hitting his chest, and he took a step backwards in acknowledgement.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>11 AM.</strong>

    <strong>471,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    *tremble*

    ''Now what?''

    The entire chamber began to shake and dirt began to slowly cave in. D shouted out loud from the System Space and Lee dashed at the clogged entrance.

    ---

    Almost 17 minutester, Lee bolted out of the cave entrance, and the momentum enabled him to leap across about 30 metres.

    *huff huff*

    While panting heavily, Lee knelt on one knee on the ground. While wiping the sweat from his forehead, a faint smile of satisfaction and relief could be seen on his face.

    [I honestly thought that we are doomed.]

    Lee could only chuckle in response. Even he himself had little faith in sessfully exiting the cavework.

    ''D, can you do a thorough scan of the coffin?''

    [I shall give it a try. I cannot guarantee any results.]

 Chapter 236: The Urgency

    Chapter 236: The Urgency

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>12 Mid-day.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ''Huh?''

    Through the barrennds, Lee was walking spaced out when this notification popped up. A ck umbre in his right hand safeguarded Lee from the scorching twin stars up above. Seeing the panel, Lee halted his steps.

    ncing at the screen, the change was visibly evident to his gazes. The steep increase in the harvest made Lee ecstatic.

    ''That is 5,505,000 Essence from the coffin alone. I expected a raise, but this is above my anticipations!''

    [That is not it. The Tubian of Dark Sentience became silent the moment the coffin appeared inside the EsGen.]

    ''Oh....did something like that happen? borate it D.''

    [It is unknown as to what triggered the Tubian to go silent, but ording to my assumption, the endless energy spat out of the coffin had scared it deep.]

    Lee continued to walk towards the city with his right hand behind his back. His fingers fidgeted rapidly and reflected his train of thoughts.

    ''Any preliminary diagnosis results of the coffin?''

    An unexinable silence was the answer. Both D and Hudson conveyed their helplessness through this nonverbal act. But for the sake of answering, Hudson spoke-

    [There are a few aspects of the coffin that seems otherworldly, and I suggest you see it for yourself rather than hearing it as a narration.]

    Somehow, Hudson sounded remarkably serious and in distress. The absence of D''s voice assured Lee that his words were not hollow.

    ''Let''s get back to the city first.''

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>1 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Just like how he exited, Lee Shen used the same method to enter back inside. Due to the higher power consumption of the Light Affinity, he was quick and silent in crossing over the walls. What''s more, the guards did not sense his presence more than 4 kilometres above their head.

    Descending in the nearest alleyway, Lee deactivated the affinity and Flight and walked out of there. Before entering the streets, Lee cautiously dusted himself off to not look dirty and unpleasant.

    The streets of the city were noisier than usual. Loud chattering and murmuring filled the air and the atmosphere was strange to Lee Shen. The density of people on the streets was higher than the normal and most of them had a distressed expression.

    Lee could see chefs, cksmiths, alchemists and almost all range ofmon folks in the streets. From their attire, they were in the middle of their daily schedule when something made them to abruptly halt their activities ande to the daylight.

    Through the Map, Lee saw that the shops and buildings were strangely evacuated. The group of people densely gathered at the open areas of intersections piqued his curiosity. Countless sect disciples were almost running linearly. Those numerous cultivators with their swords, sabres and spears ran in the opposite direction of Lee''s movement.

    Finding the situation clueless, he asked a shop vendor about what had urred. The old man sized Lee Shen from top to bottom andughed at him.

    "Hahaha..... were you asleep till noon, kiddo? Or did you not sense the tremors that shook the city an hour ago?"

    Lee Shen furrowed his brows at the reply of the old man. The shop keeperughed at his clueless expression and went back to his business.

    ''Open Map.''

    While slowly stepping towards the qvier academy, Lee summoned the Map hologram. Walking steadily in the narrow shadows of the buildings enabled him not to bump against the frantically moving cultivators.

    [Although the underground chambers did tremble and cave in, they could not have transmitted the waves over suchrge distances.

    And the cultivators are moving towards the grasnds west to the city.]

    [Something had happened while we were out of the city.]

    ''And the cultivators in the city are enough to take care of that.''

    The duo expected Lee to set on an investigation journey, but their expectations remained imaginary. Lee closed the Map and silently paced towards the Academy.

    D and Hudson did not question his actions and remained soundless. But their curiosity did not go dormant as they opened Map inside the System Space and probed into themotion.

    Maybe it was because of the existence of the System Space that Lee could be at a much-rxed state. Otherwise, every action and thought of D in there would be directly reflected in his being.

    ---

    The murmuring from the surroundings was uniformly chaotic and loud. D, who was a cultivator, could sense some sort of gut feeling in his soul that urged him to go take a look at the west side of the city. After all, that was the only side of the city where Lee and his ''inmates'' had not visited.

    Before they knew, Lee had reached in front of the academy.

    Contrary to the usual appearance, the qvier academy''s gates were open and Lee couldn''t help but tilt his head with a frown. He had gone in and out of the academy, but not through the main gate, but the pedestrian gate right next to it.

    Lee walked through the gate and advanced to the academic building. He was curious about the open gate and did nce at it over his shoulder many times in confusion as he walked towards the building. The frown barely faded with each inspection.

    ''Hey guys, any idea?''

    [Looks like an official event is about to unveil.]

    [My point exactly.]

    Lee did not ask further and stepped into the building. He was thinking of going straight to his residence for a nap but his schedule was disordered by a familiar fellow''s appearance.

    "Professor Lee, your timing is perfect! Come with me."

    Before he could scan around and find Drake, the professor had quickly gone past him. To Lee''s surprise, Drake hadmendable strength when his right palm firmly nted its grip of Lee''s left wrist.

    Dragging him, Professor Drake hurriedly walked to the principal''s office. Lee, who was dumbstruck for a few seconds, pieced together the analysis of information from his senses and surroundings. The almost-running pace of Drake reflected urgency in every step.

 Chapter 237: Ruin Expedition (1)

    Chapter 237: Ruin Expedition (1)

    Erikko''s office.

    Without knocking, Drake opened the door casually and went in as he firmly dragged Lee behind him. It was only after nearing Erikko Te''s table that Drake let go of Lee Shen''s wrist.

    *sigh*

    An almost inaudible sigh escaped Professor Drake''s mouth and he quickly wiped away his sweat. He ran his eyes through the faces around him and gave nods to his fellow academians.

    The sudden appearance of Lee had made him the target of several pairs of eyes. There was no feeling of hostility, but a sense of thorough scanning. Lee Shen then locked gazes with Dolly, Ganga, Valor and Erikko while skimming his sight through the room. The tension in the room was evident in their faces.

    "For the past 13 years, our academy had not obtained anything in a single Ruin expedition. And because of that, we have been aughing stock in from of the entire city.

    Although there are many other reasons for the oppression, the fact that we are incapable of leading an expedition tarnishes the reputation of the academy. So..."

    Erikko stood up from his seat. His mouth spoke with a solemn expression.

    "I would like to ask you all, do we have a chance of sessful expedition this time?"

    The facts have fallen to ces and the reason for themotion was disclosed to Lee Shen. But D and Hudson had already known the reason as they saw the unearthed Ruin entrance at the middle of the grasnd.

    But, the residents of the System Space held their silence.

    Lee saw the expressions of those near and around him, andprehended the weight of the question. The answer shall decide the further rise or fall of the academy. Sensing the hesitation and half-baked courage waxing and waning over their faces, Lee opened his mouth.

    "What do we obtain from the Ruin?"

    Erikko stared at him for a second before answering-

    "Anything powerful. It ranges from trinkets to mysterious objects. But it is-"

    "I ept this task."

    Lee has a much, much important task which is his ultimate goal, and it is essentially connected to the entire flora and fauna of the entire. He reflected that his time in the academy is only dragging him down. So to boost the morale and reputation of the qvier academy, he needs to actively participate in such events.

    Lee added-

    "If it is rted to the academy''s reputation, then I cannot spare time to weigh the profit and loss."

    After further enquiring about the Ruin expedition rules, Lee turned around and went out of the room.

    "...."

    "...."

    "...."

    A veil of silence and confusion overshadowed the fellow professors of the academy. They were not surprised by the rookie tutor''s spirit but were concerned about the safety of the academy''s students.

    Drake excused himself and ran after Lee.

    "Are you sure about your decision?"

    Drake asked as he caught up with Lee. The query made him look over his shoulders but did not reply anything.

    Walking to the boy''s dorm, Lee stood in front of the building. The Sound affinity was activated and Mana was released from his mouth as he spoke-

    "Field Experience departments,e out."

    His voice was low and soft but those who were intended to hear heard them clearly. The Sound affinity enabled him not to shout out loud and to speak into his disciples'' ears clearly.

    Eight students came running towards them. Drake recognised their faces and years from their attire. But what he could not recollect was their never-seen-before physique.

    The robe which was tailored for students at the beginning of each year had an additional function of limited expansion. This was to ensure that the robes would befortable to wear even if they go through physical training to enhance their bodies.

    But, Drake never hoped to see a day where the robes are stretched to the maximum. And it was because of this reason that he could see their refined structure. What surprised him the most was the presence of one particr fellow among the eight. He who was previously known as the fattiest among the students did not look obese anymore.

    Instead, he was stout and he was not short anymore!

    ''What kind of training these fellows go through?''

    Drake nced at Lee through the corner of his eyes before shuttling back to the students.

    The eight students respectfully bowed at Lee.

    "Students, we have a task to do. Walk to the front yard of the academic building, armed."

    With these words, the students nodded in unison and scattered back into the dormitory. Within 40 seconds, they appeared back at the dormitory''s front door.

    "Professor Drake, would you mind apanying them to the front yard?"

    Drake was taken aback by the sudden request and his mind went nk. His train of thoughts was shattered to fragments and he stuttered-

    "Ye-, Yes."

    Drake turned around and quickly paced to the yard. The boys followed him, and Lee stepped towards the girl''s dorm.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>2 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    It has been almost 7 minutes since Drake and Lee parted ways.

    Leaning onto a tree''s trunk, Drake ran his sight over the assembled eight students. Unlike the usual demeanour of a student, they were calm and collected with an urge to remain motionless. While they appeared motionless with their eyes closed, Drake could sense Mana rippling through their being.

    Since Drake could not figure out what had actually happened to these students with his near-to-nothing knowledge about Lee''s teaching schedule and methods, he retracted his mind from going astray and into other businesses.

    A few professors in the academy maintained their secrecy in teaching methods and routines. This applied to the Weapon Mastery, Physical Augmentation and Magic Research departments.

    "Sorry for beingte."

    Lee Shen exited the building and walked to them as he spoke. Drake did not say anything but responded with a gesture, ''it''s okay''.

    But as soon as his eyes fell on the five girls behind him, his mind uttered-

    ''Something is not okay for sure.''

 Chapter 238: Ruin Expedition (2)

    Chapter 238: Ruin Expedition (2)

    ''Something is not okay for sure.''

    Drake''s eyes went wide as an indescribable sensation crawled up his body. He was literally staring at the sight in front of him without blinking.

    On Lee''s right was the warrior trio Zona, Helena and Val, and onto his left was the wizard duo De and Selene.

    But their identities did not matter. What shook the boys'' minds to the core was their stunning physique!

    The nerdy girl Zona was not wearing sses anymore and her shy and introverted demeanour was nowhere near the horizon. Her hair reaching her shoulders were appropriate to her cute pink lips. The plump assets were eye-catching, but the spear in her hand caught the boys'' attention and it exuded a hostile aura.

    Helena and Val were the mischievous twins that were caught by Drake on Lee''s first day at the academy. Surprisingly, Drake could not see any significant changes in them, but their eyes spoke otherwise. Both of them had ''enhanced'' their mind and were equal to the wizard duo. Their muscles were not as perfect as the boys but were enough to put up a fight.

    Selene and De were bosom friends who joined Lee''s training since the starting. Their talents were average before joining Lee.

    Now, both their talent and style has picked up upgrade and did not show their previous self. Unlike the other three armed and ready, Selene and De had a rather different set of clothing that had more ''venttion''.

    Honestly, even Lee, D and Hudson were astonished to witness this revtion. Hudson had notified Lee that sudden enlightenment to pure Mana in a short term could faintly alter their perspective, talent and attitude, but this was more than he had expected.

    For the boys who sensed and drove the Mana to refine their frame and muscles, the feminine enhancements of the girls were beyond expectations, and because of this fact, their eyes were stuck at a single point.

    Lee felt their re slightly unsettling and snapped his fingers while extending his right in front of him. The snap sent a wave of Mana across the yard as he approached, and the boys realised what they had been doing.

    As Lee came closer with girls in tow, the boys stood up.

    "It has been a week since I took you all under my wing. To my surprise, all of you have shown good progression within that short period.

    So, we are stepping into the second phase, which is experiencing reality."

    Lee spoke for a minute and conveyed his intentions. He notified them of the situation as this trip to the Ruins could provide the personal experience of the harsh reality while upholding the name of the academy.

    Though Lee could tell that their morale is more than enough, he was concerned about their reactions to the events that are about to unfold. In case if their spirit is broken down by the cultivators around them, which has about 90% chance for happening, Lee entered into his final part of advice.

    "The Qi of the cultivators have an intrinsic behaviour to enter inside any living being. It should not harm others, but we are an exception. If Qi entered inside your bodies, the Mana will collide and counter the foreign force and could bring you incredible pain.

    So, make sure to be on guard. Always have an envelope of Mana around you. Do not hesitate to alert me if anything happens. With the past week''s training, I think at least that is possible for you all."

    Lee spoke in a solemn voice, and his words carried an air of leadership. These words actually surprised Drake to a great extent as what he said was true. For a moment, he recollected the incidents of the previous year and the year before that. The whining and wailing noises of the students rippled in his ears and the truth was disclosed to him.

    ''Must report this to the principal!''

    Never in their wildest dreams have they thought of a possibility for the Qi to enter inside the body of a Mana affinity person. From the characteristics of Mana and Qi, they were archrivals and have only exploded at the slightest contact.

    Considering the innate ability of Qi, Drake found what Lee said to be true. He was speechless by Lee Shen''s analytical capabilities and was enraged by the underhanded techniques of the cultivators around them.

    Lee noticed the trembling clenched fists of Drake as he continued to speak. His concealed anger was felt by D and promptly notified that it was not directed towards him.

    The next moment, Drake stepped towards the academic building. His fists reflected his anger and frustration while his eyes burned with the pain of the past. Each step of Drake was gentle but had an awful lot of terror leashed in them. He went into the building and disappeared from Lee''s sight.

    Through the Map, he saw that Drake was moving towards the principal''s office. Without probing any further, Lee closed the Map and continued his prep speech.

    ---

    When Lee walked through the gates of the academy, those on the streets thought that they were going for a battle. Some flinched at their sight while some furrowed their brows. For the first time in history, the shop owners saw an entirely different aura around the students.

    The physique and attitude the 13 students emitted were unfitting for students. It was as if they were in Berserk state, but leashed and restricted like a puppet. Their eyes were cold as ice and their fists clenched and ready for a bloody battle.

    The three giants of Piscerent city had stationed many spies around the academy in the past. When the academy slowly slid towards its demise, the three giants slowly neglected the possibility of the academy''s uprising. Thus only 2 or 3 people were at present stationed around the qvier academy.

    When Lee led the students westward, he intentionally locked his gaze with the spies stationed at the shops on the other side of the street.

 Chapter 239: Ruin Expedition (3)

    Chapter 239: Ruin Expedition (3)

    When Lee led the students westward, he intentionally locked his gaze with the spies stationed at the shops on the other side of the street.

    *gulp*

    The textile shop owner, who was a spy affiliated to the Typhoon n, shuddered and swallowed his saliva as his eyes met Lee''s. He felt as if his heart was being pierced, his soul was about to be torn away and his bones were about to break.

    The man was drenched in sweat within seconds, and the party went on their way.

    "What was that?"

    The man copsed on his chair and mumbled to himself. For a moment, he felt something extremely hostile. No, he could swear he almost died.

    ''He is dangerous!''

    The shopkeeper spoke in his mind and quickly into his shop. Through the backdoor, he exited the shop and ran to the mansion of the Typhoon n.

    [You are letting him go?]

    ''Yes. He is useful.''

    [How?]

    ''He will go and inform the n about what had happened. They will send reinforcements for the already departed party for the Ruin. Though their rtionship with the two sects is not strong or good, they will alert them for sure.''

    [How is that useful?]

    ''Their strongest disciples will act as punching bags for my students.''

    [You are abnormally convinced about your n.]

    Lee did not speak any further and kept his pace as he led the group. Through the Map, he watched over the students and kept an eye on their Mana level and health.

    Meanwhile, he had converted about twenty million Essencepletely into Mana. Steadily but slowly, he released the Mana towards the students and enveloped them with it.

    As his Mana count began to lessen, he can feel the Mana building up in the students'' bodies, saturating their body and bones. The students felt this pleasant sensation flowing out of the professor and savoured every second, while actively absorbing it.

    Hudson affirmed his conclusion and gave a green signal.

    [But... you will need an enormous amount of Mana to step them up to Official level mastery.]

    The reply was silence and Hudson pouted and crossed his arms before his chest murmuring something.

    ---

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>4 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,550 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The party walked through the streets of the city to the western gate. The students'' appearance as a group of 13 and Lee leading them gave off a mysterious aura. Only those with Mana affinity could tell that it was the signature of well-tamed Mana coursing through their veins. For this disy of power, Lee had asked D to notify him if the Mana level falls below a certain limit.

    Like Lee had guessed, the three giants were alerted of their departure. The two sects and remaining one n send their people to confirm their direction and their possible target. When they found their objective to be daring and unseen in the previous decade, the three giants did send a handsome amount of cultivators as reinforcements.

    The unusually higher amount of disciples deployed as reinforcements were because of two reasons. One, the students were led by Lee Shen who is a dangerous guy himself. Two, the spies confirmed and reported that the students emanated quite a powerful energy from them.

    The twin stars burning up in the sky their head did very little damage to the students'' pumped up morale and the reason was Lee himself. He was continuously pouring out his Mana to his surroundings and covered the students within it. It acted as a protection from the surroundings and also prated the 13 students'' skin as they were doing an active physical deed.

    Lee chose this moment to fill the students with Mana because he had evaluated this situation suitable to it. The absence of any other professors in the vicinity would help him release his Mana reserve without being questioned. The students did not raise doubt as they were both surprised by the insane reserve Lee had in his body while feeling safe inside the envelope.

    The second and important reason was to make those standing on the streets shudder at the dense cloud of Mana. Though those without affinity cannot control any, they could still feel the presence of energy around them if given enough focus or if the energy was dense enough.

    This also marked the dawn of the qvier academy''s task force!

    ---

    Five minutes to 5 PM.

    The enormous size of the Piscerent city made them walk quite a lot of distance. If it was Lee alone, he could have flown to the target in an instant. But because of the 13 students in tow, he took the time-consuming, hard way.

    And this decision benefitted the students as a person in motion or doing physical work could easily and efficiently umte Mana into their being. This characteristic clearly distinct Mana from Qi.

    The daylight disyed clear indication of receding into the horizon. The twin stars that burned with pride and power at mid-day had lost their lustre.

    From a distance, the students could see the city walls with a humongous gate in the middle.

    "Hey, someone ising."

    One of the soldiers standing at the bottom of the wall next to the gate nudged the soldier standing next to him. The spear-wielding man with Qi affinity looked over his shoulder and then turned around. Because of the spreading darkness but the lingering presence of daylight, it was ufortable to clearly observe object beyond a certain range.

    "The information is correct. You go first."

    Another soldier who had a sheathed sword in his waist spoke as he pushed the shoulder of the spear-wielding soldier. He nodded with bravery and courage and stepped forth.

    The surrounding soldiers heard the murmur and turned around to see the party approaching. The footsteps in unison soon neared the gate vicinity, and those on the walls also poked their head.

    "Halt."

    The soldier raised his hand and ordered the party of 14 to halt. Lee came to a stop after taking a few more steps and stood right in front of the soldier.

 Chapter 240: Ruin Expedition (4)

    Chapter 240: Ruin Expedition (4)

    The soldier quickly took a few steps backwards after receiving Lee''s expressionless re. Seeing this, another soldier who had a slightlyrge build approached Lee. Lee saw the man and found him as a person belonging to the Dwarf race.

    "State your intention!"

    The Dwarf had a tall figure which could be found pretty rare among the race. The aura of a 4th stage Soul Condensation realm cultivator rippled from his body as he stepped forward and took over the position of the previous soldier.

    "We are from the qvier academy and we are going to for the Ruin expedition."

    The words were solemn and did not have any expression. Lee maintained his cool while simultaneously scouting the perimeter for any anomaly or hostility.

    "The Ruin will not open until tomorrow morning. Don''t you people know this basic information?"

    The stout Dwarf began tough aloud and the soldiers joined him. The students tried to maintain a tranquil face, but the minuscule traces of concealed anger leaking from the students as a result of mocking was detected by Lee.

    The professor promptly attributed a very faint amount of Ice affinity to the Mana enveloping the students. The soothing coolness made them calm down their hearts while their fists remained folded. They inwardly apologised for their behaviour.

    What the Dwarf soldier said was correct. When a Ruin appears, it will have a natural barrier around it so that no one enters it the very day it appeared. Only after 24 hours did that barrier begins to dissipate.

    In the first ce, nobody knew why these Ruins popped up at regr intervals! Even Denekewy was clueless as to why these variables give away artefacts and pieces of stuff of mysterious origin whenever they pop up.

    But these freebies were apanied by danger and trials. Sometimes it might be a horde of undead. Sometimes, it could be a trial of pulsating sma beams.

    Though this has been going on for many centuries, nobody was able to predict the monsters or rewards waiting for one in a Ruin.

    But some had devoted their lives for discovering the mysterious origin of popping up Ruins, and they were called Explorers.

    Now, back to where we were. Lee maintained the poker-face despite the atmosphere. Not that he did not want to give attention, but these toddler activities were simply not worthy of his attention.

    The aura of the soldier swept across the party and the students felt a faint hostility from the aura. But it was not something to be cautious about as the Mana envelope was thick enough to cancel it.

    Seeing that the feeble students of the magic academy are withstanding the cultivator''s aura, the reason was obvious to them. Till Lee is with them, they could only feast their eyes with the curvy figures of the girls.

    "What? Cat got your tongue?!"

    Lee couldn''t help but shake his head at these soldiers'' vain attempt to provoke him. Now he understood why theyughed at them. It was clearly to provoke them to do something first hand.

    As they saw that the leader of the party is not budging or giving off any kind of expression, they were infuriated.

    "He is asking questions, and you think you don''t need to answer?!"

    The sword-wielding soldier who looked like a cultivator drew his sword and stepped forth. The tip of the de was only a few inches away from the neck of Lee. Yet, he did not flinch.

    The students saw this and were about to raise their weapon when Lee Shen''s hands sped behind his back gestured them not to. The palm of the left arm was open wide and spoke, ''don''t''. The students reluctantly lowered their weapons but did not feel at ease.

    Lee was about to say something as he opened his mouth when a voice cut him off.

    "Well well well, look who is here?."

    The intimidating tone gave the students goosebumps. They quickly turned to their right to see the origin of the voice, and their expressions fell. On the contrary, Lee Shen saw a familiar face and his expression slightly brightened.

    The 8-foot tall figure of a High Orc walked towards them. When the students felt a shiver going up their spine watching the armoured humanoid beast walking to them, Lee uttered a name-

    "Timur Adiuvat."

    That one soldier who had his sword pointing at Lee''s neck heard him saying the Brigadier inmand''s name casually. The change of expression indicated the soldier that the situation might be troublesome, for him.

    As the ck armour tes with golden border lines came walking as a whole, the soldiers immediately assembled on the sides and bowed at the High Orc. The sword-wielding soldier was no exception from this.

    The respect grew from fear to this being was tremendous in the hearts of the soldiers. They did not have the guts to take a nce of the triple horned helmet decorating the Brigadier''s head. The overgrown canine incisors made a few students take a step back unconsciously.

    ording to Lee''s observations, this man had not changed his outfit since they metst time. The same pair of Odachi with the ck and red leather-wrapped handlesfortably sat inside the scabbard. The only change he could notice was dark circles beneath his green eyes.

    The maskless face of the Brigadier disyed curled up corners of lips as he neared Lee. As a High Orc, he was taught to respect strong ones, even behind enemy lines.

    "Lee Shen, wasn''t it?"

    Lee literally looked up to the High Orc''s face and nodded. The faint smile on his face was unseen by the students, but the soldiers saw it.

    The High Orc turned to the soldier who pointed his sword to Lee''s neck. Timur ced his right palm on the hilt of one of the odachi and the man froze.

    The soldier amassed courage and slowly lifted his eyes and they met a menacing pair of green pupils.

    "You, go and open the gate."

 Chapter 241: Ruin Expedition (5)

    Chapter 241: Ruin Expedition (5)

    The daylight had mostly disappeared and only a faint sliver of illumination remained in the atmosphere. From a distance, the shadowy outlines of the 14 human beings could be seen walking towards the setting stars.

    To not have obscurity in vision, Lee condensed Lightning into a thick bright rod. With Lee Shen hands sped behind his back, the illuminating rod suspended above their heads and shed light 360 degrees around them.

    While walking, Lee was careful to regte the Mana distribution to both the Lightning rod and envelope. But the process proved highly effortless as D and Hudson took control of the operations to the System Space.

    [Illumination output at 95%. Stabilised at the moment. Over.]

    *beep*

    [Roger. Mana distribution maintaining at 450 per second. Perimeter secure. Over.]

    *blip* *blip*

    ''...''

    After essing some of the memories of Lee, D and Hudson were ying a spaceship simtor inside the System Space. It would not have been a headache if both of them could keep their mouth shut. Instead, they purposefully projected their voice to Lee and made him abnormally irritated.

    ''Knock it off, will you two?!''

    The beep and blip noises began to cloud his mind and Lee shouted at both.

    [Come on boy. We are trying to lighten up our dull life.]

    ''Then do it in silence.''

    [...]

    The brief silence followed by Lee''s words were slowly scratched away by the annoying murmuring of the two. Something had gotten into these two fellows which diforted Lee beyond reason.

    ''I am asking for thest time. Will you both shut up or should I sew your mouths shut?''

    The cold words hinted them that he is ready to jump into the System Space right away to fulfil his words. Hopefully, nothing followed after these words and Lee regained hisposure.

    ------

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>6 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,530 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    "..."

    "..."

    "Professor, how did you know that man?"

    Lee, who was leading the party towards the Ruin nced over his shoulders for a second and continued his pace.

    "Shortly after winning the tournament, I was going to the Ora Coastal ins for training when I met Timur. He demanded a duel."

    The eyes of the students were widened in disbelief.

    "And?"

    Zona expressed her curiosity.

    "And, it was a draw."

    If he was to tell that he pushed the High Orc Brigadier to stick to defence, it would only be considered as boasting. But with Lee''s expertise and performance, saying that it ended in a draw was much more convincing.

    Unbeknownst to him, the decision to tell that the duel was a draw was found eptable by the 13 students. They did not probe further as they wondered how the professor could have held toe-to-toe with that monstrous High Orc.

    Before they knew, they had stepped into the grasnds. The scarcely seen trees became non-existent. Only in and empty area surrounded them as they walked through the brown patch of path dividing the grass to the sides.

    Surprisingly, the brownish path was made up of hardened soil. The path was wide enough for two carriages to go side-by-side and still have space for a pedestrian to walk. For a brief amount of time, only the rhythmic sounds of footwear with a background of crickets'' noises could be heard. Soon a sliver of flickering light was caught up in Lee Shen''s sight.

    [We are almost two kilometres away from the Ruin.]

    Lee did not reply to D''sment and took a peek over his shoulder. He saw the students constantly observing their surroundings with their eyes and ears. Somehow, this sight made Lee feel happy and proud.

    After walking for a minute, Lee slowed his pace and came to a halt. The students could not see the light at a distance and wondered why the professor had abruptly stopped.

    ''Lower the brightness to 20%.''

    With amand, D lowered the bright Lightning rod to only 20% of its brightness. It was dim but enough bright to shed light on the faces of the 14 humans. As some wore a puzzled expression while ncing at others and upwards, Lee turned around and asked-

    "Does anyone feel saturated at the moment?"

    Lee was asking about Mana Saturation and the students did not take any more than a fraction of a second to recognise his query. Two boys and a girl raised their hands.

    "Good.

    We will not enter the Ruin vicinity at the night but will camp here on the grasnds. The ce around the Ruin is probably filled with Qi and cultivators and that could harm your skills and morale.

    And I am not interested in sheltering you all at hostile territory."

    Lee''s words were precise and concise and solved the budding question in their minds. But one question still floated inside the students'' minds.

    When Lee saw the boys and girls clueless and confused alike, he extended his left arm to his side. Something shot out of his palm and it looked like a giant roll of fabric.

    When 13 pairs of eyes focused on the palm of Lee, they saw the spatial ring. They assumed that the object whatsoever came out was stored inside the ring, but their assumption was wrong.

    The roll of fabric fell on the grassy ground and unrolled itself. It was at least 10 metres in length and had a breadth of 4 metres. With a cross-section of an equteral triangle, its deep green colour was one with the grass at night.

    Lee had designed this peculiar tent in the Workshop when he came to realise that the stars are setting and it would be troublesome to make the students stay near Qi abundant area. His eyes skimmed over the green grass and lit a bulb in his head.

    Though the process of designing and producing this abrasion-resistant, elemental-resistant and automatic temperature adjusting tent cost a little more than twenty million and five thousand Essence, he still had about three hundred and thirty million Essence left in his reserve.

    Unlike the students'' guess, it was not stored in the spatial ring, but in the System Storage. And it had some surprises to the students!

 Chapter 242: Ruin Expedition (6) Shawarma

    Chapter 242: Ruin Expedition (6) Shawarma

    The students silently witnessed the tent unveiling itself in front of them. Lee promptly pushed the lightning rod suspended in the air towards the rising tent, while gesturing the students to walk near to it.

    When the students came near the tent, it hadpletely acquired the actual form. Lee stood near the tent and knocked the fabric which gave off a dull sound heard when you knock against a metal block.

    "This is quite a sturdy tent which I acquired while travelling through the continent. I rarely use this as it is too big for a single person."

    Pulling the veil which covered the entrance of the tent, Lee Shen non-verbally asked the students to enter inside. The students promptly entered inside and the Lightning rod also followed theirpany.

    The inside was somehow bright and illuminated, unlike the outside. The absence of any sort of illuminating devices confused the hearts of the students. Though confused, they could feel a sensation of safety andfort after stepping inside.

    The inside was, however, empty. Even though Lee demonstrated the sturdiness of the tent and students did test it after his disy, the vacancy inside disheartened the students.

    But Lee was prepared for this!

    "Here, these will give you a good night sleep."

    Lee passed a thick woollen folded object as he walked past every student. When the students unfolded it, they came to realise that it was a bed. Unlike they have ever seen, it was so soft andfortable to even hold on to it!

    Some girls found it hard to refrain themselves from hugging on to it. A few boys were no different from these girls.

    While they were busy with inspecting the received bed, the Lightning rod was dispersed. Its absence did not make an impact in the illumination on the inside.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>7 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,500 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The hourly notification came up and updated Lee of the present time. The Foresight came up lightening up the sight with vivid markings and decorations, and it disyed the current Qi and Mana reserve.

    [They are probably hungry. Give them something to eat.]

    ''Can you make something and ce then in the System Storage?''

    A dozen of secondster, the students had settled down inside the tent. Their faces reflected a positive vibe from the pleasant temperature. Some had ced their weapons aside and had started talking.

    [Hey, I prepared 15 Shawarmas. I hope that will be enough.]

    Lee poked his attention into the Storage and saw 15 Shawarmas floating around. They were unwrapped and made to eat as soon as possible.

    "Anyone hungry?"

    Lee flipped his right hand and a Shawarma came appearing in his hand. The students who were talking and checking their equipment saw the unique shaped food appearing in the hand of the professor.

    Like a reply, someone''s stomach grumbled aloud. The sound resonated inside the tent and a burst ofughter almost broke out instantly.

    Lee walked to the nearest student who was seated on their bedding and handed him over a Shawarma. The peculiar and alluring smell prated his nostrils and he unconsciously bit on it with the speed of light.

    *nom nom nom*

    The sound of vigorous chewing and swallowing could be heard and Lee walked to the next one to hand over the food. He continued walking to all 12 students and gave them all a Shawarma.

    The delicacy of Earth proved its might! The students were sure that it was edible and tasty as they witnessed the first student who ate it licked his fingers.

    One doubtful bite and the rest 12 were floating on clouds! The Shawarma was unlike any other Utopian dish and had a strange shape. The ingredients and constitution were literally otherworldly. But none of these mattered as the student gobbled up their food.

    A sense of regret enveloped their faces as they realised the loss. The irresistible taste had made them eat their roll in a second. After licking their fingers off of the remaining sauce and mayonnaise did theye back to reality.

    [Thank you D.]

    Lee thanked Dnekewy in his mind as he bit onto his Shawarma. A nostalgic feeling dusted off a few memories of Lee and he slowly recapped those events.

    Lee was probably 7 years old when he went to a newly opened restaurant with his grandpa. The owner who was a man hailing from Abu Dhabi presented their Middle Eastern dishes to the locality. Shawarma was one among them and he remembered how he grinned ear-to-ear as he chewed down each bite of the heavenly delicacy!

    When he came back to reality after the recap, thest piece of the roll had disappeared down his throat. To his surprise, there was not a speck of mayo on his fingers.

    It was a casual nce as he had the smile still worn on, but he definitely saw the 13 students looking at him with discontent and dissatisfaction.

    The confusion as to why these kids were ring at him was solved as Zona raised her curiosity.

    "Professor, what was that tasty food?"

    Now the reason was clear as daylight.

    "Umm... I don''t know its name."

    The students were about to feel disheartened when Victor, one of the students asked-

    "Professor, can you tell us how you got this food?"

    Lee was about to say something when D said to him to repeat what he is about to say. Lee nodded in the inside and followed the prompter''s words.

    -----

    Dnekewy, a crafty and crooked cultivator who lived for centuries due to his cultivation, provided the creation and processing recipe of Shawarma to the students. Due to his vast knowledge, he was able to substitute Earthly ingredients with appropriate Utopian ingredients.

    Somewhere deep within Lee Shen''s mind was the recipe for making Shawarma. He did not know how he learned that or he did not try to probe any information rted to it. Though he did not care much about any such information, D dug up those memories to test the might of Earthern delicacy.

    And the Middle Eastern delicacy of Earth really shook the students to their core!

 Chapter 243: Ruin Expedition (7) Majestic Mana Mastery

    Chapter 243: Ruin Expedition (7) Majestic Mana Mastery

    And the Middle Eastern delicacy of Earth really shook the students to their core!

    Without many in-depth exnations, Lee Shen cut short the recipe of Shawarma. The students sat on their beds in wonder as they heard this otherworldly deliciousness. Even when he was narrating, Lee could see a few students drooling.

    Lee was aware that as a survival skill, cooking is very important in the life of any person. He only felt happiness as he shared passed an Earthly delicacy''s recipe.

    "Ahem... Who were those who could feel saturated?"

    As soon as the recipe narration ended, Lee cleared his throat and raised his voice. The familiar hands rose in the air and Lee asked them toe forward.

    Lee was also seated on his bedding as he was narrating the beauty of Shawarma. He quickly diverted the attention as he was also caught in the steady stream of words.

    "Exel, Dambo, Selene. Come forward."

    Lee asked the boys and girl toe forward and they promptly did. He gestured them to sit down as Lee was also sitting cross-legged.

    Lee took out a potion bottle and drank its content in a gulp. The students assumed it to Mana Potion as Lee released a rather dense aura of Mana to the inside of the tent.

    But in actuality, that drink was nothing more than water in a Potion bottle. The coloured water acted as a decoy which nullified any questions.

    "All of you should absorb as much as you can. If you can step up into the Official Level Mana Mastery before entering the Ruin, then our chances of sess will increase substantially."

    30 million Essence disappeared from the reserve and 60 million Mana appeared in the Foresight''s interface.

    With a single thought, a gust of Mana flowed out of Lee. It began to fill the inside of the tent with its pressure, and students could feel it surrounding them from all sides.

    It took the students a few dozen seconds to initiate an active absorption. The unexperienced aura of thick Mana around them made them confused for a few seconds.

    But the aura soon began to dissipate as the 13 students absorbed the overflowing aura. With another couple of seconds, the density of Mana in the air thinned.

    ''Release 500 Mana per second.''

    The release rate was set and students steadily absorbed the energy signatures. The students who were seated next to him were all having their eyes closed, while Lee with his eyes open-wide was inspecting the students.

    ---

    [That was quick!]

    A few minutester, Selene and Dambo began to show ripples of the breakthrough. Lee Sen saw those sitting next to them sensing this ripples. 4 or 5 students opened their eyes as they felt the sensation brushing against their being.

    "Do not lose focus. Those that are at the verge can breakthrough. Those who are yet topletely saturate, try not to rush."

    Lee spoke in a soft voice and it was gentle to the students'' ears. Those that distracted themselves by the sipples regained their track and continued to meditate.

    All the 13 students could feel that their shallow Mana pool had suddenly be slightly deeper. A few of them were able to guess that the reason was the continuous walking for about 2 hours with the active observation of their surroundings.

    The physical activity may seem simple at a nce but it affected the students favourably. This simple action had enabled Mana to go deep into their bones and blood and saturate to a higher scale.

    To Lee Shen and Hudson, this was an expected result as just by simply sensing and voluntarily rerouting Mana in their bodies, the students had great changes in their physique.

    [It was a good thing that the academy did not promote these children in ranking up in mastery. If these sitting ducks were to try and breakthrough, their body would either crumble or explode from the resultant changes.]

    Lee did notment on Hudson''s opinion but said inside-

    ''Hudson, increase the Mana output to 650.''

    Lee increased the output to a higher number to support the three at the verge of stepping into Official Mastery. Hudson closely observed Dambo, Exel and Selene and constantly spread his senses to find any potential distress in them. Fortunately, he did not find any.

    [How much do you about the relevance of higher Mana Mastery levels?]

    [Well... he only know how much I have told him.]

    ''Is there anything special about Mana Mastery which we are unaware of?''

    Hudson rubbed his chin before speaking anything. After a few seconds, he spoke-

    [You both know the 10 Qi Cultivation realms, right?

    The Mana Mastery is essentially the Mana variant of the Cultivation, but with a rtively higher barricade to cross and a veryrger amount of Mana to amass.

    In aparative study, a Rookie Mastery adventurer is equivalent to 1st stage Body Strengthening realm cultivator.

    When the adventurer steps up into Official Mastery, he/she is equivalent to a 2nd stage Qi umtion cultivator.]

    Outside, Lee was expressionless. His face was tranquil and in. But on the inside, he was surprised. He did expect some enhancements, but the upgradations worth of two whole major cultivation was unexpected!

    The surprise and astonishment quickly died down and Hudson continued-

    [When a cultivator steps into Immortal ss, he/she would attract the Heavenly Tribtion, and that naturally prevents most cultivators from further advancing. It is not because of theck of resource, but theck of conviction that they could withstand the might of the Tribtion Lightning.

    Stepping into the Saint Mastery Level also triggers a simr event. It invokes a particr phenomenon called Star Polygon where the adventurer would be surrounded by intense bright beams of concentrated light.

    The form taken by the arrangement of the light pirs is directly rted to the adventurer''s talent and affinity of Mana. Higher the polygon edges are, higher would be the respect received from the entire world!]

    D could not help but ask why.

 Chapter 244: Ruin Expedition (8) Star Polygon

    Chapter 244: Ruin Expedition (8) Star Polygon

    D could not help but ask why.

    [How does that single event umte the respect from continents?!]

    Dnekewy was a person who achieved the title ''Dimension Sovereign'' through Qi Cultivation. Thus the advantages of Mana Mastery was almostpletely unknown to him.

    [The Star Polygon is not a simple array of light pirs formed around an adventurer. It holds an entirely different space and time profile inside the polygon.

    The Star Polygon is the Mana variant of heaven''s oppression. In the theory of Mana, there are no heaven and unting immortals.

    There is only the highest power. The Power of Stars!]

    ''Cosmic Power!''

    Lee immediately mumbled in his mind and Hudson was surprised by this sudden utterance of the term. D creased his brows and expressed visible confusion.

    [Cosmic Power is one way to put it. But it is much more majestic and is beyond description.

    When a Star Polygon is invoked by someone who wants to step into the Saint Mastery level, the beams of light arrives from outer space and collides with the. The collision does not create causality as it is extremely gentle, contrary to its appearance.

    But it sends a wave across the entire. This wave consists of the Mana signature of the adventurer and this peculiarity of Star Polygon makes the adventurer extremely famous.]

    [Oh, so it is aary level advertisement event? Cool.]

    ''So the adventurer is known throughout the just by invoking a Star Polygon?''

    [Invoking a Star Polygon is not a simple feat. One needs about 221,000 Mana to reach the Lord level Mastery. But the demand for Mana rises by 6 times, reaching 1,504,000 when ites to the Saint Level Mastery.

    Like Heavenly Tribtion, this is an automatic event. So it will find you wherever you are.]

    ''You mentioned that the Star Polygon have a different space and time profile in the inside.''

    [Before I speak about that, I need to give a prologue about the Soul Trial.

    The Soul Trial is what that happens inside the Star Polygon. At a nce, the Star polygon may seem like exerting an enormous pressure over the person''s body, but you are wrong.

    The Star Polygon pulls the soul of the invoker out of his/her body to conduct a test. As far as I know, there is nothing the soul needs to do once inside the Soul Trail.

    From records, I came to know that the one inside the Soul Trial would feel like aeons and aeons have passed in front of their eyes. But in reality, hardly a day might have passed.

    This has to do with the elerated space-time profile inside the Star Polygon. But it does not make the adventurer age or die, rather makes him/her feel decades younger. I have also read about the testimonies of innumerous people saying that they felt as if brimming with energy and health.]

    ''So it is safe.''

    [Absolutely. Contrary to the Heavenly Tribtion, the Star Polygon does not disqualify anyone and equally elevates everyone. But the humongous amount of Mana needed to invoke the eventpensates this advantage.]

    ''In a with rare sightings of Qi abundant atmosphere and much rarer appearances of Mana abundant ces, I understand what you are implying.''

    A brief silence followed Lee Shen''s words as D and Hudson kept their mouths shut while pondering.

    *....*

    A very faint wave swept past Lee and he focused on Selene. She was exhibiting her will to breakthrough and the Mana had filled every cell of her body to brim.

    [Concentrate Mana around her. It will elerate the process while providing a chamber to contain the intense ripples originating from the breakthrough.]

    Lee flipped his arms and his fists drew shapes in the air. The next second, those that sat next to her could feel a dense Mana construct manifesting near them.

    The almost translucent egg-like chamber covered Selene and her expression became solemn. She found that her body which was content with stock spells resisted the Mana coursing through her body. It was as if the sudden change happened within two weeks were uneptable to it.

    The resistance was sudden and should have ovee her will to step to Official Mastery if Lee Shen had not provided the buff. Within the egg, Selene serenely broke through!

    Lee Shen slowly lifted the construct and let it dissipate to the atmosphere. The aura of the girl that exited after it''s the disappearance was breathtaking to students.

    "She broke through!"

    "...just like that?!"

    "We too can''t dillydally."

    Quite instantly, several muffled exmations and conversations rose to the air. The content of the whisperings was audible to Lee and he found no reason to restrict them like a military barracks.

    But he needed to streamline their focus back.

    "Well done Selene. You have done a great job. Try to soak in the Mana around you and take rest."

    Lee was brimming with happiness and his words were that of a proud father yet restricting himself from expressing love. Selene was very happy as she received a lot of help from Professor Lee. With her talents, it would have been impossible to achieve this feat.

    She earnestly thanked Lee Shen for his help, to which he replied-

    "It is my duty as a teacher."

    The 13 students felt that they could achieve a great height if they are under the guidance of Lee. Their assumptions were not wrong, as the system was indeed a phenomenal assistant with innumerable applications.

    The Mana output was lowered to 600 and the students drowned themselves in meditation. Through nostrils, mouth and every cell of their body, they absorbed vast quantities of pure Mana.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>10 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,450 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Though the eyes were closed, Lee saw the panel.

    ''Time flies.''

    He opened his eyes and scanned the surroundings.

    [These kids are monsters!]

    D couldn''t help but exim as he saw 4 students stepping into the Official Mastery level within 3 hours. He was bbergasted by their quick advancements.

    [You are mistaken, my friend. Those are not improvements.]

 Chapter 245: Ruin Expedition (9)

    Chapter 245: Ruin Expedition (9)

    [You are mistaken, my friend. Those are not improvements.]

    Hudson added-

    [Previously, these children were not properly nurtured. They were led in the path of Wizardry with the spells alone. That greatly shunted their innate ability to recognise Mana as the true source of power.

    Now that they have all been savouring Mana for the past week, their bodies have found delicacy in the resonating signature of energy.

    Thus it bes easy for them to umte Mana in their empty bodies. Their physique clearly yearns for more and more Mana to fill in the gaps of all these years.]

    [So it is the gluttony of a hungry monkey, eh?]

    [In a way.]

    Lee chuckled on the inside after hearing how Dprehended the situation. Not that he was wrong or insulting, but was right and precise to the point.

    ncing at the 9 students still absorbing Mana, Lee Shen could tell that all of them will reach the saturation point in an hour or two. But he wanted the students to rest plenty so that they are not sluggish for tomorrow''s events.

    ''Gradually decrease the output and bring it to zero.''

    At hismand, the Mana outpouring from his being began to slow down. It reached a point where the aura was literally non-existent.

    The students felt this change and opened their eyes. They could see the four students who broke through to the Official Level Mastery sitting next to the professor. With confusion and frown decorated their faces, all 13 students peered at Lee Shen.

    "We can stop here. The time for sleep has arrived."

    Lee Shen spoke as he stood up and walked to the tent entrance. He pulled the veil and the pitch-ck sky was visible to the students. The darkness outside the tent was bizarre and strangely hostile.

    Lee quickly let go of the cover and it returned to its ce. Turning around, he walked to his bed and sat on it. After cing his rear firmly on the fluffy bedding, he skimmed through the faces of the students.

    "Tomorrow marks your first field experience day and also the first Ruin Expedition of the academy in decades. We will represent the academy and shall act as its task force. Thus it is necessary to have a good night sleep.

    Those who have broken through to the Official Mastery level should keep your power in check and prevent it from going haywire. Those who are at the verge of breaking through can take it slow. No need to hurry.

    There is no need to be cautious. Be at ease as this tent is sturdy and can withstand some serious damage without any troubles.

    Now, go to sleep."

    The students nodded at Lee Shen''s words. Their faces were brimming with energy. Within a minute, 7 of them have fallen asleep. The rest were hushedly talking about their experiences and opinions. Within another five minutes, the inside of the tent became silent.

    Lee Shen decreased the brightness of the tent and the insides began to lose lustre. Soon it came to a state where the outlines of other people were vaguely visible.

    ''Good night fellows.''

    ---------

    *ding*

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>6 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,500 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The notification bell was gentle and did not jolt Lee Shen from his bed. The receding echo reverberated in his head and almost reached the threshold of irritation.

    [Wake up boy. You''ve been sleeping for 8 hours.]

    ''Well, it only felt like a blink of an eye.''

    Lee opened his eyes wide and sat up on his futon. It was uparably soft and cozy that he did not knew when he fell asleep. And as he had guessed, the students were still in deep slumber.

    ''D, did you enchant these futons when I wasn''t looking?''

    [With a very few amount of Serenity element.]

    ''Thought so.''

    Lee had a in smile on his face as he stretched his limbs. He almost yawned out loud but quickly covered his mouth with his hands. The yawn was so intense that his eyes began to well up.

    ''Did I really sleep at all? I am yawning like crazy.''

    [Maybe you slept more than your body needed. Human body tend to go weak if slept more than it needs.]

    Lee nodded as he wiped his welled up eyes. Then he turned his head and looked around him.

    The students had not woken up. They did not even move an inch as they were deep in their slumber. Lee spreaded his sense across the tent and he found no fluctuations of thoughts.

    The tent did not had any windows but Lee Shen observed the outside through the Map. He could see the rtively brighter surroundings as the daylight crawled forth from the horizon.

    ''The Ruin barrier status.''

    [Intact. I don''t think that it will open up any time soon.]

    ''An estimate.''

    [By 12 midday, I assume.]

    Lee Shen nodded in return and focused on the Map. Through the hologram, Lee could see numerous tents and temporary settlements setup around the Ruin entrance.

    The expedition party and reinforcements from the Typhoon n, Iron Shadow Sect and Long Sect had already established their presence around the Ruin. Even rogue cultivators from the Guild have also assembled with their private parties. The silent hostility in the air was evident and Lee Shen felt that he indeed did a good thing not taking the students to the Ruin vicinity.

    What the Ruin held was a mystery to all but not for Lee Shen. Using the Map function, he scouted the entire Ruinplex to its nook and corner. The entire undergroundbyrinth spanning for miles and miles were clearly visible to him.

    ''D, Hudson, what do think of this Ruin?''

    Hudson, in the System Space, rubbed his chin with a frowned face.

    [I don''t think this is a Ruin.]

    The answer was unexpected and revealed that there are mysteries hiding beneath the ground.

    D sounded his agreement with Hudson''s words and spoke-

    [A Ruin is actually a Ruin when something prehistoric is left buried or forsaken. But this is a Lurnd.]

 Chapter 246: Ruin Expedition (10) Lureland

    Chapter 246: Ruin Expedition (10) Lurnd

    [But this is a Lurnd.]

    ''... what?''

    The term Lurnd was unknown to him until now. This was news and he probed further.

    [A Ruin is the disclosure of the remnant of forsaken or abandoned historic artefacts or objects which have powers in them. It could either assist or destruct the target in the growth. Some have bizarre and weird abilities.

    But not all pop-ups are Ruins.

    Ruins are extremely rare that it is difficult to distinguish them from Lurnds.

    Lurnd is the manifestation of a potential dungeon. Whether it is temporary or permanent is up to the energy aura it could spew out.

    The Lurnd is much deadly than a dungeon. There are numerous traps and tricks embedded in the structure which are effective in leading troops to their deaths.

    Lurnds are a kind of social bncers. They lure greedy cultivators and adventurers with the promise of providing artefacts and the weak fall to death. Thus, Lurnds regte the size of society through a process of elimination.]

    [The reason why no one has found the distinction between a Lurnd and a Ruin is rted to the barrier. This particr barrier prevents anyone from prying in and detecting the nature of the construct. It effectively conceals the aura of a Lurnd that is hardly different from that of a Ruin.]

    Lee became concerned about the safety of the students. But his worry was for nought as he quickly discovered a fact.

    ''So this Lurnd seems to be empty, eh? Perfect for sparring.''

    [Right and wrong. The Lurnd beasts are not limited to a species or two but is directly rted to the longevity of the existence of the Lurnd.

    Longer the Lurnd exists,rger would be the exiting threats. If the beasts grow beyond a limit, the monsters would go out of the Lurnd and act like dungeon beasts, dragging their victims back inside.]

    ---

    D and Hudson continued to provide information about Lurnds and Ruins and Lee Shen silentlyprehended these facts. His expression swung between in and frown periodically.

    ''....''

    The time was almost 7 AM when a boy woke up and raised his torso with his hands. He nced around and saw Lee Shen sitting while leaning on the tent fabric. The professor quickly sensed the student''s presence and greeted-

    "Good morning Renji."

    The third-year student Renji could see the outlines of Lee but could not determine who it was. It was after hearing the soft and gentle voice did he recognised the person.

    "Good morning professor."

    Renji replied in a simr hushed voice and Lee nodded at his reply. The boy quickly sat up and checked his spear ced next to his bedding.

    Minutester, students began to wake up one by one. Their slumber was aberrant from their academic routine but the students were content with the sleep.

    Finding all the students woken up, Lee stood up and walked out of the tent. The vibrant rays of morning grazed his face and body as they shot from the horizon. The twin stars had started their journey.

    The grassy texture around them gave a refreshing ambience as the students stepped out of the tent. Lee Shen used Mana to create a ball of water using which he washed his face and mouth. He turned to the students and urged them to do so. Under the professor''s guidance, the students washed their faces and got rid of the sluggishness of the sleep.

    [I hope the Sweet Bread is to these students'' liking.]

    Lee Shen was notified that the Sweet Bread he had asked D to produce, are avable in the System Storage. He quickly took out the bread and its fragrance began to turn the students'' heads.

    "I did not prepare much. So I hope this bread is to your liking."

    Lee said as he passed the bread among the students.

    *muffled gasps*

    Lee heard suppressed exmations as he saw them biting on the bread. The Sweet Bread, urate to its name, had a sweetness that these students have not yet tasted. And that was because Sharin had not been invented in Utopia!

    "Professor, what is this thing? Is it bread?!"

    Itty, the sword-wielding second-year boy could not help but exim his anxiety. His voice broke the silence and Lee turned to him. Lee also saw many pair of expectant eyes locking on him.

    "Well...this is Sweet Bread..."

    As always, the crafty cultivator helped Lee Shen in cooking up yet another lie. The brief words that consisted of the vague methods of producing the Sweet Bread also hinted the students that this simple-looking but delicious piece of food have a secret unexined behind it.

    The students did not felt like pursuing the reason behind the bread''s greatness, and quickly focused on their activities. Some walked a little farther from where they were and practised their skills. It was notable that their abilities have risen to a new level after a long time soaking in dense Mana.

    ---

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>8 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,400 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee let the kids have their sessions of practice for almost a minute as hepletely scouted out the interior of the Lurnd. With the help of almighty Map, the process was smooth and quick.

    The notification was dismissed and Lee got up on his foot. He pped his hands twice and attracted the attention of students.

    "Everyone gather around."

    Upon Lee Shen''smand, the students halted their activities and came around him. Within a couple of minutes, all 13 students were around him.

    "How do you feel after yesterday''s session?"

    The reply was energetic as the students began to spew out their emotions and evaluations. Their happiness and bliss suppressed by the urge to wield the new-found enhancements were broken by Lee and the atmosphere became chaotic.

    "Stop. Speak one by one.

    Let''s start with those who broke through."

    Lee pointed at the students who broke through to the Official level of Mastery and their mouths were opened. Each student took about 5 or 6 minutes to speak and they only stopped after their throat went dry from continuous deliverance of words.

    *clop clop clop*

 Chapter 247: Ruin Expedition (11)

    Chapter 247: Ruin Expedition (11)

    *clop clop clop*

    As soon as the students who broke through finished their narration, the sound of horse hooves could be heard. Lee turned to his right and saw many horse puppets moving along the grassless path with some powerful cultivators on top of them.

    With colours ranging from pastel green to forest green, the Long Sect cultivators had the aura of pride around them. Their robes fluttered in the air though there was no breeze blowing. The golden leaves design on their sleeves and back of the robe was aesthetically beautiful. The party consisting of 10 women and 10 men did not have a pleasant face when their eyes met the party from quvier academy.

    The oddly long tent caught these people''s attention. For a moment, they pulled the reins and halted the puppets to inspect the tent. After finding nothing special about the tent even through their senses, they decided to move on. When the puppets stomped the ground to move again, Lee Shen felt as if that stomp was directed towards him.

    The cultivators also saw the students and the professor who led them as the tent was only a few metres away from the path. The look of displeasure and repulsion was evident on the faces of cultivators and they moved away towards the Ruin vicinity with an unfriendly air around them.

    Lee could feel the hostility arising from those cultivators. Though the cultivators concealed it, his senses were much sharper than these generic cultivators.

    [Looks like these cultivator fellows would do something idiotic only to piss us off.]

    Nodding to the opinion, Lee turned back to the students. A surprise awaited them as he saw unrest in the students'' eyes. To be precise, these students were those who broke through yesterday.

    ''Looks like their senses have developed significantly.''

    Of course, their senses have developed beyond expectations. What they went through was a transition equivalent to breaking through two whole major realms in Qi cultivation. Of course, their senses have heightened!

    Lee shook his head as a in expression veiled over his face.

    "Let''s continue with sharing experiences."

    He pped again and spoke in a gentle voice.

    After diverting the attention back to the students, the session went smooth without a hitch. Almost all the remaining 9 students expressed their doubt that they are at the verge of breaking through to the next level.

    While the students were actively immersed in narration, Lee was able to detect some serious hostile intent piercing his back. He swept his senses around but found none. It was through the Map that he saw the cultivators at the Ruin vicinity observing them using a telescope.

    [Oh, a telescope? These people sure have surprises with them!]

    As the narration went on, only Lee Shen detected the stealthy spies nearing their premises to obtain information from their conversations. Lee quickly discharged Mana from his body and created a sound barrier around them. It restricted the sound waves from travelling out of the restricted area.

    Along with sound barrier, Lee attributed Poison affinity to the Mana and the surrounding outside of the barrier became slightly poisonous. The smell of the toxic substance alerted the spy cultivators and they quickly fled without raising rm.

    ---

    After the narration session, the students began to talk among themselves and discussed the new-found enhancements and possibilities. Those who were yet to breakthrough eagerly gave their ears to these details and facts. The atmosphere, however, did not be too loud as Lee Shen opened the Workshop to tinker with the academy robes.

    Along the way to the Ruin, Lee had asked the students to give him their academy robes. Though the students did not question the authority and intention of the professor, they had uncertainty as to why Lee needs their robes.

    Summoning the Workshop, Lee Shen saw one of the academy robes disyed in the screen.

    ''Enhanced Mana Absorption, Qi Repulsion Enchantment, Defense Enhancement and Agility Boosting.''

    As Lee Shen uttered the names of the attributes in his mind, the Essence cost began to increase by leaps and bounds. After attributing these enchantments to all the 13 robes, Lee Shen paid 108,500 Essence.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>9 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,400 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ''I have been noticing the decrease in Essence harvest. What is it D?''

    Lee Shen had been observing a steady decrease in the Essence harvest. He initially thought that it might be rted to the old-age Trolls in the EsGen, but he felt that there was another reason for it. Lee Shen decided to ask about the reason.

    [The reason is the coffin. The emission of Lifeforce from the coffin seems to be decreasing at a very slow pace. We tried to take a look, but could not find anything abnormal. The boundless spewing of the Lifeforce itself is abnormal.]

    Now that the reason is known, Lee Shen thought about the coffin. Thebined effort of D, Hudson and Lee coupled with the Map could not peek into the coffin. ording to Hudson, something is obstructing them from taking a peek of the inside. D assumed that there is a powerful lifeform buried or imprisoned inside it.

    ''After returning to the academy, we will take a look at the coffin. Let it be until then.''

    Lee Shen conveyed his intentions. He had ced the Lurnd expedition as a priority. If the expedition was a sess, then the students would have enough experience to venture outside the campus without fear of suppression.

    Lee, who was sitting on the grasnd cross-legged, got up and walked to the crowd of students. These 13 students were his first batch of students and he intended to nurture and raise them as a group of elite disciples.

    Lee took out the robes as he walked to them. Passing them to the students, he spoke-

    "The Ruin is expected to open by noon. So we need to prepare.

    Few of you have broken through, so do not attempt to go higher at the moment. Make your foundation stronger. Those that are yet to step up can strengthen your basics before proceeding further.

    Rx your body and feel the Mana inside you. You all can try to familiarise with it."

 Chapter 248: Ruin Expedition (12)

    Chapter 248: Ruin Expedition (12)

    The students promptly wore the robes and felt a soothing sensation rising from them. They could tell that their Mana absorption coefficient has slightly increased. A few students nced at Lee Shen in surprise while others did not.

    Without another word, the students immersed themselves in directing the Mana around their body. While the 13 disciples sat rxedly, Lee Shen silently neared them and provided a Mana abundant atmosphere.

    About 10 minutes went by.

    To his surprise, a student already disyed ripples of potential breakthrough and Lee promptly increased the density of the Mana around them. When the increase in concentration became evident, one more boy exhibited simr indications.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>10 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,400 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Now, the total number of students who broke through to the Official level of Mastery became 7. These students urged the remaining six students to follow their path and thoroughly saturate themselves.

    Ten minutes after the notification disappeared, Lee Shen retracted the aura of dense Mana emitting from his body. The students felt the energy signature thinning and opened their eyes to see Lee gulping down coloured water from two potion bottles.

    In actuality, the twin stars rising above their head was damn hot and it made him go thirsty. The heat also triggered him to sweat.

    A sense of guilt and helplessness could be seen in their faces as Lee wiped off his sweat. They felt that they have be a burden to the professor and that he is in the situation because of them.

    Unaware of their thoughts, Lee sat on the grasnd with a tired face.

    "Professor, are you okay?"

    It was Dambo who raised his doubt. All the 13 students including him were amazed by the professor''s immense Mana reserve and did not pry into the secret behind it. But when Lee Shen began to show signs of exhaustion, their hearts felt unrest.

    "Ah... I am fine."

    Lee gave a wide smile as he conveyed that he is okay. He added that the day isparatively hotter than usual. The students did not sense the increasing warmth as they were in a meditative state.

    "Tell me, what do you all know about Ruins?"

    By seeing the gloomy and discouraged expressions of the students, he put forward a conversation about Ruins. The students brightened up within a minute and actively participated in the conversation.

    "Ruins have all kinds of monsters and beasts. Their cores are equally precious to both cultivators and adventurers."

    "But to encounter a suitable elemental affinity monster rare."

    "Professor Drake had once told that they lost two students in a Ruin expedition two years ago."

    "What? Seriously? The academy lost a student?"

    "The information is vague, but as far as the records say, a student disappeared in a Ruin expedition and is never seen since."

    "Well, there is a chance that the student is dead. After all, it has been two years, isn''t it?"

    "...."

    "...."

    Lee only had to ignite the gunpowder, and the crowd began to bring froth its vigour. The students literally forgot the presence of Lee Shen and talked among themselves. Regardless of the year, everyone interacted in the debate.

    Some would raise a controversial statement and someone would oppose it. The chain reaction of words intensified to its peak and the topic of discussion was altered without their knowledge. Soon, they began to talk about weapons, beasts, monsters, elements, magic, Mana, cultivators, sects,moners, food, life, philosophy, warfare and other trivial topics.

    [...]

    [...]

    ''...''

    Lee Shen sat about five metres away from the crowd and heard every word exiting the mouths of the students. D and Hudson sharpened their ears to acquire information about current times. They were able to obtain some important information among the avnche of words.

    ''These students are reservoirs of information.''

    [But leave them like this, and they will talk non-stop for years regardless of what happens around them.]

    ''You are right.''

    Lee agreed with Hudson and raised his torso. He knelt on the ground on one knee and stretched his limbs. A smile crept up his face as he flipped his right hand.

    ''Long time no see, ck.''

    Its been a while since Lee Shen took his sword out of the storage. When he thought about his sword, he unconsciously had a grin on his face.

    The sword rested horizontally on his palms and soaked itself in daylight. Fragments of memory when he was living in the monastery came popping up in his mind.

    The students were not aware of his actions as they vigorously conducted debates among themselves. Their voice rising up and down in modtion hinted of their heated interest in expressing information.

    It was then an idea came up in his mind. The concept made his face to be stered with an ear-to-ear grin.

    [The information and technique are authenticated and the Soul-possession skill does exist in Utopia. But you cannot do it.]

    Lee had recollected his memories regarding his life on Earth and could almost make out stable and clear pictures of his fragmented memories. He grew up under his grandpa''s protection who would recite the stories of immortals and martial arts. These words were the first catalyst which influenced Lee Shen to receive his grandpa''s Kung Fu proficiency.

    The art of soul possessing inanimate biological and non-biological objects could be seen throughout human history. Varying in names and methods, the concept remained the same.

    Turns out, the myths of Earth were a reality in Utopia!

    But....

    ''Why did you say that?''

    [Yourck of Mana and Qi affinity waspensated by the System. Even the Pzys and Egos havepletely manifested and fused with your soul.

    But, your soul of Earth origin is invalid in the soil of Utopia.]

    D continued to exin the situation. The soul of a person is unique to that person and contains irremovable embedded codes dictating his/her origin, affinity, immunity, memories, stats and specialities. This makes reincarnation a reality.

    But since Lee Shen was transmigrated to Utopia, he could only depend on the system to work his way to the pinnacle of the Utopia legacy.

    [But...]

 Chapter 249: Ruin Expedition (13)

    Chapter 249: Ruin Expedition (13)

    ''But?''

    [But only the residents of Utopia can pull off such tricks.]

    Lee creased his brows.

    ''So you and Hudson can, right?''

    [Precisely.

    And because I have be a part of your soul like the System, which is essentially me, my remaining wisp of the soul can possess the object.]

    ''Wonderful!''

    Lee was ted to hear this. If what D said bes a reality, then Lee Shen can indirectly control the sword through a never-seen-before variant of Soul-possession method.

    [I am going to tinker the sword a bit to make it habitable.]

    Dnekewy did not wait for Lee Shen''s response and opened the Workshop panel. Lee Shen also summoned the panel and saw the changes brought to the sword in real-time.

    The sword disyed in the panel was stripped to its metallic de. D was about to discard the de when Lee said that this de feels quite special for him. So D decided to spend a few more Essence to modify Damascus Steel into a suitable vessel.

    The process was quicker than Lee Shen''s eyes could follow. The hologram of the sword began to rotate at dynamic and rapid angles by themand of D and several enchantments and additions came appearing on them. Lee soon found it difficult to follow the movements of the sword as it constantly twitched around and spun like an unfixed glitch!

    ''8,099,300 Essence.''

    Lee read the total amount of Essence umted through the process before the screen disappeared at the next moment. Cluelessly, he stared at the distance.

    [The reconstruction isplete. Take a look.]

    The intensity of noise picked up strength and Lee moved away from the students. One or two students saw him moving away from them but did not question his actions. It was after checking his surroundings for peeping cultivators and ncing students that Lee dared to take out the sword.

    ''Wow!''

    The katana with the ever-beautiful Damascus Steel de was the manifestation of power. The simple-looking sword had an overall length of 40.55 inches. The modified de was 28.3 inches long with an extremely tiny degree of curve. This characteristic shape made it stand in between a Japanese Katana and Ninjato.

    The thickness of the de was 0.15 inches while the handle was half an inch thick. The handle was made of wood wrapped with red leather over which ck ribbon was aesthetically wrapped. To match the handle, the de was slightly wider than an inch.

    The other detailed decorations were ording to D''s taste. Since he was the one going to possess the sword, Lee was not against it. But to Lee''s surprise, he could not find or sense anything special or extraordinary about the sword, apart from the addition of the sheath.

    (A.N. For those who want reference: <strong>https://pin.it/6kIlHsy</strong> )

    After putting the sword back in its sheath, Lee found that the sheath made no sound when it was unsheathed or sheathed back in its ce. Before he raised his doubt, a small spatial tear of hardly an inch was formed next to his feet and a wisp of soul flew out of it. This tiny, off-white and amorphous piece of sentience went into the sword and ck trembled violently for a fraction of a second.

    [I''m in.]

    ''Oh! So that floating sperm-like goo was you?''

    [Insolent brat!]

    The sword began to tremble in anger. The sword reflected D''s momentary aggression and turned normal the next second.

    [Seriously, don''t call it sperm-like white goo or floating bird poop. That is the nature of the soul. That is how it looks like. At least for me.]

    ''Yeah, I remember. The colour of the soul indicates the amount of karma waiting for the being. White is the innocent while the pitch ck is done for!''

    [Precisely.]

    ''So what is the current situation? Are you going to stay in the sword or will you return to the System Space?''

    The answer was dyed by a second or two.

    [It is hard to say because I have many things to do inside the sword.

    The Essence that was spent on the modification went to nurture the will of the weapon called Sword Will. For swords, it is Sword Will and for spears, Spear Will. The will of the weapon would have the weapon type as a prefix.]

    ''I get it. But exin where the Essence went to.''

    [The will is created when sentience is assimted to the inanimate object. Not all weapons are suitable to form a weapon will after binding it with a soul. Some need to be subdued forcefully or the soul will disintegrate to eternity.

    Through modification, I have made it possible for a Sword Will to form. But it still needs my attention. So I will stay inside the sword for a while. I might even bind myself with the sword permanently if the circumstance demands.

    But if you ce me inside the System Storage, then Hudson can retrieve me from there and I can enter the System space even if I be the Sword Will. But you will be forced to make a window of a few seconds for me to return to the System storage so that you can bring me out of there to serve justice.]

    Lee was hearing to Dnekewy''s exnation while he felt the familiar grip and reverberation from the sword. His eyes did not fly away from the de. It was as if his sight was glued to the intrinsic design of the Damascus Steel.

    Lee was so absorbed in his actions that he failed to notice the 13 students staring at him in awe. The shape and style of the de and the sword had piqued their interest. The elegance with which Lee repeated the sword skills of Earth was a feast their eyes.

    Faint murmurs could be heard and Lee came back to reality. But he did not stop his actions and let the disciples witness his proficiency in the way of the sword. His Absolute Mastery in Sword enabled him to feel the weapon as one of his own limbs. Thus he was doubtful about the necessity of the Absolute grade Sword Mastery.

 Chapter 250: Ruin Expedition (14)

    Chapter 250: Ruin Expedition (14)

    The next second, the students saw a wide smirk on the professor''s face. They were unsure of what had caused the professor to smirk.

    ''How stupid I am? The Mastery of Sword is the System''s way of evaluating the skill in sword while the Soul-possession is a traditional technique of binding a wisp of one''s soul to a weapon.

    Can''t believe that I asked such an obvious question. Hahaha.....''

    [Just like D once said, no matter how intelligent and resolute you could be, there will always be a fraction of second where you unconsciously be the biggest idiot!]

    Lee sounded his agreement with Hudson''s words and picked up the pace. The sword sped up and began to produce faint wind waves whenever it was swung at full force.

    [Since you don''t know anything about Soul-possession and Sword Will, let me give you an adequate exnation.

    Soul-possession is literally the possession of a soul in any inanimate and non-biological objects. If the soul takes control of a biological vessel dead or alive, the soul would start to umte immense karma which would end up invoking the descend of a Thunderbird, the being in myths. Those beasts are specialised in spotting and eliminating souls with extraordinary amounts of Karma.

    But even if a soul sessfully possesses a weapon or object, it does not necessarily mean that a will is immediately formed. The soul would have to travel through every atom and molecule to familiarise with itpletely.

    In history, there are depictions of certain objects and materials with excellent affinity with souls. The information was soon used for necromancy and soul-stealing which forced Thunderbirds to tline millions of people within seconds.

    The Essence was used for creating the most suitable environment to create the Sword Will. The progress is almost at 2%, I can tell. Afterpletion, you can use my presence in the sword to propel, hover and manoeuvre the weapon inside a fixed range.

    For normal cultivators, the range would increase with their cultivation. But that does not apply to us as I am the current Dimension Sovereign. So you may propel the sword literally anywhere!

    Sword Will is a cultivator''s ultimate advantage over adventurers. Though the Sword Will takes high energy and Qi, adventurers will have difficulty in dealing with fast-flying projectile attacks that are urate to inches.]

    Lee spun on his right feet and came to a stop. The students were in a dilemma whether they should p or not.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>11 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,395 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The 13 disciples observed the professor''s actions and elegance keenly to adapt it to their melee attacks. They could not follow his actions for too long due to steadily increasing speed.

    "Professor, please teach me."

    Felrian, the final year student with Fire affinity and a shortsword, asked Lee as he bowed in respect. Felrian was not expecting Lee to teach him right away, but he hoped for it.

    "Unless the person before you is your father or mother, do not bend your spine.

    Stand up straight."

    Lee Shen sheathed his sword in style and thrust the sheath to the ground. When he lifted his hand, the sheath with the sword inside was standing firmly and upright vertically.

    The words that exited his mouth were not his, but his grandfather''s. Lee Aiguo, who had an unyielding attitude, always repeated these words when he trained Lee Shen. Thus these words were embedded deep in his soul. Seeing his disciple bowing in expectation, something triggered him to speak up like an armymander.

    His slightly louder voice startled the students. The next second, their expression changed to respect and admiration.

    Unbeknownst to them, even Lee was also surprised by this sudden fluctuation in his behaviour.

    [..->

    ''Don''t ask. I too am confused.''

    [....as expected.'']

    Felrian strengthened his spine with admiration and reverence. His eyes sparkled with happiness.

    ''Am I seeing things?''

    Lee Shen was unsure what he saw in his eyes, so he shook his head helplessly.

    After picking up his sheathed sword from the ground, he was about to speak when something made him flinch and draw his sword.

    ''The hell?''

    His eyes were fixated on the Ruin entrance. To be precise, he was ring at the barrier he could see through the Foresight interface. For a second, he was dumbfounded.

    The students did not sense anything particr, but they all felt a very faint ominous aura going past them. They turned around but saw nothing. A few of the students saw the professor''s quick reaction and were concerned.

    ''Why is a weakening Ruin barrier emitting such hostile aura?''

    [I assume that it has a lot of dark energy inside them.]

    The rough ssification of Lurnd was merged with Ruins because no one could distinguish one from the other. To be honest, only a handful of cultivators and adventurers knew the term and existence of Lurnds.

    The aura emitting from a Ruin/Lurnd denotes the spawned monsters'' characteristic. The density of this aura is also directly proportional to the strength of the beasts.

    If that is the case, then this Lurnd is the-

    ''Lurnd of Death!''

    There was a solemn expression of his face which the students took as a cue of powerful threat. They promptly raised their guard and weapons to resist any sneak attacks.

    "Looks like the barrier is weakening. Let''s move."

    Lee did not alert the students as he stored ck in the System Storage. Hearing his words, the students steeled their minds to withstand the possible adversities.

    -----

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>PERSONAL INFO:</strong>

    <strong>Name: Lee Shen</strong>

    <strong>Race: Lightning Element Unknown Race</strong>

    <strong>Age: 20</strong>

    <strong>Essence: 366,652,961</strong>

    <strong>Money: 6,426 Gold; 950 Silver; 86 Copper</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>Days psed: 24</strong>

    <strong>Time: 11 AM</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ATTRIBUTES:</strong>

    <strong>Health: 7,900</strong>

    <strong>Power: 2,800</strong>

    <strong>Stamina: 2,600</strong>

    <strong>Guard: 2,500</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 4,000</strong>

    <strong>Perception: 875</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 350</strong>

    <strong>Resolve: 2,000</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>PROGRESS:</strong>

    <strong>Cultivation: Peak Soul Manifestation</strong>

    <strong>Qi: 1,000</strong>

    <strong>Mastery: Lord Level Mastery</strong>

    <strong>Mana: 48,020,382</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>CONSTITUTION:</strong>

    <strong> Lightning</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ELEMENTS:</strong>

    <strong> Poison</strong>

    <strong> Fire</strong>

    <strong> Water</strong>

    <strong> Ice</strong>

    <strong> Stone</strong>

    <strong> Metal</strong>

    <strong> Nature</strong>

    <strong> Wind</strong>

    <strong> Sound</strong>

    <strong> Dark</strong>

    <strong> Light</strong>

    <strong> Death</strong>

    <strong> Gravity</strong>

    <strong> Space</strong>

    <strong> Life</strong>

    <strong> Time</strong>

    <strong> Serenity</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>PROFICIENCY:</strong>

    <strong> ck (D possessed)</strong>

    <strong> Nunchuck</strong>

    <strong> Bow - (1,198/10,000)</strong>

    <strong> Scythe - (1/100)</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>SKILLS:</strong>

    <strong> Flight - E (4/30)</strong>

    <strong> Spotless</strong>

    <strong> Telepathy</strong>

    <strong> Taming - D (11/210)</strong>

    <strong> Waterworld</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>STORAGE:</strong>

    <strong>1. ck (Lower Force)</strong>

    <strong>2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)</strong>

    <strong>3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>MAP:</strong>

    <strong>WORKSHOP:</strong>

    <strong>SYSTEM SPACE:</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

 Chapter 251: Ruin Expedition (15)

    Chapter 251: Ruin Expedition (15)

    ''D, you did notplete the exnation.''

    [Oh yeah.

    Sword Will is the ultimate weapon against high-level adventurers because none had ever stopped it.]

    ''Let me guess. The corrosive potential of Qi on adventurers!''

    [Yes, but partially.]

    ''Partially?''

    [The role of Qi in killing an adventurer is undeniable. But the absence of high-level Mastery adventurers is attributed to the Star Polygon phenomenon.]

    Lee couldn''t help but gasp inwardly at this revtion. He had thought of multiple ways an adventurer could be killed but never did he expect the event which acts as a levelling arena is an indirect beacon for homing in enemy projectiles.

    [The Star Polygon not only spews vague details of the adventurer but also his position. For someone who is a half-step to the God ss, sending his/her weapon halfway across the may be very difficult but not impossible.

    Most sects teach the Soul-possession skill to their core disciples. This is also apanied by the transferring of a silent request - kill any high-level adventurers beyond Lord level.

    I am saying this because I have killed quite a lot of Lord level adventurers.]

    ''How did you kill Lord level adventurers before they step into Saint level?''

    [For invoking the Star Polygon, a vast area is needed. The area must also be evacuated. The ce of choice is mostly desert or barren teaus. It is like the Heavenly Tribtion, but much morepact and less chaotic. The Star Polygon is gentle but harsh towards anyone in a radius of 2 or 3 kilometres.

    The lonely adventurer would resist but will ultimately fall by our swords.]

    Lee had no expression as he knows that D has a ruthless and savage side. Just because D is good to him does not mean that he was a very good person when alive. Lee Shen wondered how much karma might he have umted in his lifetime.

    [But that does not mean adventurers arepletely helpless against the cultivators.]

    Hudson did not hold any resentment against D as they are both dead and are now wisps of souls. His voice was in as he continued-

    [Mana is the energy of nature. Qi is the energy from fauna. These two contradict, I agree. But Qi does not absolutely overpower adventurers.

    Whenpared with Qi, Mana is easier to manipte and control outside the body while Qi is better inside the body and good at boosting the vitality and strength. Although the energies collide and explode more often, Mana has more integrity when outside of one''s body.

    This was one of the main reasons that your students had advancements in melee and magic proficiency by leaps and bounds.

    Defensive artefacts that use Mana are quick to deploy and defend the attacks. If one has a high coefficient in Mana affinity, the person can control the Mana in the environment and use the entire nature as his turf. Thus the Mana has a variety of defensive and offensive uses.

    But I do agree with D that quick and unexpected attacks could leave one stunned and shaken. This split-second would be enough for a high-level cultivator proficient in killing ruthlessly. The loss ofposure would decide his/her fate.]

    In the end, Hudson also admitted that the sneak attacks of the cultivators are efficient in killing adventurers. To be honest, swords and spears homing in on someone like a Heatseeker missile, at speed covering hundreds of metres in seconds could result in life-threatening damage even when defended.

    When D added that many cultivators slingshot their weapons high into the sky to use the gravity to kill the target, Hudson could only silently nod at this fact. The urate exploitation of the''s gravity would leave the cultivator unaware of the danger from above.

    ------

    ...

    ...

    "Did you all get me?"

    "Yes, professor!!"

    The tent was taken back into the spatial ring and they departed for the Ruin. With steady and slow steps, they neared the vicinity.

    For Lee Shen''s query in a soft and gentle voice came a reply in deafening voice!

    The cry in unison sounded like a battalion''s spirited rage. But in fact, it was the result of the prep speech delivered by Lee Shen.

    Without exposing the identity of the Ruin, Lee Shen had given his concise evaluation of the ominous aura that swept past them. A few among those who broke through epted his words as they too felt the hostile energy skimming past them. To those who did not sense it, they were strategically ced in the inside of the crowd.

    Those who broke through yesterday and today were given ample time to stabilise their powers. But they stabilised their powers and exined them with a short demonstration.

    Lee was aware of the peeping toms in the vicinity, so he covered them with a barrier of Light affinity. Thus what happened inside was unknown to the outsiders.

    There were 2 Water element, 4 Ice element, 3 Fire element and 3 Wind element affinities among the students. One of the boys who had a very weak Wind affinity found that his physical empowerment after tutge under Lee had grown significantly. Thus he embraced melee empowerment rather than any elemental empowerment.

    By Lee Shen''s orders, the students did not hide their weapons but held them high and disyed their might hinting that they are not pushovers. Even from a distance, the sect spies caught their sight and ran and informed their leaders.

    [Looks like they are alerted. Three small parties are being mobilised to mess with us.]

    ''Let theme.''

    Through the Map, every secret action and sneak attack strategy were disclosed to him. Thus Lee Shen was confident in tackling the barricades.

    The entrance of the Ruin was on a peculiar stone tform which was square in shape. It projected about a metre above the ground and measured 220 metres in length and breadth. There was a set of stairs for climbing onto the tform through which Lee Shen and his disciples walked near to the Ruin.

    From his left and right came two groups of four men. They were emitting intense Qi around them and they were expecting the party to suffer from this hostile aura.

    But their expectations remained as imaginations as the party stood firmly and showed no signs of distress. It was then-

    BOOM!!!

 Chapter 252: Ruin Expedition (16)

    Chapter 252: Ruin Expedition (16)

    BOOM!!!

    Before the hostility could reach the party, a deafening boom went off! The ripples were visible in the air as it traversed all around the Ruin entrance.

    The intense shockwave shook the entirend and many were thrown out of the tform by the sheer force. Many sustained injuries and cries of agony rose in the air.

    It took a few seconds for the dust to settle, and everyone saw the Ruin entrance opened wide. The central portion of the tform sunk in revealing a set of steps.

    The flight of stairs leading underground was open and there were torches lit inside the cave. The illumination made many jump in with vigour and they all disappeared into the Ruin entrance.

    An uproar followed after witnessing what had been disclosed. The parties small andrge alike forgot about their mutual hostilities and selfish objective and rushed to enter the Ruin. The Ruin entrance was like a vortex attracting the greedy cultivators to it.

    Lee witnessed the change in the air around them as all 14 of them held their ground. He saw the main expedition teams and reinforcements of the three giants madly rushing in. Until now, they intended to bring harm to Lee Shen''s party.

    "We stay put."

    Lee uttered and his voice resonated in the students'' ears. The Sound affinity was not very useful inbat but it had its uses inmunication.

    The students nodded in agreement as they covered themselves with a thinyer of Qi. The Official level students were positioned on the outside of the formation so that they can use their enhanced ability to secure themselves and others.

    Lee did not use a Mana shield against the Qi fluctuations around him as his Guard was way higher than mere ripples of energy. He waited for all the cultivators to enter the Ruin and thus stood still.

    But the students were growing restless. Seeing the cultivators running ahead into the Ruin entrance, they felt a golden chance to snatch the artefacts firsthand slipping through their fingers.

    Yet they concealed their conflicting expressions. It was because the 13 students saw Lee Shen as not as a mere professor but a great man and guardian. His tutge proved advantageous than their years of studies in the academy. When these students felt like reaching the Official Mastery a dream, he made it a reality.

    Their admiration to him skyrocketed at each instance!

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>12 Midday.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,730 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    A few seconds after the whole tform became deserted, the hourly notification appeared. Lee noticed the increase in Essence harvest and queried.

    [Four elderly Trolls have deceased. So their whole body was converted to Essence and that gave a slight increase in the harvest.]

    Lee nodded and took a step forward and turned around. He faced the students gave his final advice.

    "Students, this is it. That entrance to the underground will give your first real-lifebat experience.

    But be careful. As I said, this Ruin has an awful lot of Death energy emitting from it. Engage the monsters if you believe you can kill it. If your individual skills are not sufficient, then pair up with someone. Do not be ashamed to team up. Sometimes, pride kills.

    I will walk behind the crowd and will not actively participate inbat. But if circumstances arise, let me know and move back.

    I know I don''t need to say it like speaking to a bunch of toddlers. But I am just reminding you all since this is your first time."

    Lee Shen''s keen auditory senses picked up disturbance from afar. Turning to the brown path, numerous silhouettes could be seen in a distance. The Foresight zoomed his sight and he saw a group of people rushing towards the Ruin tform. He felt like speeding things up.

    "Quick, go inside. People are still arriving."

    Lee was slightly louder as his shout urged them all to dash to the Ruin entrance. The students disappeared into the illuminated tunnel and Lee Shen followed behind them.

    ---

    Inside the Lurnd''s tunnel.

    Lee was constantly scanning his surroundings. There was nothing much to observe as the tunnel they were walking in was like ane in a gigantic underground 20ne highway. Neen more paths were running parallel to the path they were in and they all shared the same height to the ceiling, 4 metres.

    But that was not the highlight.

    [You felt it, right?]

    Lee nodded in reply as he focused on closely following the students.

    [So this is what that really distinguishes a Lurnd from a Ruin!]

    Hudson was dumbfounded by a new piece of information. This simple info gave him a new perspective about the Lurnds. Even Lee Shen had to admit that he never expected such a surprise.

    "The Lurnds indeed is a separate sub-space."

    Lee muttered as his eyes skimmed across the nearby tunnels. The arrangement of these tunnels may seem a bit strange but it would never raise a question of a sub-space.

    [I was initially sceptic about this fact. After all, I have gone in and out of Lurnd when I was alive. But I did not detect such changes.

    Now that I am a soul, I could clearly detect spatial fluctuations at close range.]

    Lee Shen did not detect the spatial fluctuation on his own, but D amplified its effect so that Lee could feel it vividly. Once Lee felt this spatial transition, he almost exploded his aura out.

    The fact that Lurnds are separate sub-spaces is unknown to anyone in Utopia. No living being could have acquired this knowledge unless he/she receives the acknowledgement of the Will of the Dimension.

    Dnekewy came to know about this when he became the Dimension Sovereign. But he could only spend a very few months on the because he went beyond the fabric of Dimension in search of the higher power. And he was unfortunate to not havee across a single Lurnd!

    ''You also mentioned that Lurnd is known as Lurnd for something. Why did you say that?''

 Chapter 253: Ruin Expedition (17)

    Chapter 253: Ruin Expedition (17)

    ''Why did you say that?''

    D had notified them about the fact that Lurnds are all independent sub-spaces. He also conveyed that the name came from its salient feature.

    Lee creased his brows as he recollected D''s words. Hudson was also wondering what these sub-spaces had in store for them.

    [Lurnds are vast but not aesthetically attractive. But they have mysterious treasure troves hidden in them. The quantity sometimes surpasses even the Ruins which gives away an artefact or two.

    As a sub-space, the Lurnds may contain indigenous species originating from its characteristic energy. Very rarely, these spatial extensions produce and nurture their own races. But such feats are only done by Lurnds above a critical size.]

    By this time, the party of 13 students and a professor have reached the end of the 50-metre tunnel. The light that emitted from the other side of the tunnel blinded the students and they covered their eyes from the illumination. But the Foresight came up and helped him to see a vague image of vast greenery through the shine.

    When theypletely exited the tunnel, they were standing on a t surface which could be assumed to be a cave entrance on the side of an extremely tall mountain. From there, the students saw the expanse of an immeasurable forest with green colour and nothing else. Their eyes almost popped out at this unanticipated scenery.

    *swoosh*

    A noise came from the behind and Lee turned around instinctively. He saw 19 cultivators exiting the tunnel like a big hunting party. One of the cultivators who had a short stature had thrown a kunai at Lee Shen.

    The thin and visibly light-weight projectile flew at Lee and he saw it approaching like a slow-motion movie. Lee felt amused and extended his hand and caught the kunai.

    It was then a few among the students who had broken through sensed a faint voice followed by silence. They turned around and saw the party exiting the cave. Their alertness as they raised their weapons informed other students of the danger behind them. The fact that the hostility came from cultivators made their hearts beat like crazy!

    The cultivators were astounded to see someone catch their fastest projectile weapon. What made them fume with angry was the peculiar smirk of Lee''s face. They mistook his amusement for insult.

    The man with the short stature hid his expression with a threatening tone.

    "You are talented to catch my dart. You are powerful, I give you that.

    But if you want to escape in one piece, then leave those kids and run away."

    Lee saw a disgusting look on the cultivators. Not only were they eyeing on the girls but also on the chiselled physique of boys!

    Lee opened his palm and saw the kunai. He did not reply to the threat as he inspected the weapon thoroughly. As he did this, he took a step and turned to the students.

    "Students, there are two rules inbat.

    One, never drop your guard."

    A short silence enveloped them. A bachelor cicada''s chirping could be heard in the background.

    (A.N. It is to indicate the forest ambience. Nothing else.)

    "What is the second rule, professor?"

    Renji raised his voice with doubt.

    "Two, always strike first and don''t speak before you win."

    The voice was gentle yet had an unexinable sensation in it. The students felt their spirits lifted and morale boosted by these words.

    As Lee spoke, the kunai began to float in his open palm. Lee extended his hand towards the cultivators and they saw the dart dynamically rotating under his control. Then it disappeared.

    *zing*

    The cultivators barely heard the kunai flying past their necks. Before they could react, the kunai had gone several times back and forth around them. After a few seconds, one of the 19 felt something oozing from his neck. He reached to touch and feel what it was but failed.

    His head fell detached from his neck!

    That was not it. His 18 aplices followed his lead.

    Even before the students could start their expedition, they have seen a cold-blooded ughter!

    The bloodied kunai floated in front of Lee Shen. Controlled by his Mana, it was nothing more than an obedient dog. He walked towards the students with the kunai floating above one of his shoulders.

    Most of the students have frozen at this quick change of events. They were not able toprehend what the hell had happened. A second before, the cultivators threatened them. The next second, they fell dead. Two of the students had an urge to puke which they suppressed by channelling Mana.

    "This is the advantage of adventurers over cultivators. If controlled with ample focus, the Mana will enable you to control objects with mere thoughts."

    The solemn voice resounded in the students'' ears and they were dumbstruck. They had not thought of such a possibility beside empowering melee attacks. Their faces reflected a mixed expression from witnessing the ughter and a new objective to achieve.

    "Unless you work hard, this achievement will remain a dream."

    The kunai froze in the air and then turned downwards. Its sharp tip had a drop of blood umting at its tip. The drop of blood detached from the kunai''s tip and ran at the ground.

    But the floating projectile dyed in red did not let the dropletplete its journey. It dashed downward like the descend of a Thunderbird and shattered the droplet to numerous micro-droplets!

    The students saw this and their admiration for their professor only increased. In their hearts, Lee Shen had be an unparalleled existence.

    Their sparkling gazes felt strange to Lee, so he urged them to move from the spot. He also warned that if they did not move fast enough, others could find their trail before disappearing into the forest and revenge might be executed.

    The t ground where they stood had a set of uneven stairs leading down into the forest. When they further examined, they saw multiple sets of stairs that led to different ces and locations. As the eldest students and Lee Shen''s first disciple, Gillian took leadership.

 Chapter 254: Ruin Expedition (18)

    Chapter 254: Ruin Expedition (18)

    Quickly selecting a path, Gillian led the students. Lee Shen followed the students as they moved forward like a bunch of ants. Even though they were descending the stairs, he saw the students disying an extraordinary sense of attention to their surroundings.

    [But how did you control that Kunai?]

    Hudson was waiting to ask this question.

    ''Look at my Mana reserve.''

    Now the reason was clear to Hudson. Lee Shen''s Mana reserve which was supposed to be 48,019,991 was now reduced to 48,019,250. The stunt whichsted for only a second demanded 741 Mana.

    [Still, how did you->

    ''The Kunai was the kite and the Mana was the thread.''

    Lee cut off Hudson as he indirectly gave his answer. After conversing enough with Hudson, Lee was sure that he could understand the meaning of his words.

    Hudson could not help but apud the sense of control Lee had disyed while precisely slicing the cultivators'' heads. The repeated push and pull sequence which resulted in the shape of arge circle was efficient in saving the time by some milliseconds.

    The Kunai was not a weapon fit for cutting. Thus to chop with it was equivalent to slice meat with a partially worn knife. But Mana showed its efficiency in this feat.

    Hudson sighed as he felt sympathy for those poor souls. Though the quickness was beyond expectations, the sensation of their neck being torn by a kunai was indescribably painful. Hudson was sure that those 19 fellows have gone through excruciating pain before falling dead.

    The surroundings began to thicken with trees and nts. Gillian found that the stone blocks have disappeared inside the bushes and are on their own. But the fact that he brought this on him made him walk with confidence.

    Fortunately, the group entered a rtively less suffocating area inside the forest. There were no trees in the immediate vicinity and the clear blue sky could be seen.

    ''Map.''

    Lee summoned the Map but his facial expression changed grim.

    "D, what is this nk screen?"

    He unconsciously mumbled at the sight of a nk screen when he summoned the Map. His voice was very low and it dissolved to the surroundings before the students could hear it.

    [The Map function is originally calibrated to show the Utopia. The System does not have any information regarding this unnamed sub-space. A scan is currently undergoing to locate the boundaries and measurements of this Lurnd and also to map out the territories.]

    Lee heard the exnation and felt relieved. At least he had a way to prepare a map of this sub-space.

    But he could not rx and be at ease as the scan may take hours. D also gave out a possibility that it could take days to chart out the sub-spacepletely if it turns outrger than expected.

    The party ventured further and found that they havepletely lost trail of the path. They could only look around themselves in confusion. Gillian who led the team was receiving piercing stares of hispanions.

    "Students, give a concise report."

    Lee walked from the rear of the party and stood at the centre. His words attracted the attention of the students.

    "The Ruin is a forest type."

    "We have not encountered any kind of monsters. So either we are in the safe zone or there are no monsters in this Ruin."

    "I think we are in a safe zone. All Ruins will have monsters."

    "Death energy has thinned significantly."

    ....

    ..

    The students gave their honest review of what they had observed and felt. All 13 of them spoke in a low voice to not give themselves away to any potential predators.

    Lee rubbed his chin as hepiled these pieces of information to a sensible fact. He can tell that their observation skills are exceptional and they are onlycking inbat.

    After pulling out his bow, Lee activated Flight and floated upward. After he broke through the dense vegetation, he could see the aquamarine sky with no clouds. Turning around, the vastness of the forest was not a joke.

    Within a few seconds of observation, Lee Shen spotted an empty grasnd in a distance. He keenly observed that particr portion and saw that a few beasts were roaming.

    An idea came up in his mind and he quickly descended.

    The students were all dumbfounded by Lee Shen flying with ease. They could not think about anything else but his urate control of Mana. Lee''s previous words resonated in their ears and they felt apelling urge to control their Mana as fast as they could.

    "There is a grasnd not too far away. There are also a few beasts roaming so prepare forbat."

    Lee pointed in the direction of the grasnd and the students gripped tight their weapons. Their hearts picked up the pace and pumped adrenaline into their bloodstreams.

    Without a dy, the students walked in the direction. Their alertness was over the roof and the forest had an eerie vibe.

    ----

    Periodically, the bushes around them would rustle and alert their souls. The absence of a visible path made them walk on any avable direction. Sometimes fear would ovee them they would slow down beyond expectation.

    Lee Shen did notment on any of these changes as he silently witnessed the students. When students nced at him for help, he would shake his head in disagreement.

    "I am here for observing. After all, you are my students.

    But that does not mean that I would spoon-feed you till the end. I need to know what I am really nurturing.

    So get your ass off and move forth!"

    The in and audible was serious as usual. But hisst sentence gave off a sensation of anger. The students felt this fluctuation and stepped forward. Though they walked steadily, their heads were filled with their disy of ipetence.

    Not long after, Lee could feel a faint sense of energy originating from them. Lee Shen''s words had made them aware of theirck of real-world experience.

    As the students tightened their grip over their weapons, a new resolve had born in them.

 Chapter 255: Ruin Expedition (19)

    Chapter 255: Ruin Expedition (19)

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>1 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,500 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Total Essence: 368,606,191</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee Shen walked on as he took a nce of the appeared screen. He flicked his finger and the screen vanished. After a second, he asked D-

    ''Is my de still at Lower Force grade?''

    [Yes. Are you thinking of upgrading?]

    ''To the pinnacle.''

    D did not raise his voice against Lee''s decision. After all, such an act would only make the weapon exponentially stronger and suitable for D to release a great amount of his concealed aura.

    [Done. ck is at Higher Deity level. Now it is capable of slicing the continent of Intellus in half by a single swing.]

    ''Do the same for my bow too.''

    A metallic glow came from the bow''s surface and Lee quickly ced it in the System Storage. Fortunately, the students did not detect the illumination from behind. Lee reacted very swiftly before the glow could reach its peak.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>368,278,191 Essence remaining.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    A couple of seconds after the notification appeared, Lee sensed the presence of monsters in the vicinity.

    [Hudson, do me a favour and prepare 39 Low-grade Healing Potions.]

    The next instant, 351 Essence disappeared from the reserve. Simultaneously, the Storage registered the addition of thirty-nine Low-grade Healing Potions.

    What happened was within Lee Shen''s expectations. He became aware of the reason why there were no visual of the monsters lurking in the bushes as he nced above.

    ''They were on the trees.''

    Therger version of Purple Weavers clung onto the tall tree trunks while observing their prey walking below on the ground. Their intricatework of webs running through the bushes caught Lee''s sight and he unconsciously appreciated these gigantic beasts'' intellect.

    The situation was under Purple Weavers'' control. Their constant control over the webs running among the bush made periodic rustling and the students focused below their eye level. Never would they expect such an intelligent threat from above.

    "Look above and prepare forbat."

    Upon hearing Lee''s words, the students raised their gazes. A shiver going down their spine was awaiting them as they witnessed the surrounding Purple Weavers. A few lost their strength, while everyone else struggled to regain theirposure.

    The cunning arachnids saw the oing stares and quickly targetted Lee. The Purple Weavers were sure that it was Lee who informed them. Thus they decided to eliminate him first.

    *whoosh*

    The toxic web shot out towards Lee, who effortlessly evaded the threads. He effectively moved out of these webs'' trajectories and the Purple Weavers were surprised to see this.

    While the arachnids were absorbed in taking down Lee, the students have mustered their courage and spirit. They began to throw lethal dosage of attacks at these spiders.

    Within a few seconds, the total spider poption was cut in half. The Purple Weavers might be big and toxic but have never encountered elemental attributed attacks.

    The sh from fiery swords and stabs from icy spears did not miss their mark. The hammer and bow and arrows spew chaos among the trees. The creativity boosted by the delicacy of Mana gave birth to multiple elemental projectiles like Fire Bullet, Ice Spear and Wind Disc.

    As the students performed an overkill against Purple Weavers, Lee was watching the ughter from the sidelines. He witnessed the arrogant and hungry arachnids growing frightful and retreating.

    ----

    Thebat disturbed the tranquillity of the forest. The fire continued to burn down trees and the ice attribute froze uncontrobly. Water Waves almost created a deluge where they were and the Stone Shots left numerous trees like sieves.

    The disy of elements was chaotic. As soon as the Purple Weavers were annihted, Lee said that it is better to move away from the spot as many higher beasts maye looking for the unrest caused by them. The students heeded his opinion and quickly dashed to the grasnd.

    Five minutester, the destroyed forest area was visited by some cultivators. Through the smoke rising from the burnt ground, their figures were vaguely visible.

    "The presence of Mana. It is the students of the academy."

    "They were absent in Ruin expeditions. Why now?"

    "They have a new professor and he is our target."

    The next instant, the shadows vanished without a trail. A st of wind followed the sudden eleration and blew the dust and smoke away.

    ---

    By now, Lee and his students had already reached the grasnd. The students breathed heavily as they ran with all their might.

    Lee was the reason for this. When they departed from the battleground, Lee began to softly shout that there are cultivators near to where they are. This made the students channel all of their strength to their legs and dash away. Their agile movements did not stop until they reached and copsed on the grasnd.

    The umted fatigue of Mana usage and continuous running made them burdened with weariness. With no strength left to move, the 13 students sought asylum on the in grasnd.

    "What did you learn from this?"

    Lee was not tired. He was rxed after a continuous dash through the forest.

    Students heard the voice but did not reply right away.

    "Be...aware...of the...surroundings..."

    "Conserve...energy..."

    "..."

    ...

    Lee Shen waited till all of them had spoken up. Then he nodded as he raised his voice-

    "You have proven that I did not waste my time."

    Lee flipped his palms as he walked to the students.

    "This is a Low-grade Healing Potion. It can heal minor wounds. I am giving one potion for each. How and when you consume them are up to you.

    And I don''t have any more of these potions."

    Lee distributed the potion among the students and they quickly slid it into the inner pocket of their robes. The concealed pocket in the inside was perfect for cing a potion bottle or two. The pocket was sewn in a way that assured stability of the object.

    *rustle*

    When the students were stabilising their breath, a breeze blew and brushed against the faces of the students. Many felt rxed but a few among them had sensed an unusual coldness hiding in the wind.

 Chapter 256: Ruin Expedition (20)

    Chapter 256: Ruin Expedition (20)

    "Stand up fellows. We havepany."

    Exel spoke in a soft voice and the students who heard him creased their brows. Before they could avoid it as a prank, they saw him gripping on their double-edged axe.

    The atmosphere became tense as the students followed his lead. Though there was nothing other than grass in their vicinity, the sensation of an approaching danger could not be dismissed by their hearts.

    "Professor?"

    Zona asked as she gripped her magic staff. Her voice had concern and fear regarding the situation.

    "The fact that you could not see these beasts were within my expectations.

    After all, ss Scorpions are masters of disguise."

    Lee had a tone unfitting of the situation. All of the students saw a faint smile on his face.

    ''Professor has no problem dealing with these beasts. But we have.''

    This was exactly the thought of each one of the thirteen students. They were aware of the level of control the professor possessed. They were sure that beasts like ss Scorpions would never pose a threat to him.

    "ss Scorpions. The D.I.V is 3.8. As the name goes, they have ss exteriors capable of changing colours. Keep your eyes open."

    (A.N. D.I.V stands for Danger Index Value. An approximate scale of measuring the level of threat a monster posses. Both adventurers and cultivators use this scale.)

    Lee Shen spoke and gave the students some basic info about the beast. The mentioning of D.I.V made the students go vignt. The additional information about the beast''s camouge ability made them grit their teeth in anger.

    The height of the grass ranged to a maximum of 4 inches. Unfortunately, it was more than enough to hide the presence of the tiny, 3-inches tall ss Scorpion babies!

    "Fire Sweep!!"

    A feminine voice shouted out loud as a girl detected the presence of these tiny predators. A fiery arc materialised in front of her and swept away from her. The grass near her began to burn and gave off an unexpected sound.

    *crackle*

    The scorching fire was not a concern to adult ss Scorpions, but babies had to escape this threat. Unfortunately, the fire swept past them quickly and fried them all. Their feeble exoskeletons could not withstand the heat.

    Hearing this sound, the remaining student began to use their elements to create a barricade around them. Water, Ice and Earth disrupted the oing tiny predators and the Wind blew powerfully and either blew them away or made them immobile.

    [They are getting the hang ofbat.]

    Lee was sitting on a branch of a tree at the edge of the grasnd. He sat as his legs swung to and fro carelessly. Not that he was careless, but he knew that there are no threats in the area.

    But the fact that the offsprings of ss Scorpions came in waves of thousands surprised him. After close inspection, Lee spotted small burrows on the ground hiding between the dense grasses. These pathways acted as the entrance to these kids.

    Before long, the texture of the terrain had changed. The rampaging elements greatly inspired fear in the hearts of the arachnid babies and they retreated to their underground homes. Theck of any green leaves to hide also urged their retreat.

    Lee got down from the tree and walked to the students. This time they were not exhausted as they were before. This indicated that they had much better control over their Mana. yet, the damage done was not small!

    "I''m-"

    Before Lee couldplete his words, the ground beneath them began to shake. Lee felt the intensifying tremor and notified the students to move away from the spot.

    Hearing hismand, the students fled the area and tailed Lee. They ran to the edge of grasnd and crouched down to observe what the reason was.

    *CRACK!*

    A loud crack could be heard as the ground was split. Arge amount of soil was raised like a barricade and an enormous stinger could be seen above them. Even from a distance, they stinger looked enormous!

    [That is a giant ss Scorpion. Larger than an adult arachnid. Probably the leader of the colony.]

    ''Scorpions have colonies?''

    [This species of scorpions are highly social. They overpowerrge preys in numbers.]

    Lee quietly took a step back and gestured the students to do so. The students did not make any noise as they slowly retreated to the trees.

    Climbing the trees, all the 13 students could see the size of the giant ss Scorpion. The prefix ''giant'' was not for nothing. The sheer size that could rival a Giant was intimidating.

    Students could not help but gulp down their saliva. If they had stayed at the same spot, they would have died in the most terrible way possible.

    Following the chief of the colony, many adult-sized arachnids exited the cave. They began to spread out to find the murderers of their offsprings.

    [Somebody is here.]

    D notified that some people other than them are here. As Lee Shen observed, about 7 cultivators exited the opposite side of the grasnd and came running at the bunch of scorpions.

    These cultivators had heard themotion the students of the academy had made. They came here in expectation of catching them. Instead, they saw a solo giant ss Scorpions. Unfortunately, their carelessness did not detect the presence of adult arachnids.

    Screech!

    The chief ss Scorpion made a menacing screech and the adults followed his lead. The chorus stunned the bunch as they tried to retreat to the trees.

    But they werete!

    The ss Scorpions were excellent hunters. The had mastered the art of jumping on their prey from a short-range.

    ----

    The war was over within a few minutes. The cultivators who ran straight into the mouth of these ruthless beasts died in agony and excruciating pain.

    The students saw how the events turned out to be a lopsided ughter. Clearly, the cultivators were stronger. They were powerful enough to break the exoskeletons of these reptiles.

    But....!

 Chapter 257: Ruin Expedition (21)

    Chapter 257: Ruin Expedition (21)

    They lost theirposure. They, for a second, thought about the retreat and that decision loosened their footing over victory.

    The students from afar saw this blood-curdling scene and were pale. They did not blink and their bodies were frozen. The sight of seven cultivators torn like a piece of paper made their spirits to fly away.

    After the scorpions returned to theirir, a silence befell on the grasnd. No cicada chirped and no one moved. A breeze that came from the grasnds carried the stench of blood with it.

    Lee saw the expressions on the faces of these students and his mind was at rest. He can hear their minds contemting on what they saw and experienced. The view of humans getting their limbs torn alive was never a pleasant sight to behold.

    "Strengthen your mind. Learn from your experiences. Observe and adapt your enemies."

    Lee Shen''s voice resonated in their ears. The students did not utter a word in return as they digested the reality.

    ---

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>2 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,100 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee Shen walked in front of the crowd and the students followed him behind. Their steps and actions were much gentle than before. Their senses were keen and resolute.

    Witnessing the ughter shook them to their core. Some took this opportunity to stabilise their courage and resolve while many took it as a lesson of from the wild.

    D was continuously briefing Lee and Hudson about the peculiarities of Lurnds. The more D spoke, the more clearer the picture both had about Lurnds.

    [The path we came in is a one-way tunnel. It has barriers on either side of the cave to restrict anyone from going back to the outside.]

    [There must be an exit.]

    [There is. The exit of the Lurnds lies somewhere within the sub-space. It could only be found by exploring through thend.

    The exit of Lurnds are portals in the shape of arge stone door. Once anyone who entered the Lurnd touches it, it is automatically activated and the person is teleported back to the stone tform. The very moment, it will send a pulsating beam to the sky. That beacon tells the location of the portal to everyone else in the sub-space.]

    [That was unexpectedly quick and simple.]

    [Nope. Once the portal is open, the sub-space will release its true energy nature. Which means this Lurnd will turn to thend of the dead the moment the beacon is shot!]

    ''As expected, the energy is reserved from the showdown.''

    [That is not it. Each beacon shot upward will give rise to advanced and stronger units of the energy. So expect Skeletons, Zombies and many more!

    But, the frequency of the beacon is unique to each Lurnd. The interval between two beacons could be as long as a decade or shorter than a second.]

    [So the first to reach the portal escapes safely.]

    [Yes.]

    [What about the treasures?]

    [No idea. The serendipity hiding in the Lurnds are beyond prediction. It could be a Deity grade weapon or an overpoweredbat skill.

    But once the beacon is shot, everybody would know where the treasure is. Because a vast number of beasts and monsters would be guarding the ce.

    But the interesting fact is, once every outsider in the Lurnd exits, the stone tform will be a spawning point. The monsters will flow out of it for a very long time. Humans usually call it a Monster Wave.]

    Hearing this information made Lee Shen recollect of the Monster Wave he encountered when in the city of Lorin. He could find simrities between the two, but there were some differences too.

    The Monster Wave he fought against had Werewolves and Liches on the same side.

    ''D, the Mons-''

    [I do have reasons to believe it was also a Monster Wave. Some idiot might have wandered into a newly popped up Lurnd in hope of obtaining a legacy.]

    Lee Shen sunk in thoughts. His mind began to rapidly move at the speed of light and many facts and figures began to make sense.

    After letting out an inward sigh, Lee asked-

    ''What about the origin of these sub-spaces?''

    Dnekewy was silent as he could not find an appropriate answer right away.

    [Ummm... The Lurnds has been existing since the birth of Zaxaluke. So it is part of the dimension. It is possible to use Space Law Fragment to the existence of these sub-spaces.]

    As Lee kept his pace, he could detect the presence of cultivators approaching them. The well-camouged aura of Immortal ss cultivators was simply too dense to not avoid. Slowing down his pace as they walked through the midst of the jungle, the students noticed the iing individuals.

    "People are approaching. Prepare to fight."

    The students have already attained their stance when Lee Shen spoke softly. Though he knew of this, he had to say it as it is his duty as a professor.

    Shortly after, a bunch of cultivators rounded them. The auras of Immortal Masters and Immortal Grandmaster along with two Monarch Immortals and an Emperor Immortal cultivator were dense and shouted out hostility.

    The thirteen students promptly enveloped themselves in Mana and their weapons reverberated instantly. Zona''s spear was giving off a feeble hum as her grip tightened.

    "Good. You are smart.

    Since you know that we are more powerful, it is better to surrender. Or we will have to chop the limbs of your students."

    The cultivation aura of the Emperor Immortal cultivator burst out and rushed at Lee Shen and the students. The aura violently collided with the students'' Mana and a few among them coughed blood. If not for the Mana, the Qi would have destroyed their internal organs.

    Lee Shen heard faint moans of agony from behind and he sped his hands behind his back. The next instant, the students were covered with an intensely thick veil of Mana. It was so dense that the Qi was pushed away and back to the cultivator.

    "Hmmm..... You seem to have talent in Mana! But it''s a pity that you are about to die."

 Chapter 258: Ruin Expedition (22)

    Chapter 258: Ruin Expedition (22)

    *zwing*

    The sound of projectiles piercing the air at high speed resonated in Lee Shen''s ears, and he twirled his body on his left foot. As he wlessly executed a 360, he could see daggers attached to the chains which were coated with poison.

    The daggers floated towards him and Lee caught the chains as soon as they came in his range. His Mana spread over the metal chains and the result was unexpected!

    BOOM!!

    With a loud explosion, where Lee Shen stood had be a shallow pit. The scorch marks on the ground and the effect of the resultant shockwave that sted away the trees were impossible to go unnoticed. The cloud of smoke and dust settled and revealed these details to the spectators.

    The Mana shield covering the students had disappeared after it courageously resisted the st force. The dissipating envelope spread a smile on the face of cultivators as they effortlessly eliminated their target, or they thought so.

    But the happy moments were stained by a voice.

    "Hey, is that how you greet a stranger? Didn''t your parents teach you manners?!"

    The voice almost equivalent to a concerned middle-aged man filled the air. Within seconds, the cultivators and students of the academy spotted a familiar figure sitting on the branch of a tree.

    Lee Shen received their burning res and admiring stares. But he did not bother to look at them as he dusted his robe and his sleeves. He then looked at the cultivator and spoke-

    "No need to apologize. I pardon you."

    An innocent smile crept up his face and the cultivators pulled out their weapons, the sound of swords unsheathed and spears slicing the air could be heard as the background.

    A cultivator rushed at Lee Shen who was sitting on the tree branch and shed at him. Lee jumped down from the tree while pulling down the pants of the cultivator in the process. The scene made the students chuckle and they received became the focus of the hostility.

    "Before you kill me, I have something to say."

    Lee raised his left arm''s index finger in front of his shoulder and sounded his opinion.

    "What do you want to say, filthy ass-venturer!!"

    One of the Monarch Immortal realm cultivators roared with rage. The Elf had pulled out his sword and was ready to chop the party of 14 to 28.

    [Sarcasm.]

    [Figures.]

    "Before you kill me, you have to defeat my students. Only then you should touch me."

    Hearing this, the fuming cultivators cooled down. They almostughed out loud as one among them, a dwarf, spoke-

    "Them? You want us to fight these kids?!"

    The Dwarf''s hammer was pointing at the crowd of students. The mockery was evident in his words and face. Not only him, but his 11 aplices also were eitherughing at the students or belittling Lee Shen.

    "If you want to say something, just say it and die. Don''t spout bullshit and dy your death!"

    This time, it was a Goblin who shouted out. The five-foot-long spear in his hand was as tall as the Goblin himself.

    "But I am not speaking nonsense."

    Lee Shen spoke with a clueless and innocent voice as if he is stating the truth. This made the cultivators take a halt of theirughter and nce at the kids.

    "What the heck?"

    The Elf who shouted at Lee before could not hold himself back as he muttered. Hispanions also had the same expression. The Emperor Immortal realm cultivator''s face became stern.

    In front of their eyes was the air fluctuating around and above the students. It felt like very faint spatial fluctuations. The cultivators failed to notice this change in front of them. As a result, their hearts unconsciously became to pick up the pace.

    Swords and spears were pointed at the 13 students as the cultivators felt an imminent hostility from them.

    And their arrogancepletely neglected the possibility of an uprising from the oppressed!

    "Kids, you say?"

    Gillian was not well-versed in masking his hostility to the cultivators as his anger exploded. A wave of Mana swept past the opposing party and they felt a scorching sensation.

    Like how Qi could corrupt and suffer an adventurer, the Mana was also able to scorch and burn the cultivators!

    The cultivators in Immortal ss felt as if they are up against a bunch of ruthless serial killers. Because that was what the air around them conveyed.

    "Rip them apart!"

    Felrian''s words were soft but had an immense resentment to the cultivators. His soul rejoiced as his hindlimbs pushed the ground beneath his feet!

    *ng*

    *thud*

    Like a vibrant disy of the basic elements, the cultivators could only stare at the oing adventurers. Theyposed themselves at the nick of the time and confronted the attacks.

    The man with a 7th stage Emperor Immortal realm cultivation was stunned by seeing the oing wave of Ice Needles. He evaded most and resisted the rest. Yet, he was wounded.

    ''These are students?''

    Actually, yes. There was nothing wrong with these 13 fellows. It''s just that the rage boosted their power and enhancements while theughter and mockery dulled the cultivators'' reaction.

    This was the thought of every one of those cultivators. The violent gales and sharp flying stones made half of them move to defence while the scorching fire and freezing ice alerted many to evade. The cultivators even felt hostility from the water element!

    It took the hunting party a few seconds to collect and correct their minds. After all, those against them were kids.

    Or were they?

    Qi erupted from the cultivators and they charged at the students of qvier academy. The swords were covered in Qi with elemental enhancement. The speartips were condensing Qi at a visible rate.

    The immense Qi reserve in the body of the cultivators has boosted their actions. Their agility was overwhelming, yet the students had visible assistance from the elements.

    12 cultivators in Immortal ss versus 13 students among which five are in Official Mana Mastery. Who would win?

 Chapter 259: Ruin Expedition (23)

    Chapter 259: Ruin Expedition (23)

    [Who would win?]

    [Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages. So, it is difficult to say.]

    Lee Shen was leaning onto a tree as he spectated the fight between his students and the cultivators. His face was in and his observed every detail of the battleground. But his mind was happy with the result.

    ''My students are exploiting the property of Mana. The elements assist them. Most importantly, their resentment to cultivators is boosting their abilities.''

    But he could see that the students are not equally powerful with the cultivators. Their Mana usage was slowly pulling them down with fatigue. Lee could detect the change and pulled out his sword as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

    "Divine Phoenix Sweep!"

    An Elf shouted out and his sword was engulfed in fire. He sliced the air horizontally and an arc of fire flew out of the de.

    The Ice Wall was promptly raised but it could not quench the heatpletely. The Ice was visibly evaporating as the fire tried to reach the students.

    The cultivators began to use their martial techniques and the bnce was tiled. The students of the academy felt pressure on them as they were slowly being cornered.

    But the fight was finished. The Mana collided with Qi and violent reactions shook the terrain. The students and cultivators alike felt a loss of stability.

    "This is not good."

    Val muttered to herself as she tightened her grip. Her hand was getting numb from all the collisions. To increase the difficulty, her hammer was receiving heavy blows from the Dwarf cultivator.

    -----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>3 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,990 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The students were slowly being forced to go on defence as the Qi rampaged around them. Unlike Mana, the usage of Qi took rtively less energy. The reason was the characteristic nature of the energies.

    *pant*

    The students were panting with the umted fatigue. On the other side, the cultivators had only shed a drop of sweat or two.

    Mana imbued spears and swords were showing reluctance to resist the oing strikes. Not that they were alive, but the students were having a tough time oveing the sluggishness.

    The one and only Orc among the cultivator thrust his bastard sword to the ground and began tough. He pointed at the students as his mocking smile was targetting Lee.

    "These are your precious students, right?! They are just a bunch of losers with no skill!"

    Lee Shen did not retort to hisment and nced back at him. Then he slowly walked to the students crowded at the centre.

    "You have fought well.

    Now go, rest and contemte."

    Lee Shen pointed at the tree where he was standing. The students reluctantly walked away from the focus of the cultivators as they evaluated themselves as a burden. Their heads were down with defeat.

    "Now that you have defeated my students, you can kill me."

    Lee had a funny smile on his face as he said these words. The expression was undefinable as the cultivators felt it as if he was belittling them.

    "Die!"

    The Goblin cultivator dashed at Lee as he pulled out two daggers from the holster. The attack was from behind and the Goblin was confident in his nimbleness. As the cultivator neared him, his excitement skyrocketed as he saw Lee Shen slow when reacting.

    But the remaining cultivators sensed danger. They rushed to save theirpanion but they were slow.

    The sword in Lee Shen''s hand hade out of its sheath and shed backwards. It drew a beautiful semi-circle as the right hand''s swing with immense momentum generated a bright light from it.

    ''Danger!''

    One word resonated inside the Goblin''s mind as he saw the iing attack. He had also approached Lee with all his strength and a retreat was impossible. Thus he raised his daggers to block the bright light.

    *ng*

    The sound of the daggers breaking in an attempt to stop the sh was audible. The light swept past the Goblin who was utterly aghast.

    "..."

    Total silence.

    The Goblin stood frozen like a statue and those around him were dumbfounded. They could not find why the fellow cultivator is not moving.

    Puchik!!

    Arge horizontal cut appeared across the Goblin''s stomach and blood flowed like a fountain. The figure of Goblin slowly leaned forward and fell lifelessly. His eyes still held the shock.

    "I said, you can kill me."

    The menacing pair of eyes skimmed across the faces of cultivators. The intimidating pair of eyes gave them a feeling of confronting an indomitable beast.

    "Punishment Fog Formation!"

    One of the cultivation screamed out while nting a g on the ground. His unexpected noise pulled the cultivators back from the fear state.

    Swiftly, another 9 cultivators pulled out a g from their spatial ring. As Lee Shen observed, they began to run around him and ced the gs in their hands at appropriate positions.

    Seeing this, an uneasiness sprouted in Lee''s heart.

    [Shit! This is a g Formation!]

    Lee pinpointed the source of the uneasiness. He almost failed to feel the hostility hidden in the gs.

    The modtion in D''s voice alerted Lee. For the Dimension Sovereign to be afraid, he wondered what these gs are.

    ''What are those?''

    The reply did not have the usual calmness. Instead, Lee Shen sensed Dnekewy''s soul trembling in fear.

    [No time to exin! ESCAPE!!]

    The sourness of the situation was evident in those words. Lee quickly dashed to the students, but he was already trapped in the formation!

    ''Where are we?''

    In front of his eyes were endless fog. The dense clouds with shades of grey colour obstructed his sight.

    [Bloody hell! We have been trapped!]

    D began to murmur something in a trembling tone. Lee couldn''t help but frown and ask-

    ''D, speak to me. What is g Formation?''

    The murmuring went silent and Dnekewy gave a reply in a hurry.

    [g Formations may not be the ultimate offence but it can sessfully trap people until the provided Qi is extinguished.

    And this one is a punishment type.

 Chapter 260: Ruin Expedition (24)

    Chapter 260: Ruin Expedition (24)

    [If we don''t break out of this g Formation quickly, the students will be in great danger.

    Especially the girls.]

    The seriousness with which the voice resonated in his ears was enough to convey the deadliness of the situation. Lee quickly unsheathed the sword and shed in all directions.

    Hudson was uncertain of the situation but he decided to share his knowledge regarding the formation. He was feeling a faint yet undescribable familiarity with the name of the formation.

    [The Punishment Fog g Formation, eh?

    This is a passive punishment formation. It means the g Formation is not to actively attack but to restrict your movements so that the cultivators can take their sweet time shaving down your strength and health.]

    Lee Shen was surprised to hear urate details regarding the g Formation from the least expected source.

    Hudson continued to recollect his memories.

    [The formation has 8 gs in total. After all the gs are ced appropriately, the formation is activated by channelling Qi into the gs.

    The formation simultaneously traps the victim inside while creating a barrier that masks the reality from the eyes of the outsiders. None would be able to see through the cover.

    For the formation to release its maximum potential, all 8 cultivators must channel their Qi without any hindrance. Meanwhile, the rest of the cultivators can easily enter and strike down the dumbfounded opponent.]

    Hudson continued to exin the formation and Lee Shen was surprised to know that Hudson had previously experienced this type of formation.

    [Try to figure out where the cultivators are standing around you. Then you can disrupt their positions and weaken the integrity of the trap.]

    ''Okay.''

    Lee closed his eyes and spread his senses around him. He was unable to spread his senses beyond a particr range. Hudson said that it is either the barrier''s effect to iste him or it might be the edge of the formation.

    *swish*

    A faint breeze flew past Lee Shen''s neck. Whatever that went past his neck could not chop his neck but gave him pain. Lee quickly passed the sword to the other hand and rubbed the neck.

    "What?"

    The cultivator who zoomed past Lee was surprised. The shock was evident on his face as he nced at his sword. The Lower Bronze grade weapon failed to sever Lee Shen''s neck and only gave off an abrasive effect.

    "Keep the formation intact, kill this bastard and im the prize."

    The voice of a Monarch Immortal realm cultivator filled the air as he nced at the students. The 13 fellows who had almost regained their breath and Mana was ready for another confrontation.

    "Attack!"

    When Renji cried out, the students leapt forward with vigour. Their weapons became enriched with elemental powers and send waves of heat, cold and gales.

    The elemental attribution of Mana was more efficient than element imbued Qi due to the peculiar property. Thus the students were able to fend off the attacks of the cultivators who were powerful than them.

    When Lee Shen concentrated, he could feel many humanoid silhouettes moving around him. An enormous amount of Mana was flowing out of his body and it overshadowed the Qi in quantity and quality.

    When the fog came in contact with the dense Mana, repulsion was seen and crackling was heard.

    ''So this fog is a Qi construct.''

    It did not take Lee Shen long to discover the nature of the fog and his reserve flooded the inside of the barrier. The pressure from the inside was evident in the faces of the cultivators as they had to defend the attacks of the students. Though the Mana enhanced attacks were not top-notch, they were able to disrupt the mental stability of the cultivators.

    BOOM!

    The threshold was broken and an avnche of Mana outpoured. It engulfed the cultivators who were tired and almost at the verge of burning their blood.

    The explosion when the barrier broke threw the cultivators and the students away. The density of Mana resembled a deluge and the cultivators began to cough up blood and showed signs of suffocation.

    But, this was a blessing for the students. They began to madly absorb the Mana around them and their mastery began to flourish. They quickly ced their weapons on the ground and sat down to absorb them efficiently.

    Lee Shen foresaw this and made the cloud of Mana stagnate. He gave the control to Hudson and asked him not to let the Mana disperse.

    "Who....are...you?!"

    Emperor Immortal cultivator''s voice could be heard with a tinge of agony. The words could not veil the pressure he was going through and the moanings of pain he let out.

    A few secondster, all the cultivators fell silent. Two of them had taken some medicine which was supposed to hinder the pration of Mana. But the medicine counteracted as the concentration of Mana was extremely high.

    Thus two cultivators lost their lives.

    Some cultivators used defensive runes and talismans but failed in executing the process. The Mana enveloping them had nullified the activation of these trinkets.

    [Three students broke through.]

    It was then Lee Shen detected the thinning of Mana around him. He turned around and scanned the faces of his students and saw those who recently broke through.

    ''They are stabilising.''

    As the density of Mana was still evident, Lee Shen did not bother the students and walked to the cultivators.

    [Affiliated with the Cultivator''s Guild?]

    Lee Shen got a badge when he searched the bodies of the unconscious cultivators. Three among the cultivators had the badge safely ced inside their robes.

    ''Looks like we have to visit the Cultivator''s Guild.''

    Lee nodded and quickly tied the cultivators with Mana imbued rope he made in the Workshop. It was set to release scorching Mana when the cultivators try to escape or break out.

    Before trying their legs and hands, Lee made sure to check every inch of their bodies. Though of different races, they were all males.

    [These spatial rings look expensive.]

 Chapter 261: Ruin Expedition (25)

    Chapter 261: Ruin Expedition (25)

    In Lee Shen''s right palm was 6 spatial rings. They had different colour and texture but the same purpose. Some of them were at Silver and Bronze grade while one was of Gold grade.

    As he was inspecting them, Hudson cried out-

    [Take a look at the inside of these rings!!]

    The excitement was evident in Hudson''s voice as unrest was expressed through his tone. Lee was interested as to what was inside these rings that peaked Hudson''s enthusiasm.

    To take a peek inside a spatial ring was no big task. All you needed was concentration.

    And when Lee Shen took a nce of the spatial rings, his heart was joyful and confused simultaneously.

    ''So many resources and thing. But, why does it matter? These are all belongings of cultivators.''

    Lee could hear a faint murmur as he said. It was D''s voice telling Hudson about Lee Shen''sck of knowledge about herbs and medicines.

    [The vast amount of yellowish-green grass that could see inside these spatial rings are called Refinement Grass.]

    Lee Shen frowned and opened his eyes as he heard the unusual name.

    [These grass are known to be the main ingredients of Body Refinement potions and pills.

    Be a cultivator or adventurer, it is necessary to forge the physical body. No matter what your elemental inclination is, the sturdiness of the body and strength it can provide can turn the tide of battles.

    And these grass have untapped energy in it which could be converted to Qi or Mana through alchemy.]

    Lee was surprised to hear this valuable piece of information. He sharpened his ears as his eyes scurried around him for reconnaissance.

    ''So these grass have Essence in it, right?''

    [Yes. If you need Essence, you can dump all these grasses in the EsGen and produce an enormous amount of Essence for a while.]

    ''No thanks.''

    Then he turned around and looked at the students.

    ''Is the Refinement Grass edible?''

    [It has an unbearable sourness. Even your stomach may turn inside out from the effect.]

    [But we can refine these grass in the Workshop to produce prime quality potions and pills.]

    Lee quickly stored the spatial rings in the System Storage. After that, he asked Hudson and D to sort out the objects in those rings and give him a report.

    The density of the Mana had thinned significantly. Only a lingering aura of Mana could be felt from the surroundings.

    But the students have exhibited an unusual progression.

    The repeated fight with the cultivators had opened every pore of their body. Sweat and dirt were exiting through their skin as they felt new and profound energy filling their insides.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>4 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,900 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    [Two more left.]

    When D spoke, Lee Shen was sitting on the ground with the students around him. They were sharing their experiences when the fought and meditate and frequently raised questions to Lee.

    And Hudson helped him to answer the question and quench their doubts. Without his help, Lee would have made a fool of himself!

    Except for two students, all the remaining 11 had stepped into the Official Mastery. The students who broke through could sense and tell that their Mana pool has grown substantially. They also expressed ease in handling Mana and lesser fatigue.

    *rustle*

    It was then one of the cultivators began to move.

    "What? Where am I?

    WHAT?!"

    The elf was disoriented at first but soon picked up his senses. When he found himself bound by Mana imbued ropes, he couldn''t restrain his anger.

    "You bastard!! Who do you think you are? Let us go or you will die!"

    The elf paused as he felt something missing from his body. The next instant, his expression became grave.

    "You bloody thieves, give me back my spatial rings!"

    The rage in his eyes began to subside as the Mana imbued rope showed its might. The agonising pain in his wrists and legs were beyond withstanding and he cried out aloud.

    Hearing this cry, a few of hispanions woke up. As soon as they woke up and scanned their surroundings, they followed the elf''s lead and showered curse words one after the other on Lee and his students.

    ---

    The time was almost 4.45 in the evening when the cultivators showed signs of fatigue. About half an hour ago, all the cultivators were back online and behaved the same. Their arrogant attitude made their situationpletely appropriate.

    Their continuous spewing of words eventually made their throats dry and they could not utter a word anymore. The cultivators felt that the pain in their throats was greater than the scorching on their limbs.

    The students walked around the cultivators and kept them as onerge pile. Someone among them would try to wiggle out of their sight and the students would put him back in his ce.

    Not too soon after, they understood that they have no chances of escape and thus began to show submission.

    When the time was five minutes to 5 PM, the atmosphere becamepletely silent. Only the chirp of a cicada could be heard.

    Under arge tree was Lee sitting with his students on either side. Opposite to them was the bunch of cultivators with their limbs saturated with pain and suffering.

    Both the parties stared at each other with anger. The cultivators had enough rage to rip them all apart, if not for the rope. The students of Lee Shen had their anger stemming from the series of suppressions and assaults they had suffered in the past.

    Lee was sitting cross-legged and his eyes were closed. If not for his affinity of Mana, anyone would think that he is a cultivator.

    He breathed in and out through his nose and the sound reflected in the darkening atmosphere.

    "Why are you after me?"

    Lee Shen''s voice was calm and it broke the silence.

    "Hmph!"

    The Emperor Immortal realm cultivator reflected his disagreement to answer to the likes of a puny adventurer. But the realisation that this man is powerful than them urged him to speak without hostility.

 Chapter 262: Ruin Expedition (26)

    Chapter 262: Ruin Expedition (26)

    "If I speak, will you let us go?"

    The cultivator was trying to forge a deal. Unfortunately, the wind was against him.

    "You are bound and is at our mercy. So if you want to strike a deal, then my students won''t hesitate to strike you all."

    The man understood his helplessness as he evaluated his situation. He gritted his teeth and asked-

    "Then why are you-"

    Before he couldplete his words, the rope began to tighten. The pain made him shiver and twitch. He couldn''t help but grind his teeth in agony.

    After lessening the power, Lee looked in the eyes of the man and spoke-

    "What you all speak will determine your fate. So speak carefully."

    The cultivators felt a cold breeze brushing their face as they met with Lee Shen''s intimidating eyes. Lee Shen was looking in their eyes for any micro-expressions and he found none but fear.

    [They are thoroughly scared.]

    D gave his opinion after witnessing their shaky pupils himself.

    Lee acknowledged the fact and raised his right hand to produce a crackling ball of lightning. The sphere revolved an inch above his palm. The sight of it spewing horrifying shes of energy indicated the cultivators not to run their mouth the way they like.

    "Fine.

    The Cultivator''s Guild posted a mission with 10 Gold for your head."

    Lee was sure that he heard Felrian grit his teeth. He took a nce of his seemingly calm face before shuttling back at the cultivators.

    "Your affiliation?"

    Lee knew their affiliation with the Guild yet he asked for the sake of conversation.

    "We are rogue cultivators. We live by taking mission from the Guild."

    Then Lee Shen leaned forward and asked-

    "The provider?"

    The cultivator shook his head and said-

    "Unknown. There was no name attached to the mission."

    The students behind Lee Shen tried their best to suppress their anger. But it did not miss his senses. The intent to kill them was evident on their faces.

    Lee raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The ropes loosened up the very instant. The pain the cultivators tolerated vanished.

    "You can resist my students and escape their attacks or can sit obediently and ept death."

    The cultivators did not expect such a twist in the plot. They were expecting him to leave them alone without hurting.

    Before the cultivators could even ovee the pain and search for a way of escape, the students have pounced on them.

    ------

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>6 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,880 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The students continued to walk through the jungle despite the darkness enveloping the surroundings. Lee, who was following the students saw the burning torches illuminating the area around them.

    The 13 fellows had ruthlessly ughtered the cultivators. The wailing of agony did not take them back off but gave them the strength to continue. It was not an everyday opportunity to kill a cultivator!

    Their savagery came from the anger condensed from years of unprovoked suppression. The Cultivator''s Guild had secretly colluded with the three giants to harass the academy!

    The guilt of murder was non-existent on their faces. The boys and girls exhibited unusual seriousness as they walked while scanning their surroundings.

    Though the jungle was spooky, the students disyed supreme courage as they ventured deep into the forest.

    ''D, you sorted the things out?''

    [Yes. You have obtained a total of 94 kilograms of Refinement Grass, 17 Green Bird fruits, 56 Qi Nourishment pills, 12 Berserk pills, 60 leaves of Presence Erase herb, 3 drops of Hundred Qi essence and 5 Aquamarine crystals.

    Other than these edibles, there are a lot of scrolls and manuals. Many of them are cultivation manuals which range from tattered and bloodied to perfectly intact.]

    ''So they are probably from loots.''

    [Looks like it.

    We also have acquired 3 sabres, 4 swords, 2 spears and 2 gauntlets. There are some more objects rted to Qi. They look like defensive artefacts.

    Surprisingly, these guys gave a dozen of Spirit Stones!]

    For a second, Lee Shen paused his steps. The phrase ''Spirit Stone'' was foreign to him. But he could guess that the stones are not simple in the property.

    ''What are the Spirit Stones?''

    The answer came after a burst ofughter.

    [HAHAHAHA.....

    D, I thought you had told him about the Spirit Stones.]

    [You know how rare that thing is. So I did not bother to exin it.]

    ''Hey, I asked something.''

    [Spirit Stones are nothing more than simple rock at a nce, but they have immense power in them.]

    [Elemental power, to be precise.

    The Spirit Stones contains the powers of basic elements of nature. A stone can only contain one type of element. It could be Fire, Water, Air, Stone, Ice, Lightning or any other element.]

    The students were chopping down snakes and hostile animals as they walked further ahead. Lee Shen scanned his surroundings and asked as he kept walking.

    ''What is the purpose of a Spirit Stone?''

    [As I said, it contains an elemental power. The power could be utilized to strengthen the foundations of one''s cultivation or mastery.]

    [Hey, don''t act like you don''t know the true nature of a Spirit Stone!]

    Hudson shouted and his words expressed disagreement with Dnekewy''s words. Lee Shen could guess that what D said was not theplete truth.

    [Spirit Stones are not for strengthening one''s cultivation or mastery. The Spirit Stones have a significant influence in Mana mastery rather than it''s the negligible impact in Qi cultivation!

    Spirit Stones are pieces of the Elemental Law scattered throughout the. The concentration and purity would vary vastly, but the fact that they are all part of the only elementalw is undeniable.]

    Lee moved his arms swinging by his side to his back and sped them behind him. He was arriving at his conclusions as Hudson began to expose the true nature and purpose of the Spirit Stones.

    [The significance of Spirit Stone in Mana mastery is beyond words. The intrinsic property of Mana makes the Spirit Stone a portal to ess the power of the Elemental Spirit.]

 Chapter 263: Ruin Expedition (27)

    Chapter 263: Ruin Expedition (27)

    Elemental Spirt!

    The term reflected a majestic aura as Hudson spoke. To Lee Shen, it conveyed the idea of elemental sentience.

    ''Is that somehow rted to what Rue is going through?''

    [Not exactly. Rue is reaching into her innate Mana reserve which will enable her to grow into a True Druid. That process is nothing more than acquiring self-awareness.

    But what I said is different. Those who master Mana could boost their elemental affinity by twice or thrice by assimting the Spirit Stone energy into their being. If fate allows, the power and control one has over his/her Mana and element could even quadruple.

    There are records of people who have contracted with the Element Spirit itself after assimting an enormous amount of suitable affinity Spirit Stones.]

    ''Ohh!''

    Lee expressed his amazement to Hudson''s words. To contract with the Elemental Spirit itself was an achievement recalling the highest level of mastery. It would enable a person to greatly reduce the fatigue and burden of using one''s Mana for an extended period.

    Hudson began to speak about the advantages of assimting a Spirit Stone to one''s body. While the Mana would let one experience the true power of the Spirit Stone, a cultivator would only have his cultivation empowered by the Spirit Stone energy.

    Though the Qi has negligible assistance from the Spirit Stones due to the differences in property, the cultivators intentionally monopolized the trade of Spirit Stones. They secretly cut off all possible ways through which adventurers could get their hands on Spirit Stones. This was another factor that led to the crumbling of the wizarding society.

    [I am not at all surprised. Because this has been the situation even before I was imprisoned.]

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>7 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,950 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee took a nce of the panel and the Essence count and something popped up in his mind.

    [Nope. The Draconic Wyverns are already at its maximum potential for its age. And I assume that they will never have to depend upon these stones for a boost.]

    Hudson also added that it is good to distribute these stones among the students. Coincidentally, Lee Shen had been thinking about that this whole time. After confirming that the children would not suffer from any bacshes, Lee alerted the students to hold their ground as he set up the tent.

    ----

    Inside the tent.

    The 13 students and the professor was safe from all possible harms of the jungle. The wless camouge enabled the tent to be one with the darkness and nature. The absolute instion of sound and heat made thempletely untraceable.

    Lee Shen sat on his bed with the twelve stones in his open palms. They looked nothing more than randomly picked rock fragments. Thergest among them was one and a half inches in length.

    "Does anyone recognise what these are?"

    Lee asked in a soft voice as shuttled his eyes from the faces of his students to the stones.

    The answer was silence.

    Some scratched their heads in confusion. They could not detect any sort of energy ripples from these pebbles.

    Lee Shen saw their helplessness and sighed before speaking-

    "These are Spirit Stones."

    The words gave a shock to the students. Never were they expecting these stones to be the powerful objects from the myths.

    Yes, ording to the current situation of the qvier academy, Spirit Stones were equal to mythical objects as not even Erikko had seen them!

    "I acquired a total of 7 Fire Spirit Stones and 5 Water Spirit Stones when I looted the cultivators.

    And now, those with Fire and Water affinity cane forward."

    Hearing this, 3 Fire affinity students and 2 Water affinity students came forth. Among the 13, only these 5 students were lucky.

    When all 8 pairs of eyes focused on the selected five, Lee extended his hands. On his right-hand palm was the Water Spirit Stones and on his left-hand palm was Fire Spirit Stones.

    The students did not dy the process and selected a stone of their choice. As soon as the students got the stones in their hands, they said that they could feel a rippling sensation from these seemingly unimportant pebbles.

    "Sit down and circte your Mana into the stone and back to your body. The energy will be released after some time and you will feel the energy entering inside you.

    Most importantly, empty your mind."

    Lee Shen then turned to the spectating students and said-

    "Watch closely. But do not disturb them in any way."

    The students nodded as Lee sat motionlessly.

    ----

    About 4 minutester.

    Lee Shen and the students could see a faint glow around the students. The halo covered their body for about 10 seconds and then vanished.

    The moment it vanished, the stones in their palms crumbled and became dust!

    The students could see the expressionless face of Lee and guessed that the professor might be ustomed to these sights. But in reality, he was surprised by the change to the stones.

    [This means the power of the Spirit Stones have been sessfully assimted to the students. After the assimtion, the stone is useless and thus, it crumbles.

    Tell them not to disy their powers and take rest. Or else, they will greatly disturb the energy before it could settle down in their body.]

    As Hudson predicted, the students woke from their meditation after a few seconds. When they opened their eyes, Lee and the remaining students felt their newfound power.

    Lee quickly conveyed the words of Hudson and the students were forced to swallow down their urge to exhibit their talent. Though the students were disappointed by Lee Shen''s words, they were sure that his words were for their safety and betterment.

    Thus the students quickly went to bed and surprisingly fell asleep within seconds. The remaining 8 saw their quick slip to slumber and decided not to go against the words of the professor!

    [When they wake up, they would be very hungry. So tell them to use their new enhancement to hunt down food.]

 Chapter 264: Ruin Expedition (28)

    Chapter 264: Ruin Expedition (28)

    [You and the remaining students should sleep too. Though it is not toote, the early bird gets the best worm.]

    Lee repeated the words and the students nodded. But their hunger was a problem.

    "From tomorrow onwards, we will hunt and eat. If you don''t hunt, you don''t eat. Plus, it will also help you to familiarise with the surroundings.

    We will not use a tent anymore and will sleep outdoors. It will help to sharpen your senses and survival skills.

    When they wake, let them know of this change too."

    Lee slowly slid into his bedding and closed his eyes. At a nce, he was asleep. But in actuality, he was enquiring about the Spirit Stones, the Lurnd and many other topics.

    After 10 minutes, Lee Shen felt sluggish and fell asleep. The students had also fallen asleep by that time and D lowered the brightness in the inside of the tent.

    ----

    *ding*

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>3 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,790 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The soft and dull notification bell woke Lee Shen up with grace. The slumber of almost 8 hours had given him plenty of peace and bliss.

    Rubbing his eyes with his index finger and thumb, he nced around and saw the students in slumber.

    [I would advise waking them up now.]

    Lee Shen stood up and stored the futon. Using the Water attributed Mana, he quickly cleansed himself.

    *p p*

    The Sound attributed Mana amplified the mere pping to the banging of two humongous drums. The sound made the 13 students jolt up with astonishment. A few of them even lost their desire to sleep after hearing such deafening noise.

    "Time to sleep is over. So get ready to move out."

    Lee Shen talked in a in tone. No matter who heard it, it was unable to derive any emotion or expression from his voice.

    After walking out of the tent, he held the cover of the tent to its side which indicated them to exit. The students did not utter anything against and promptly moved out.

    The students who assimted the Spirit Stones were confused and enquired. Their perplexed expressions faded away as they heard the reason behind the change in the professor''s attitude.

    The tent went inside the spatial ring and the 13 students stood at the middle of nowhere. Around them was pitch ck jungle with spooky outlines of nt life. The sight was frightening and many were faintly shaking.

    Lee Shen did not materialise anything for illumination. Seeing that professor Lee was hesitant to create illumination, the fire affinity students conjured mes with their Mana.

    "What?"

    Someone who was yet to breakthrough muttered to himself as he saw the stable and energised mes in the student''s hand. It had a particr aesthetic beauty which made them stare at it for a dozen of seconds.

    But the eeriness of reality pulled them back to their senses.

    The students who conjured could tell a major advancement in their ability and affinity. Through the breakthrough, their Mana pool was erged and it was sufficient surprise for them.

    But the integration with Spirit Stones made their elemental affinity to pick up efficiency, strength and intensity.

    "Good."

    Lee had a prideful smirk on his face as he epted Hudson''s appreciation. He said as he stood there staring at the unflinching me.

    He then skimmed through the faces under the fire''s illumination.

    "From here on, you will actively attack and increase yourbat experience. Your enemy could be monsters or cultivators, so be on alert.

    I will stay out of the fight and umte the loot. Be it beast cores or artefacts of cultivators, we will share them among ourselves at the end of the day.

    Act ordingly and show me the results of your resolve."

    Lee Shen then asked the students to select a leader. He did not forget to mention that one person could only be a leader for one day. After that, the person would have to step down and let another take the lead.

    Gillian was selected unanimously and he was happy about it. Without any dy, Gillian took on the role of a leader and led the team.

    ---

    It was almost 6 in the morning when the daylight began to spread over the horizon. The refreshing warmth was mind-soothing for Lee, but not for the students.

    The 13 students were tired and could feel pain all over their body. Yet, their eyes disyed a reddish hue of anger.

    Under the leadership of Gillian, the students unknowingly walked towards the ss Scorpion underground nest. The scouting scorpions alerted the main force and the cave mouth began to outpour numerous adult ss Scorpions.

    Somehow, the intimidating stingers and pincers were ineffective in scaring the students. They did not retreat at this sight but stood strong with their conviction that they can beat this horde.

    Without hesitation, the students charged forward with their elemental affinities. Fire and Ice rampaged the grasnd as the sound of shattering ss resonated in the air.

    [Quite a spectacle.]

    Hudson could onlyment at the scene below as Lee Shen levitated in the air. He was at the sidelines and observed the activities of the students and the monster horde.

    Lee was able to assume that the new enhancement has enabled the students to charge ahead fearlessly. He could see that their belief was not baseless.

    Within a minute, the grasnd was decorated with ice and wind reflecting the beauty of fiery mes. Lee was surprised to see the vigour with which each attack shot forward at the ss Scorpion horde.

    Lee Shen heard blissful exmations as a few students found that many adult scorpions have materialised a beast core. Though they were unknown of these beasts'' affinity, this revtion made them sow more damage.

    Those with swords and weapons yed their role with perfection. The weapons with Mana enhancement in agility and strength did not feel any resistance as they cur through the crystalline exterior of these scorpions.

    Rivalling the melee proficiency, the elements surrounded the monsters and kept them from escaping out of the grasnd. The chilly ice wall hindered the spreading of fire.

    *rumble*

 Chapter 265: Ruin Expedition (29)

    Chapter 265: Ruin Expedition (29)

    *rumble*

    Lee Shen did not need anyone to dictate him that the scorpion giant in en route. He descended to the ground and began to pick up the deceased monsters to his spatial ring.

    Lee was abnormally quick and he only took about three seconds to collect more than 250 ss Scorpion corpses. He did not leave the frozen, burnt and crumbled parts of the scorpion and swept the grasnd clean.

    As Gillian saw this, he ordered the students to retreat while asking the fire affinity students to create a firewall. The fierce mes restricted the movements of the scorpions.

    When the giant ss Scorpion hade up to participate in the battle, the party had left with the wind. The burnt aroma of scorpions was stagnant in the air and disrupted the monsters'' senses. With an angry growl, the giant expressed its resentment to whoever halved the poption.

    Unfortunately, this was not the end. The fatigued students did not receive any care or pamper from their professor. The students finally concluded that the professor was serious about the situation.

    The thirteen students got a window of 3 minutes when a pack of Iron Foxes surrounded them.

    [These kids probably have one giant pit of misfortune.]

    Hudson was right. Iron Foxes had a tough exterior which was decorated with the fur of elemental resistance. The peculiar brown colour indicated that they were resistant to both fire and ice affinities!

    Not only that they were resistant, but their attacks were deep and grave due to the teeth made of organic metal!

    The students jumped up on their feet as they saw the pack. They powered up and readied themselves for the battle when Felrian took a step back in horror.

    The remaining students were a secondte to see the scale of the pack. In front of 300 Iron Foxes, these kids were nothing but a meal.

    "Retreat!"

    The students had already lost their will to take the pack head-on when Gillian shouted. Hearing the leader''s voice, the students were about to turn around and flee when a thunderous voice was heard.

    "HALT!!"

    Lee Shen sounded powerful and his voice startled the Iron Foxes. They had failed to detect the faint heat signature of Lee Shen which was one with the coldness. The sweat and warmth of the students caught the beasts'' senses quickly and firmly.

    The pack eyed Lee Shen with interest. They could tell that this being is very powerful from it''s levitating figure.

    When the fox pack affirmed their victory, the students then saw a familiar magic circle establishing in the air.

    ''Summoning.''

    The students recalled the instance when professor Ganga was defeated speechless. Their morale that migrated overseas came back with twice vigour as the students equipped themselves.

    But...

    They did not expect the Perrafin and the Split-jaw Hyena toe out. Their hope of thoroughly defeating the pack of 300 Iron Foxes was affirmed by the disy of Snow Wyvern''s prowess.

    "I don''t want cowards as my students. You either die courageously or live long enough to be the manifestation of courage itself!"

    When the duo emerged from the spatial tear, the foxes had a peculiar expression. It was neither anger nor fear, but a barbaric grin after seeing a worthy opponent.

    The foxes were slightly smaller than the hyena. With the assistance of the Perrafin, the foxes could barely pose a threat to the duo.

    But Lee Shen''smands were unbreakable.

    ''Fend them off but don''t kill them. Let the students take care of the beasts. Act as moral and mental support.''

    The Perrafin was feeling an indescribable sensation upon seeing the feast. But Lee Shen''s words dampened her heart and her face was nk and devoid of the previous expression.

    Fero did not express his disagreement like how Perrafin growled. But he did convey his wish to have a bite or two of these delicious foxes.

    ''Okay, but only those that are killed by the students.''

    The beasts held their ground and Fero disyed his fangs in agreement with Lee Shen''s words.

    The quadrupled duo stepped forth and their aura began to leak. The Perrafin produced faint crackling of lightning from its mouth and it made the foxes take a step back in perplexion

    This the pack of foxes failed to notice the hyena''s fur turning darker.

    *whish*

    Zona shot a fierce fireball and it flew past the beasts. The unexpected fireball packing a lot of punch blew four foxes away.

    Following that, a barrage of attacks came down on the foxes. Though their resistance is good, the stacked effect of good and purer Mana with enhanced elemental affinity was more than they could tolerate.

    Within minutes, several foxes fell under the shes and strikes. The remaining beasts nimbly retreated to the depths of the jungle.

    The Iron Foxes, unfortunately, were not enough strong to create a beast core. This all the dead bodies were acquired by Lee for the sake of feeding two gluttons.

    Additionally, Hudson notified that the meat of Iron Foxes we''re unparalleled in deliciousness.

    The smell of blood and flesh attracted muchrger predators and even the Perrafin was forced to retreat. A group of giant Four-arm Goris chased the party for almost half an hour.

    ---

    =====

    6 AM.

    5,975,800 Essence harvested.

    =====

    Lee had sitting under a tree when the notification came up. Lee raised his head and saw the panel before swiping it away. He then wiped the sweat from his forehead which drenched his left palm.

    Next to him were the students. They were also lying on the ground with their chests rising up and down at a visible rate. The entire session of being chased around like a deer was over one and a half hours and proved highly tiring yet beneficial and refreshing.

    Lee was not tired like the students as he had quite unusual stat values. The Perrafin and Fero were also at peace whenpared to the drumming hearts of the students.

    [Just letting you know that the Perrafin does not have a name of her own.]

 Chapter 266: Ruin Expedition (30)

    Chapter 266: Ruin Expedition (30)

    [Just letting you know that the Perrafin does not have a name of her own.]

    Lee let out a mouthful of air as he sat cross-legged. He took a nce at the white beast and asked Hudson-

    ''Is it important?''

    [Not really. But since Fero has a name, it could give the feel of discrimination.]

    ''Then I name her Zena.''

    A panel appeared notifying that the Perrafin''s name had changed. The new name was automatically transferred to the beast and she raised her head and looked at Lee.

    The thankful nce was bliss to watch. The feline facial features had an unusual aura when Lee observed the beast. Without any dy, the beast lowered its head andid down.

    [Zena says thank you.]

    Lee nodded at Hudson''s words and nced at the horizon. The sky was brightening and the Map was still nk.

    ''I think this Lurnd is quite enormous. Thus exiting this ce very quickly is good for health.''

    [People seems to disagree with you.]

    Lee Shen then felt more than seven objects homing in on their position. He jumped up andmanded the students to quickly move out of the ce. Lee Shen dashed into the forest and the students followed him.

    After almost a minute, seven wooden puppetsnded where they stood. Two among them were simr to a tiger in stature. The remaining five were stout and visible threatening.

    The puppets did not find anything at the spot other than faint Mana trails. It belonged to the students who were recuperating their strength. But the trail soon scrambled and became unrecognisable.

    After standing there frozen for a dozen seconds, four puppets went back the way they came. The remaining puppets stood there watching the two beast puppets and humanoid puppets leaving from the sight.

    ---

    The scrambling of the Mana trail was Hudson''s idea. He had experience with cultivators and their tracking techniques.

    Due to Mana''s integrity outside its host, it leaves a faint trail which would gradually dissipate. The trail is stronger and durable than Qi trail which barely leaves any pieces of evidence.

    Thus when a cultivatormits a murder, the chance of encountering Qi trail is negligible. But when an adventurer kills, it leaves a trail that does not disappear easily.

    "Long Sect pests."

    Lee Shen muttered as he and his students hid almost a mile away from the standby puppets. The students observed the puppets standing by to detect any changes in their surroundings.

    ''Tell me, Hudson, can my students take them down?''

    [It is risky. I also have reason to believe that this is a trap.

    I suggest using your bow to take out these three puppets. It would send a bacsh to the corresponding cultivator.]

    Lee Shen turned around as he half-squatted on the ground. His students along with him were hiding inside a bush. Fortunately, they could see the outlines of the puppets.

    "Don''t make a sound."

    Lee ced his index finger in front of his mouth vertically and his soft words made them nod. Then he turned to the puppets and almost pulled out his bow.

    ''Oh shit! I almost forgot that the bow is a pinnacle grade weapon!''

    If Lee was to take the bow out of his storage now, the aura was sure to be detected by the puppets. This he retracted his hand and enquired Hudson for a solution.

    ''This aura of a weapon, is it conceble?''

    [It might be. Since people tend to show off their powerful weapons, I have no idea about such a possibility.]

    The Workshop was quickly summoned and Lee created a pendant. The lotus-shaped pendant was incredibly beautiful and charming. The design reflected a lifetime worth of sophisticated carvings with vibrant colours. Anyone who saw it would snatch it away immediately.

    Lee Shen then enchanted the steel pendant with Aura Concealment. The Essence cost shot up and instantly entered two million. This demand was within Lee Shen''s expectations, but what popped along with it waspletely unanticipated.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>The object will not withstand the enhancement. Would you like to change the material ''Steel'' to ''Arcanium''?</strong>

    <strong>[YES] [NO]</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    [Oh! So this is the simtion assistant that Dnekewy talked about. Helpful!

    Arcanium. Where have I heard this name?]

    Hudson was scratching his head while trying to recover his memories rted to this name but in vain.

    On the other hand, Lee was surprised to hear the name of a substance that he had not heard about before. Without thinking too much, he epted the proposition and the panel faded away.

    The main screen of the Workshop could be seen again. The pendant had no change in its dimension or colour. It was as if the pop-up was a scam.

    But...the cost had skyrocketed to 110 million Essence!!

    [The hell?]

    Hudson frowned as his voice resonates in Lee Shen''s ears. As he witnessed, the cost was paid in Essence and the screen vanished.

    [The pendant is in the storage!!]

    Hudson sounded unusually excited as he saw the pendant appearing in the storage. He was excited to the core after seeing the otherworldly beauty of the lotus pendant.

    Lee quickly took out the pendant used View on it.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: Lotus Pendant.</strong>

    <strong>Master: Lee Shen.</strong>

    <strong>Description: A lotus pendant made out of Arcanium, the most sacred alloy. Enchanted with Aura Concealment. Can conceal the aura of up to three Deity grade weapons when in contact with the master.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee covered the lotus pendant while he wore the ornament around his neck. The chain along with the pendant was a simple alloy of steel.

    He was cautious not to let the students see the pendant. Who knows if they unconsciously sucked in cold air and gave away their position.

    "Move back slowly and carefully."

    Lee Shen looked over his shoulder and conveyed them to move away. The students silently stepped away from the professor and kept on tiptoeing.

    Once the pendant touched the body, Lee Shen could feel enormous energy rippling through his veins. He took out the bow and pulled back the string.

    [Looks like the upgrading paid off!]

    ''Hell yeah!''

 Chapter 267: Ruin Expedition (31)

    Chapter 267: Ruin Expedition (31)

    [Looks like the upgrading paid off!]

    ''Hell yeah!''

    The arrow that materialised in the bow consumed 45 Essence. Lee pulled the string further backwards and he could feel an enormous power encased in the arrow.

    ''That should do.''

    The next action made Hudson frown.

    The bow was raised to the air and the arrow pointed at the sky. The students were about 70 metres from Lee Shen when they saw this development.

    They halted their steps and eagerly waited for the release.

    *fwish*

    The sound of the bowstring cutting the air was so dull that a normal person could have not heard it. But the students did hear the faint voice as the arrow disappeared in the clouds in an instant.

    The puppets did not hear the sound but felt something some motion from afar. The puppets turned in the approximate location of the party and started into the wilderness. Luckily the twin stars were still rising and the visibility was poor.

    Before the puppets could register an attack and defend against it, the ground under their foot was crumbled along with the visibly disintegrating wooden parts!

    What students saw was a stick-like figure descending with great speed. The next instant, the area was devoid of gravity. Everything was floating for a moment before the deafening boom went off!

    BOOM!!

    The st threw an enormous wave of ash and dust in all directions. Lee quickly turned around and dashed in the direction of the students. The rippling wave of dust pushed his back and gave him a boost.

    Seeing this, the students also fled. They did not stop until they covered a distance of approximately 18 kilometres.

    It was noteworthy that they ran for that long as they could feel the shockwave pushing their backs!

    ---

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>7 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,800 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>The Map has beenpiled.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ''Thank goodness!''

    Lee thanked every known and unknown gods while summoning the Map. He was unknown about the surprises he was yet to know.

    The screen came appearing and it showed a jungle which was at least the size of Madagascar. Beyond that expanse of vegetation lies a rtively barren teau.

    The Map pinpointed the location of rivers and hostile beings in the entire sub-space. It was like a cheat code to avoid every single threat with ease.

    It took Lee some time to find the exit portal since it was underground. It silentlyy in an inconspicuous cave waiting for someone to wander in.

    The distance from where they were to the cave was approximately 22 kilometres. The jungle alone made their journey tiresome and time-consuming.

    Quickly remembering the coordinates of the cave and the cultivators, Lee Shen closed the Map and released the pile of monster corpses.

    Upon seeing the crystalline ss Scorpion bodies, the duo let go of the Iron Fox corpses.

    "You need to eat to survive, and you need to prepare the meat to eat."

    Lee Shen stood up and said this before walking away. He walked to the nearest tree and climbed on it effortlessly. Though the action seems carefree, he was found to stand guard for these kids.

    The monster duo crunched and cracked the crystalline shells of the arachnids and the students saw that the corpses are lessening by each passing second.

    So, the fire affinity students were asked to create fire and maintain it while the ice affinity students skin and clean them. The water affinity students used their Mana to create water to wash away the blood and clean the meat. The remaining students were stationed by Gillian to help others.

    ----

    Soon, the smell of badly burnt meat rose in the air. It was neither repulsive nor attracting. The skinned and cleaned meat of Iron Foxes were cooked without any proper utensils. This the quality of the food was greatly affected.

    But that does not mean that these kids are chefs by talent!

    The students had no other way than chewing down the partially burnt and properly cooked flesh while throwing and scratching the excessively burnt portion away.

    ncing at their faces, Lee was like a toonmander who oversees the rookie soldiers showing repulsive faces upon seeing their rations.

    "Don''t feel down. Retry and learn how to cook well. This is a survival skill that everyone must be known of."

    Lee Shen spoke as he sat on a high branch and his eyes were fixed afar. The students quickly realised that this was a chance to learn to properly control their elements as their survival depended on it.

    ----

    About 10 minutes have passed.

    The aroma of properly cooked meat lured many beasts to the vicinity. The students took their turns in striking down these beasts while the others either prepared or cooked the flesh.

    Within half an hour, all the Iron Foxes we''re skinned and cooked properly. The meat had the unique tenderness which was coupled with the particr sturdiness. This made the meat of Iron Foxes an unexpected delicacy.

    The presence of Fero and Xena in the vicinity restricted many beasts froming closer. While the students cooked the meat, the bloodied water and fox skins became a satisfactorybo to the monster duo.

    Lee Shen silently gulped down a bottle of goat milk which he made from the Workshop while the students got busy with cooking. He did saw the beastsing closer with the hope of receiving a bite but ended up taking strikes.

    The students let most monsters go as they were not worthy of killing them. Killing them would only invite the attention of many powerful beasts.

    Except for a few tens of ss Scorpions, the remaining had gone down the stomachs of the Perrafin and hyena. Those that were taken away by the students contained beast cores.

    After carefully taking the cores away, the students let the duo have it as food.

    "Professor, we have acquired 31 ss Scorpion cores."

    Lee, who was sitting while leaning on the tree trunk, asked as he nced at Gillian.

    "Gillian, are you perhaps suffering from memory loss?"

 Chapter 268: Ruin Expedition (32)

    Chapter 268: Ruin Expedition (32)

    "Gillian, are you perhaps suffering from memory loss?"

    Upon hearing the response, the leader frowned. The next second, he realised something.

    ''Share among yourselves!''

    The frown changed to a surprise with a smile as the boy bowed respectfully and went back to the crowd. He remembered what Lee Shen had said before and the students divided the cores among themselves.

    "D, tell me about the Sword Will progression."

    Lee Shen mumbled as he was worried about D''s silence all this time. He couldn''t dismiss the chance of the Dimension Sovereignpletely integrating with the weapon.

    [Looks like I will be unable to leave the sword. The progression is at 98% and the situation demands my presence at all times.

    Since the foundation of Sword Will was forcefully created, I will have to stay put inside the sword.]

    ''I get it.''

    [A few more minutes and the integration would beplete. Then you can take out the sword and use it.]

    ''Copy that.''

    Saying this, he jumped from the branch on which he sat. Using Flight, he did a controlled descent but the students attributed this action to his immense Mana reserve.

    From their evaluation of Lee Shen, the students assumed that the professor was at Lord level Mastery.

    "Gillian, report."

    Upon hearing the professor''s voice, Gillian turned around and spoke-

    "All are well and uninjured. The fox meat is cooked and piled up. Each student is given 2 ss Scorpion cores. We are ready to move."

    A smile of satisfaction was on Lee Shen''s face as he flipped his right-hand palm upside. A spatial ring that he acquired from the cultivators came out of his spatial ring.

    "Take this spatial ring and store the meat inside."

    Gillian gasped in as he extended his arms to take the spatial ring. The seemingly normal ring had independent storage space in it and this fact made Gillian to almost cry out in excitement.

    The spatial rings are not objects that everybody gets to get their hands on every day!

    Gillian quickly walked to the pile and let the remaining students know of this gift. Without wasting any time, he stored the cooked meat in the ring.

    ---

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>8 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,800 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    When the notification came in, the party was walking eastward to the exit portal. Except for Lee, nobody in the sub-space knew the information about the portal.

    But it was Lee''s opinion to walk towards the sun.

    ''Let''s see.''

    Lee pulled out the sword from his storage. He could feel the presence of D inside the sword but it was faint and almost concealed. Maybe it was the effect of the Sword Will creation, he thought.

    [Haa....fresh air, beautiful!]

    As soon as the sword was brought out, D blissfully expressed his freedom from the storage space. He asked Lee to not to ce the sword in the spatial ring under any circumstances.

    The twin stars that illuminated Utopia she''d it''s light on the sub-space. Under the gentle warmth, the party of 14 strolled carefully.

    Their path was full of danger and trial. The students came across numerous beasts and they effortlessly defeated them.

    There were some instances where the students were injured. When they began to fend off beasts with D.I.V value above 5, the beasts were sessful in hurting the students.

    Beasts like Hexapod Horse, Winged Panther, Swamp Serpent, Poison Porcupine, ckmane Lion and Stone Skeleton injured the 13 candidates of Ruin expedition.

    But it was nothing whenpared to what the students had to go through when they confronted a pack of Gargoyles!

    The skin with thick unrefined mineral deposits was imprable with elemental attacks and melee strikes. The students could feel their Mana reserve slowly depleting in vain.

    Sensing the difficulty of the situation, Gillian ordered a retreat but the Gargoyles were not ready to leave them be. The winged beasts attacked and the students could not guard against the powerful attacks.

    If it wasn''t for the monster duo, the students might not have made it back alive. Zena and Fero were inactive until when Lee asked them to assist the students.

    Though the Gargoyles were powerful than the duo, the elemental trait of Lightning instilled caution in the hearts of the Gargoyles. This gave plenty of time for the students to retreat from the territory of these beasts.

    ---

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>11 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,800 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    3 hours have passed and the students were thoroughly refined in body and energy. The continuousbats have pushed their body to new limits and they can tell the increase in their physical and magical capabilities.

    Lee was chewing on a piece of properly burnt fox meat as he followed the students. The academy robe he enchanted with more defence helped avoid any life-threatening wounds. Except for a few bruises and scratch-wounds, there were no severe injuries.

    As the party neared the cave, Exel raised his hand and gestured to halt. The party halted their steps and observed their surroundings.

    [Looks like he can detect the aura of the portal.]

    Lee Shen was also detecting the steadily increasing aura of the exit portal. His senses were so powerful that he could urately pinpoint the position of the exit portal even if he is blind.

    With enough concentration, Selene and Val also detected the presence of the portal in the vicinity. But it''s position underground made them hard to locate it.

    "Search for the portal so that we can leave as quickly as possible."

    Gillian spoke and the group began to scatter as they walked further forward. They could detect the steadily improving intensity of portal energy and exhibited much vigour to uncover it.

    [Cunning bastards!]

    The resentment to cultivators was well evident in those words as Hudson opened the Map in front of Lee Shen. Through the panel, he saw numerous cultivators homing in on their position.

    The signature green colour robe of Long Sect people was simply unavoidable!

    Three among those cultivators were slightly slower than the entire group. Hudson conveyed that the bacsh upon disintegrating the puppets was sessful.

    [Yet...I am unable to dismiss the sensation of danger.]

 Chapter 269: Ruin Expedition (33)

    Chapter 269: Ruin Expedition (33)

    [Yet...I am unable to dismiss the sensation of danger.]

    Lee Shen nodded at thement as he drew the sword. The sheath went inside the spatial ring and the wavy molten pattern on the de reflected the daylight.

    "These cultivators are above your pay grade. So avoid fighting them and find the portal quickly."

    Lee Shen nced over his shoulder and saw that the students also felt the aura of the iing cultivators. These kids pulled out their weapons with no knowledge of their ipatibility with these people.

    Hearing the professor''s words, the students grasped the situation and sharpened their senses to find the portal.

    ''Protect the students as they find the portal.''

    Zena and Fero heard their master''s voice in their head and they took a few steps backwards before turning around and disappearing.

    As soon as they left, 10 cultivators arrived before Lee Shen.

    [Watch out for the puppets. They are deadlier than cultivators.]

    The puppets were incredibly agile and devoid of pain receptors. The construction using some special metal also increased their explosive strength. At this moment, Lee silently evaluated the might of the bow.

    "You are highly unusual for an adventurer. Your strength and speed surpass that of Emperor Immortal cultivators. Your Mana reserve is also aberrant.

    Why don''t you share your secrets so that you could leave here alive!"

    The tallest among the cultivators spoke and his elvish ears could be seen.

    A smirk crept up Lee''s face as he heard these words. He couldn''t help but shake his head as he lifted the sword and rested it over his shoulder.

    "Aren''t you too much of a stupid for a cultivator? Or are all cultivators like you?"

    From the hostility flooding around him, it was obvious that they came here to kill. This he nullified their efforts to sweet talk with provocative words.

    Hearing Lee Shen''s words, the cultivators released their aura. It rushed at him like gale but was only able to flutter his robe. The students and the beast duo felt this thick and intimidating aura and quickened their pace.

    The next second, the feline puppets have pounced on Lee Shen.

    The Foresight was activated with its usual slo-mo vision. Lee could now see the puppets on a detailed scale.

    ''These puppets are not ordinary ones.''

    Though they possess stats inferior to Lee Shen, he could still feel a pressure on his soul. But it was not something that could deter him.

    Still, it made his concern.

    [It is a Soul Attack. It suppresses the target''s soul and restricts it to an extent that the soul could even be devoured. After the soul is consumed, the puppets would gain corresponding enhancements while your body bes an empty shell.

    Fortunately, the Deity grade quality of the sword is nullifying the effects.]

    The situation became crystal clear and Lee acknowledged his weakness despite higher resolve and reconstructed body. The need for destroying these puppets constantly rang in his mind.

    *sh*

    Lee stepped forward and sliced the air. Due to the pinnacle quality of the sword, the strike instantly reached the puppets and broke them down to fragments of metal!

    -----

    *yawn*

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>12 Midday.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,810 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The cultivators could not put up a quality fight as Lee Shen broke down their prized puppets within a couple of breaths. Before they could counter-attack, Lee had appeared near them and the cultivators disappeared from reality.

    Now, all ten of them rested in the EsGen and became farnds of Essence.

    Lee Shen did not hesitate to crush the puppets with his hands. After the disappearance of the cultivators, they had be inactive and dumb.

    Right now, Lee was resting with the students in front of the cave. While Lee spent his time with the cultivators, the students have sessfully excavated the cave entrance.

    The veil of thick wild vines covered the entrance and the students did have difficulty even though they went past the entrance twice or thrice. It waspletely idental how Dambo found the cave when he tripped over a stone and ended up tearing the vines that covered the entrance.

    *muffled nom nom noms*

    Because the students spend a lot of stamina for searching for the entrance, they were exhausted. Thus, Gillian opened up the spatial ring and fed them all with cooked fox meat.

    He did not neglect the matter of beasts and gave them a share too. Since the pile of fox meat was quite enormous, Gillian treated Zena and Fero generously.

    Soon after finishing their meal, the party entered the cave.

    [You can feel them, eh?]

    ''I think it is the concealed death energy.''

    Though the time was day, the light could not enter the deep parts of the winding cave. The fire affinity students were asked to produce mes for visibility.

    Except for the professor, nobody else detected the interiors of the caves brimming with intense hostile energy.

    [The moment the portal is activated, the energy will erupt. It would be well within a cultivator''s level of tolerance.]

    Dnekewy spoke as he knew the secrets of the portal activation. He also added that how and where this energy is hidden is unknown to him.

    [This world keeps so many secrets, no one knows the de hanging above their head.]

    While the trio engaged in a casual chat, the students took care of an army of centipedes that rushed at them. Soon, the air inside the cave became unbearable with burnt odour.

    "Observe and evaluate. Control the output. Kill efficiently."

    Lee felt like the students are forgetting the basics of effectivebat so he said to the students. The students who were absorbed in frying the centipedes woke up from their trance and found the atmosphere unsuitable.

    Wind affinity students quickly drove the polluted air out of the cave and a new batch of air came in. The students did not bother to receive further instructions from the professor and walked forward.

    Soon they came into a circr underground chamber. No hostilities were arising from the space and there was nothing in the visible range other than a doorframe made out of stone.

 Chapter 270: Ruin Expedition (34) Exiting

    Chapter 270: Ruin Expedition (34) Exiting

    The students felt excited as they quickly realise that that was the exit portal. Despite the happiness, they were cautious when they stepped towards the portal.

    While they carefully tiptoed to the portal frame while simultaneously observing their surroundings, Lee casually walked past them and went ahead.

    "Children, being over-cautious is more problematic than being carefree."

    With this, he ced his palm on the stone frame.

    *rumble*

    The stone frame trembled briefly and calmed down after a few seconds. At the same time, Lee could see that his Mana reserve had lost about 70 Mana.

    ''Did it just take away 70 Mana?''

    [Don''t ask me. Though I know about Lurnds, I too am a stranger to these events.]

    [Maybe it needs some sort of energy to kick-start the process.]

    ''Sounds reasonable.''

    By this time, the space inside the stone frame distorted and the party saw the tform on which the Ruin entrance was. Like a weird photoshop, the dusty insides of the cave did not fit the view of the tform.

    [The beacon is fired!]

    Dnekewy opened the Map and Lee Shen saw that a beacon was standing like a pir of light above the surface, where the cave entrance was. And when Hudson zoomed out the Map, he saw numerous figures flying towards the beacon.

    "Okay. We need to move fast. Others are rushing here."

    The students saw Lee Shen spacing out for a second as he stood staring at the wall. Then he came out of the peculiar state and spoke these words.

    The students frowned as they saw this development, but did not question the professor''s intuition. They quickly stepped into the stone frame and their consciousness faded.

    --

    When the students came conscious, they saw light and found themselves standing on the stone tform. The party recognised the scenery around them and saw that all 13 of them were present.

    When the students saw the face of their professor, the excitement of exiting the Ruin in the first ce vanished into thin air.

    Because...there was an unpleasant expression on his face befitting the situation!

    Lee Shen had his eyes fixed in a distance and the students followed his line of sight. What they saw in the direction of the Piscerent City was tworge pirs of smoke rising from a distance.

    "The hell happened in the city!"

    Lee spoke to himself but it was louder than self-talk. The students heard his words and thought the same.

    "Depart!"

    With this word, Lee Shen dashed forth. All of his agility value erupted out and his figure shed. The students could only stand there and witness him moving at incredible speed.

    "We should go too!"

    Felrian clenched his fist as his Mana was concentrated in his feet. He leaned forward and followed Lee Shen''s trail.

    Seeing this, the remaining students quickly augmented themselves with Mana and darted at the city.

    -----

    Lee Shen was now only 2 kilometres from the city gate. He could see that the pirs of smoke were active and quickly summoned the Map.

    [That is a waterfolk warship!]

    Like a submarine, something floated in the water with only a hatch protruding above the sea level. The waterfall warship was enormous and it''s length rivalled the size of a cricket stadium.

    That warship had parked in a rather aggressive way. The concrete and solid portions of the port have been thoroughly broken down as the warship breached into thend with its menacing structure.

    The port and the Guild were the ces from which the smoke rose. There were signs of widespread destruction as many buildings had kissed the ground. The market area had casualties and the sects had dispatched many of its cultivators to control the situation.

    Through the Map, he could see that the students were following his tail so he decelerated and came to a halt. Though Lee Shen''s Agility value was 4000, it was yet slow whenpared with a Tubian.

    "All of you go to the academy and query what is happening. Take these spatial rings and show them as the trophies to the principal.

    I will go and check the situation."

    When the students reached him, Lee took out the remaining five spatial rings and gave it to Zona while saying this. He then took off again at a rtively slower pace but was still fast in the eyes of the students.

    Lee Shen saw the deserted city gate with only one or two soldiers guarding it. Seeing his familiar figure, they were not alert.

    Lee walked to one of the guards and enquired to which the guard reyed-

    "It happened on yesterday evening. The waterfolk''s vessel came up to the surface without any warning and shot two projectiles at the city. One fell at the port and greatly deformed it. Another fell near the Cultivator''s Guild and subsequently damaged the market area.

    Several waterfolks came walking into the city and gravely injured anyone who tried to stop them. I heard from other soldiers that they came asking for some exnation."

    Though Lee Shen was able to form an outline from the guard''s description, many factors of the story remained missing.

    [Waterfolks never attack thendfolks without provocation. Someone must have done something idiotic to piss the waterfolks to this extent.]

    ''We will have to know more about what had happened to conclude.''

    Lee Shen darted to the Guild. He slowed down as he neared the market area.

    [What kind of projectiles did they use?]

    There was a crater between the Guildplex and the market section. The terrain inside the crater was scorched and was ck.

    The buildings around the crater were shattered not by brute force but by the energy rippled out from the impact!

    [The waterfolks seems to be more advanced.]

    Lee Shen clenched his fist as he could see severed limbs and decapitated heads here and there on the ground. Torsos and limbs were projecting out of the ruins.

    "What in the world fell here?"

    Mumbling to himself, Lee Shen walked to the Guild building.

    But he was stopped from entering into the building by cultivators.

 Chapter 271: Events Unexpected

    Chapter 271: Events Unexpected

    "I just want to speak to Xavi Godson."

    Lee spoke in a simple tone and the cultivators recognised him. Though to be the champion of the tournament was a great feat, the cultivators had to stop him, however.

    "The president is something with the waterfolks at the moment. You cannot meet him."

    Lee did not lurk around and quickly departed. Entering the nearest tavern, he ordered something to drink and summoned the Map.

    ''12 waterfolks.''

    Through the hologram interface, he could see that 4 waterfolks were seated opposite to Xavi while the remaining 8 stood near them.

    [Those eight waterfolks are guards. They have weapons with them. The seated four seems to be royalty. Their dresses are clearly extravagant whenpared to those standing next to them.]

    Lee took a sip from the alcoholic drink while acknowledging the fact. He could also see that the security inside and outside of the Guild is abnormal.

    After sending the Map away with a flick, Lee drank the distilled malt drink. It had a soothing effect and was pleasant to drink. Not to mention its smoothness as it went down the throat.

    In a nutshell, that drink hit the spot!

    "What? You know why they are here for?"

    The voice of a stranger sitting next to him was not too loud but Lee could hear it well.

    "Oh yeah. I know why they are here. Those waterfolks came here seeking an exnation for something that had recently happened."

    "Did any human breach the peace-treaty?"

    "I don''t think so. I think that something more serious than the treaty breach had urred."

    Then, a third voice that of a man in his 40s joined them.

    "I came to know that waterfolk city is severely damaged!"

    "..."

    A silence befell the tavern. Everyone was dumbstruck by hearing this!

    Waterfolk city? Damaged?? Impossible!!

    No matter how powerful a country is, they would still be hesitant to attack an underwater city.

    It is simply because the moment one steps into the water, that person is in the waterfolks'' turf!

    A couple of secondster, the tavern began to bustle with thrice the noise it originally had. This news was something astonishing. Some people ran out to convey the info to theirpanions while many continued to probe further.

    "I heard it from one of the cultivators guarding the Guild. He heard one of the water folk saying this to the Guild president.

    I dunno anything else!"

    The man cried out after being bombarded with queries. He repeated the same sentence twice and thrice to escape from the crowd.

    Lee Shen silently listened to all these info and he was able topile the conclusion.

    ''An attack on the underwater city and waterfolks think it is humans.''

    With a thought, the Map came up in front of him. Lee Shen quickly focused on the aforementioned underwater city.

    ording to the person, it is the nearest waterfolk settlement to Piscerent City.

    ''Let''s see.''

    As a port city, Piscerent had an enormous shoreline and coastal area which gave many a livelihood. The trio of D, Hudson and Lee simultaneously searched for that city on individual Map screens.

    [Found it!]

    Hudson sounded excited as he saw the outline of a city that suited the description. He quickly shared the interface to Lee and the Map was updated.

    [Okay. This is some serious issue.]

    D couldn''t help but speak out the seriousness of the situation.

    The scene was disastrous. The underwater city of waterfolks is almostpletely run down to the ground. The broken buildings and crumbled cave tunnels could be seen through the Map.

    Numerous waterfolks swam here and there, in an attempt to rebuild the city. The trio observed rtively advanced technology among these people.

    ''Nobody attacked the city, but someone attempted to destroy the city.''

    The waterfolk city was in the Sentience Zone of the ocean. It was well-founded on an underwater teau with a significant geological advantage. Two sides of the city were guarded by hills that extended to the Surface Zone.

    There wererge boulders scattered throughout the city. It was unnaturally cut and it remained over the ruins. From the way they were scattered, it was evident that they fell from the hills.

    No, they have been intentionally broken apart and thrown away on the city. The hills were visibly strong and sturdy and showed no signs of withering or breaking.

    Most importantly, Lee affirmed that they were broken apart intentionally when he saw certain marks on the other side of the hill.

    [Wait...is that Seismic Explosion Runes?!]

    [They look simr, but have slight changes. It could still deliver the punch.]

    [This is either rivalry or war.]

    ''Hudson, care to borate.''

    [Oh sorry.

    The Seismic Explosion Runes are runes that can explode anything by using concentrated seismic waves. It can gather seismic waves and concentrate the power to a single point which would ultimately output as a powerful explosion.]

    [...]

    Lee could hear D mumbling something. It was inaudible but was able to reflect his expression. Both Hudson and Lee Shen let D mutter to himself and left him be.

    With a flick, the Map vanished and Lee Shen finished the drink. After paying 9 Copper, he left the tavern.

    His legs moved forward to the academy.

    ---

    =====

    1 PM.

    5,978,700 Essence harvested.

    =====

    The stroll through the streets was peaceful and careless while Lee keenly listened to any piece of information he could acquire. Hudson constantly searched the underwater city premises for any useful information.

    [Lee, the detector says that seven Tubians have been in the city yesterday.]

    Lee Shen was about to cross the street to enter the academy when D conveyed an unexpected info. This made him retract his legs and step backwards in the process. He did not stop as he turned around and walked into a dark narrow passage between the buildings.

    "D, repeat what you just said."

    Lee Shen began to analysis the words the moment D spoke them. He was able to reach many conclusions within a second. Some terrified him while some invoked mystery.

    [The Tubians were here]

 Chapter 272: City In Chaos

    Chapter 272: City In Chaos

    To make things clear, Lee Shen does not have any kind of hostility with Tubians. He respects their way of life and ideologies.

    But, the moment Hegerus came looking for Lee, shit just got personal! Lee is constantly searching for his lost love and teammates while he is not even sure whether they are alive or not.

    The disappearance of Gauthama cornered Lee Shen to a corner. The Tubian of Serenity proved to be quite useful in turning the tides with his presence alone.

    And since Tubians have decided to make contact with Amortals, Lee Shen could use a hand in the battle.

    Tubians living their journey the way they want was never Lee''s concern until they decided to jeopardise the safety of all living beings of Utopia.

    ---------------

    [The Tubians were here for sure. And...]

    "What is it?"

    [See for yourselves.]

    The Map appeared and a vastwork of curving and winding lines could be seen. At many ces, these lines were thoroughly broken or ovepped. Almost 97% of the track records had faded greatly.

    ''So you are saying..''

    [Unless one of them is a Tubian that can erase their trails, this is impossible.

    And the veryyout of these trails are set to confuse anyone from finding their real intentions.]

    The supeputer began to brainstorm and some conclusions were obtained.

    ''Tubians are very powerful beings. They don''t need to cover their trail from anyone unless that person could hurt them.''

    From the avable information, Hudson and Lee came to a final ruling - the Tubians know his exact location and what he is capable of!

    Hudson unconsciously bit his nails upon acknowledging the fact. He was out of ideas, to begin with.

    ''Good thing that no one is here.''

    Lee Shen shed his right hand diagonally and the familiar spatial tear was formed. Lee Shen walked inside and the reality was stitched together.

    "Hudson, the Tubian coordinates!"

    Lee Shen sounded rather unhappy when he asked for the coordinates of every Tubian on the. With a casual swing of the hand, Hudson opened a panel with all the location coordinates listed on it.

    "Is this all we have?"

    "You want more?"

    The number of Tubians on the was exceedingly high and this triggered Lee Shen to think about the possible affinities these beings could have.

    While skimming through the panel, Lee noticed a familiar sword ced on the rocking chair. It rocked to and fro with an unspeakable elegance.

    "What? Am I that beautiful?"

    Dnekewy asked aloud in hope of attracting attention. But he failed in his attempt as Rue was still in her ritual and Hudson was addicted to smoothies.

    There was no reply as Lee Shen shuttled his eyes back to the panel. His arms folded in front of his chest amplified the solemn expression in his face.

    The inspection continued for another half an hour and the System Space was dead silent. The Dimension Sovereign, now a sword, enjoyed the luxury of the rocking chair. Hudson had been walking around and he often came close to Lee to see what he was eagerly searching for.

    The nimble hands of our protagonist moved as if he had unearthed the tale of a lost civilization. The eyes periodically ran between the Map interface and the list of coordinates and finally lit up.

    "Seven Tubians came in, but only six exited the city. One is still here!"

    Lee tapped the Map interface and revealed his finding to Hudson and D.

    The trail of the Tubians entering the city was seven parallel lines. But their exit was highlighted as a thick trail.

    This gave birth to two theories. Either the Tubians might have sensed hostility or their formation is a deception.

    Upon cross-checking with the list of coordinates, Lee finally concluded that the six Tubians came here to drop off one of them in the city.

    "But the Tubian has no tracks."

    Hudson scurried through the Map and agreed with his finding. But he couldn''t help but raise his doubt regarding the absence of evidence.

    "Last seen in the vicinity of slums."

    The sword drifted towards Lee Shen and Hudson and D''s voice came from the weapon. The voice did not distract anyone of them as their eyes were sharp and firmly nted on the Map to find any trail.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>2 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,900 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ----

    The hourly notification came up and vanished a quarter an hour ago.

    The search for any evidence of trail met a dead end. Hudson proposed that the Tubian in the city is possibly the one with the ability to conceal the presence.

    With no means of development, Lee Shen turned to his modification interface.

    "D, disy the stats of Hegerus."

    A panel promptly came up disying the details of the Tubian.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: Hegerus</strong>

    <strong>Race: Tubian</strong>

    <strong>Age: +30 Millenia</strong>

    <strong>-----</strong>

    <strong>Health: 180,000</strong>

    <strong>Power: 900,030</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 575,000</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 10,000</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    (A.N. I changed the stats of Hegerus as I found it too unrealistic, even for fiction.)

    Lee took a view of the panel which appeared in front of him. A sigh of despair escaped his nostrils as he saw a wide chasm between his stats and Hegerus'' stats.

    "D, what do you think about Hegerus'' position in the Tubian society?"

    The sword rose from the chair and floated towards him.

    "Hegerus was obeying someone else'' orders. That means there are people above him."

    The sword rounded Lee two times before going back to the rocking chair. Dnekewy also asked not to call him as it was ufortable to move around inside a sword.

    As Lee Shen stared at the panel, his figure came appearing in it. His physique was disyed with every small detail and he could see the reconstruction done to his body.

    "System, considering my current reconstructed physique, is it possible to upgrade my stats? If possible, then to what extent."

    =====

    Your Health could be increased significantly and it may surpass Hegerus in value. But, as to Power, Stamina, Guard and Dexterity, your body has almost reached its limits. Even if we reconstruct, the typical structure of a bipedal being can only provide enhanced, yet limited output.

    =====

 Chapter 273: The Embedded Information

    Chapter 273: The Embedded Information

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>The mental values are also at the verge. To further increase, the brain will have to be reconstructed. Yet the chances of retaining a human physique with an otherworldly brain is impossible.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The answer was discouraging, but the fact that there is still room for improvement lit his face. Without any dy, he quickly asked to increase the stats to the maximum.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>A total of 127,600,000 Essence has been consumed to increase the Health by 22,100 values, Power by 700 values and the Stamina by 400 values.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee Shen was already going through the after-effects of the upgrade. He could feel arge reservoir of energy coursing through his body and can tell that his strength has increased by a small scale.

    As he familiarised with the new sensation, a screen with an entirely newyout popped up with some information that made him frown.

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>The host has reached the pinnacle state. These are the set of stats that the Will of the Dimension had imposed on the from preventing anyone from growing ceaselessly and identally destroying the.</strong>

    <strong>Hence, any attempt to upgrade further would disintegrate the soul.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    The info waspletely foreign to him. Never have D mentioned about this limit by the Will of the Dimension.

    His query running around in his mind was answered by the panel as the letters rearranged itself to form a new set of sentences.

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>The Dimension Sovereign is unaware of this fact. This panel is an event simr to ''Hidden Quest'' which could only be revealed upon fulfilling certain criteria. And finishing the game is not one of those criteria.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    Lee Shen looked over his shoulder and saw that D was unaware of this development. He let the slumber undisturbed and turned back to the panel.

    "Are you the Will of the Dimension?"

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>No. I am a set of information secretly embedded into the system by the Will of the Dimension itself. That was done as a precaution in an event where the host is unable tomunicate with the Will of the Dimension.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    "So you are now active because I fulfilled the criteria."

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>Affirmative.</strong>

    <strong>Is there anything you would like to know about? My resource might be adequate to convey basic information about almost anything.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    "Tell me about Tubians."

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>Tubians. A category of souls transported to another dimension. They are eligible for a second residency due to their notable achievements in their life on their home dimension.</strong>

    <strong>However, they are unable to cultivate any kind of energy or power from the new dimension. Their stats are fixed and can damage their being when tampered with.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    Lee Shen for a second was frozen like a statue. He had an urge to shout out loud in amazement.

    But he quickly leashed his mind from going as it wanted and suppressed the ecstasy.

    With a wide grin of his face, Lee Shen asked-

    "Can you borate on thest part?"

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>Resource inadequate.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    Though the answer was something he wanted least, Lee Shen thanked the Will of the Dimension for embedding such game-changing info in the system like a sneaky hacker.

    ''To tamper with their stats means to damage their being, eh?''

    All the while, Lee Shen was trying to figure out a way to overpower the Tubians. And the method turns out to be the very strength and stamina of Lee Shen.

    ''We would only know the results if we have a living Tu-''

    Eyes went wide and Lee Shen jumped up in ecstasy. He began tough like a scientist who had discovered something revolutionary.

    Even under exposure to such sudden and loud noises, D did not wake up. He was like a dead person. Lee Shen could feel him sleeping soundly and that his expressions of joy did not disturb him.

    Hudson was nowhere near, but Zena and Fero were taking a nap in the vicinity. Upon seeing Lee Shen physically expressing his contentment, the beast duo enthusiastically joined him and blissfully hoped around him.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>3 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,900 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ''The coffin is my main Essence farnd. Opening it might put an end to the overwhelming release of life-force.''

    Lee Shen had already evaluated the necessity of keeping the coffin intact. As a source that gives away more than 5 million Essence, it was a risk Lee did not want to take.

    "Bring out the Fallen Tubian prison cube."

    *thud*

    Zena''s expression turned unpleasant as she nced at Fero. He too was confused as hell and sharpened his gaze at the object.

    "How did this be tiny?"

    A hollow crystal box with a pitch-ck goo upying its inside fell on the ground. It was only the size of a Rubix cube.

    "That Fallen seems to be self-destructive. It tried to light itself up and destroy all the evidence.

    Unfortunately, its powers are severely restricted by the prison cube."

    Hudson spoke as he walked from behind. He walked to the ss cube and knelt near it. With a funny smirk, he picked up the prison cube and then stood up.

    "Ain''t this one self-destructive amorphous bastard?"

    The Fallen Tubian was enraged by thisment and began to rampage inside the cube. Unfortunately, its wrath was wlessly contained in the prison.

    "View."

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Unable to analyse. The subject is corrupted.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee Shen was not surprised to see this panel. Earlier when he came across this amorphous being for the first time, the View failed to disy its stats.

    But he had a suspicion that the restriction in using the View might be due to an innate skill. Then the reason for the restriction turned out to be its corruption.

    ''The View is unable to disy its stats. Without seeing, I cannot tamper with its stats.

    Now I need to find that solo Tubian in the city.''

    Lee Shen clenched his fist and the beast pair felt the pressure.

    But he soon felt rxed after concluding.

    "Hudson, I will be back soon."

    Turning around, Lee Shen shed his hand and a spatial tear formed.

    The next second, he was standing in the dark alleyway.

 Chapter 274: In Search Of The Tubian

    Chapter 274: In Search Of The Tubian

    Like a mechanical doll, the rhythmic footsteps crossed the street and entered the Academy premise. An unspeakable tranquillity could be felt by Lee Shen as he walked to the academic block.

    [Professors and students are in the training ground.]

    Ds voice resonated in his ears and Lee did not pause his steps. Walking through the straight aisle that gave the distant vision of a brown ground, he somehow felt happy.

    As he stepped out of the building and paced to the crowd on the training ground, his footsteps turned heads. There was admiration, reverence and envy in those gazes.

    "If it isn''t the pearl of the qvier academy!"

    Erikko walked out of the crowd as the students gave him the way. Facing Lee Shen, his face was glowing with pride.

    ---

    Almost a minute passed since Lee Shen stepped into the ground. Erikko stood in front of him with admiration. He did not utter anything nor the professors or the students.

    Though the gazes were brimming with respect, the focus of more than 50 pairs of eyes made himfortable. After skimming his eyes through every face, Lee Shen let out a cough.

    "Principal, I am leaving the city."

    The blissfulness in the atmosphere quickly turned colourless. The smiles disappeared and the brows began to knit.

    Without giving Erikko a chance to speak, he continued-

    "I am a wanderer, and that is what I always will be. I do not belong in this city or this continent. Although I do spend a few days to settle down somewhere, the journey must continue.

    The students have grown to a whole new stage. They need more practical guidance rather than theories. My job here is done and the wilderness calls me back."

    Then, Lee Shen bowed at the principal and wished him and the Academy a good future. He also mentioned about the 46 kilograms of Refinement Grass, 13 Green Bird fruits, 40 Qi Nourishment pills, 8 Berserk pills, 51 leaves of Presence Erase herb and 5 Aquamarine crystals he secretly ced inside the rings.

    The amazement in the faces of the students bloomed as joy as Lee did not forget to mention about the weapons. When he added that the remaining 4 Fire Spirit Stones and 3 Water Spirit Stones are also inside the ring, Val could swear that she heard Dolly''s heart skipping a beat in astonishment.

    Additionally, the 26 Low-grade Healing Potions were also given away by him.

    ------

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>4 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,800 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The heat of the day was still in the air when the hourly notification popped up and vanished a secondter. The shadows of the buildings were barely starting to elongate.

    Erikko failed in pursuing him to remain at the academy as Lee Shen walked out of the gate. It also marked the breaking of all bonds he had with the Academy.

    [Now what?]

    "Three objectives. Find why the Tubians contacted the Amortals, reach the highest cultivation or mastery to spread the awareness about Amortals over the multi-dimensions, and return to Earth, if possible."

    The pace quickened as the faint muttering was only audible to himself. At the next intersection, Lee Shen turned right and continued forward.

    His destination was the slums of the city.

    But...

    [How do you expect to find him? The being could be anywhere and could be anyone.]

    ''Other than us, Tubians are the only beings with knowledge of Essence.''

    D had to admit that he did not think to that extent. Even Hudson, who was brainstorming to find a way to locate the concealed being, took a moment of pause and then abandoned his methods.

    In the reality, the steady motion of feet passed the market centre which had suffered material losses. Lee Shen passed the tightly secured Guild building and saw that the conference between the waterfolks and Xavi has note to an end.

    As the slums came in his sight, Lee released a very small quantity of Essence from his palms. The discharge of Essence through the palm gave him a pleasant tingling sensation which made him smile with a sense of bliss.

    ''Hudson, find a ce to stay stationary without suspicion.''

    [I see what you are intending. There is a tavern near the slums.]

    Lee Shen corrected his trajectory and walked to the aforementioned tavern. The real-time 3D hologram of the streets and the surroundings provided by the Foresight was a tool with limitless applications!

    Turning left at the next intersection, a faded name board of a tavern was visible in about 50 metres. As his eyes swept around him, Lee Shen saw numerous shacks with disturbing geometry and low maintenance.

    "Blue Stag Tavern."

    As he slowly approached the tavern, Lee Shen read the name of the establishment. There was a painting of a young and energetic horse next to the name and it had lost its vigour. The dull blue colour Lee picked up through the interface of Foresight indicated that the horse actually was painted blue!

    ''Hudson, alert me when the Tubian is spotted.''

    With these Lee Shen was about to walk to the door when a person flew out of that door. The figure presumably got thrown towards the door from the inside of the tavern with so much power that the door was shattered to pieces.

    Lee Shen was in the trajectory of the person and was dangerously near to him. He quickly thought of two possible ways to proceed.

    One, evade. Due to the unnatural amount of agility, it was a child''s y for Lee Shen to evade this iing, assumed to be unconscious being.

    The second option was to use the Mana to create an air cushion so that the person could be brought to halt. A nce at his back revealed uneven terrain and pieces of sharp stones on the ground, which Lee evaluated to be harmful to the iing person. Thus, he decided to proceed to create an air cushion.

    But...

    *swish*

    Lee heard a violent whistling of a gale in his ears and the next second, the iing person disappeared!

 Chapter 275: The Tubian Is A What?

    Chapter 275: The Tubian Is A What?

    Lee heard a violent whistling of a gale in his ears and the next second, the iing person disappeared!

    Immediately, he looked to his right and saw the person rolling in the floor anding to a halt.

    [That was some sick Wind Magic!]

    Lee Shen could tell that the mage that used the Wind Magic was not a simple person. The person must possess an incredible affinity to Wind to produce such a powerful force to redirect an object flying at such high speed.

    Came a series of footsteps running from the inside of the tavern which distracted Lee''s observations. As he turned his eyes, a loli came into his sight.

    She ran past Lee Shen and approached the man on the ground and quickly helped him get up.

    "You have always been a troublemaker, brother. And a persistent one at that."

    She muttered as her voice was filled with unhappiness. The disappointed tone was directed to the man lying on the ground, who happened to be the loli''s brother.

    With a magic staff in one hand, she was unable to support or lift her unconscious brother. But she did not give up and tried to raise him on his feet.

    Lee Shen decided to help them and stepped to the duo. He easily raised the unconscious man who had the smell of alcohol around him.

    ''No wonder he was knocked out pretty easily.''

    The sluggishness as the result in consuming alcohol was counteracting the loli''s action to steady her brother, but Lee Shen was not bothered by it. He picked him up with his strength alone and steadied him.

    Then...

    The man''s legs gave away and the body almost fell but Lee Shen had a firm grip on the man''s shoulders. The pain that seeped into his uneven consciousness forced him to open his eyes.

    Upon seeing an unfamiliar face, the man tried to forcefully take control of his body. But his pathetic coordination of body and mind counteracted his decision.

    "Thank you. I shall take him from here."

    The loli intervened and burdened herself with her half-conscious brother. She moved away from the spot with her brother over her like a sack of potatoes.

    As Lee watched the siblings go away, Hudson notified him with a positive piece of information.

    [The Tubian Finder detected the presence of the concealed target for a millisecond. Then the signature vanished to nothingness like it did not exist in the first ce.]

    Lee stepped to the tavern after turning his head in the direction of the shattered doorframe and asked-

    ''Where?''

    Before a reply could fall in his ears, Lee Shen had entered inside the tavern. The dull and stagnant atmosphere inside the tavern with the smell of alcohol was ufortable to normal standards.

    The lighting inside the tavern was poor but Lee Shen was able to see many pairs of eyes focusing on him. But after finding nothing particr with him, those brutish physiques turned away to chug down some drink.

    The Essence reserve was losing its quantity when Hudson replied that the signature came from the outside of the building.

    Contrary to Hudson''s expectation, Lee did not go out of the establishment, instead asked for some fine alcohol.

    This action made the Dimension Sovereign scratch his head in confusion.

    And that''s when Lee asked to increase the output of Essence!

    [Wait, are you thinking of luring him in?]

    After taking arge sip from the drink presented in front of him, Lee Shen nodded in agreement. There was a pleasant smile on his face which was triggered by the smoothness and beauty of the alcohol.

    ''Keep me posted.''

    Another gulp of alcohol went down the throat of Lee as he asked Hudson to notify him of any development.

    ----------

    The twin stars in the sky leaned more and more on the surface of the sea. They became dull by each passing moment and the streetmps began to open their eyes.

    The tavern near the slum barely had any change in its bustling atmosphere. The sale of alcohol was abnormal but it was considered normal when taking the peculiarities of the drink into ount.

    With only 14 minutes to 6 PM, Lee had gulped down alcohol worth of 76 Silver coins. The server was pleased and simultaneously astonished by the unnatural alcohol tolerance of Lee.

    But unbeknownst to him, the peak value of Resolve coupled with Serenity imbued Mana kept Lee Shen''s mind in ce.

    It was then...

    [The Tubian has entered the tavern and is moving here and there.]

    Lee, who was smiling brightly with ecstasy from the drink, had a rather funny smile stered on his face. The middle-aged man who served him alcohol tried to converse with him and the time went without a restriction.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>6 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,800 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The tavern was illuminated with Mananterns a few minutester. Thenterns were not as bright as the daylight but were enough to shed its feeble rays of light on the interiors of the tavern.

    Lee Shen, with slight dizziness attributed to the alcohol, turned his head around and saw the wooden interiors of the tavern.

    [The woman wearing the jet ck coat with deep purple stripes is the Tubian.]

    While sweeping his eyes across the tavern, Lee Shen saw the aforementioned woman sitting alone at a table.

    ''Is she?''

    [Yes, she is a demon.]

    ''Interesting.''

    Lee Shen took a quick scan of the woman and turned back to the counter. The woman and those around Lee Shen only saw him casually ncing at the surroundings with drowsy eyes.

    [Despite her visibly frail physique, her stats should be greater than Hegerus. Unfortunately, all attempts to use View have been somehow restricted by her. It is as if she has a superpower that could deactivate the View skill.]

    ''So she is troublesome.''

    Gulping down thest bit of alcohol in the ss, Lee Shen gently ced it on the table and paid the money in Silver coins.

    As he stood up from the chair and steadied himself, Hudson notified him of the demon''s movement.

    [She is going out.]

 Chapter 276: The Sitting Duck

    Chapter 276: The Sitting Duck

    [She is going out.]

    ''With whom?''

    [Not with anybody. She is going out of the tavern.]

    [Expect an ambush or a session of seduction.]

    D reminded Lee Shen of the plentiful assets of the demon. Though her skin was slightly reddish, her assets were still an eye-candy to men. She had a particrly charming look on her face that kept the surrounding men silent around her.

    [As expected, she is waiting for you outside the tavern.]

    The Essence was the purest form of energy and from it formed both Mana and Qi. The Tubians, as otherworldy souls with a second chance to live, consumed this purest form of energy to live. The deviant forms like Mana and Qi were not fit for their consumption nor could they nurture them.

    Then theirst resort was to feed on the Essence from nature.

    But the Essence in the wild proved dissatisfactory for the Tubians. The flora and fauna presented raw Essence without any or little vouring of souls.

    Then the Tubians turned to the civilised world. They observed humans, demons, goblins, orcs, dwarves, elves and many other races and found their Essence to their liking.

    Though the Tubians could not identify what made the difference in taste between the wild fauna and mainstream races, they enjoyed Essence as much as they liked.

    And due to this limitation in sources of Essence consumption, some Tubians began to form religions and begun their lives as gods. They silently fed off of their believer''s Essence which was just enough for them to be alive and active. This long-term n worked efficiently and wlessly.

    Soon the Tubians discovered that they could morph their physique and visible characteristics to that of the mainstream races they have fed from. But this was a permanent change and irreversible. Thus their body could be morphed to resemble a mainstream race while their race remained as Tubian.

    ---

    Lee Shen could see the darkening sky through the windows of the tavern. With a careless set of steps, he passed through the door and excited the Blue Stag Tavern.

    As he skimmed his eyes around, he could see the figure of the demon standing with her back to the wall of the building. The attempt of dispersing more than 17,000 Essence bore fruit.

    Lee Shen acted as if he did not see the woman and started to walk forward. He walked leisurely and footsteps were gentle.

    But before he could take the fourth step, something hit his back of the neck and Lee Shen fell unconscious.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>7 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,500 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ----

    Quite a time had passed after the hourly notification came up.

    Though his eyes were closed, Lee Shen saw the time disyed on the panel. The screen lit up the darkness which formed when he closed his eyes.

    *Ugh*

    The Serenity imbued Mana coupled did not directly dissolve the alcohol in his body. But it enabled his mind to keep him sane and alert about his surroundings.

    The drowsiness of the alcohol was still in effect when Lee Shem tried to open his eyes. But he was unable to seed.

    At once, a severe pain bloomed at the back of his neck which made him twitch in pain!

    Lee Shen admitted that he thoroughly underestimated the strength of the Tubian.

    [While you were out, I was able to take a peek at her stats when she lowered her guard.]

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: ---</strong>

    <strong>Race: Tubian</strong>

    <strong>Age: +33 Millennia</strong>

    <strong>-----</strong>

    <strong>Health: 195,500</strong>

    <strong>Power: 880,000</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 608,000</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 9,760</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    A smile spread upon Lee Shen''s face when he saw the screen.

    ''So she will be the most powerful opponent I am facing till now.''

    Lee Shen tried to open up his eyes but felt as if they were forcefully shut against his will.

    ''Wait...why can I not sense anything?''

    [It is possible to assume that this Tubian is more capable than erasing the trails.]

    ''What is on the Map?''

    [nk. The Map ispletely nk.]

    ''That means?''

    [We are in a ce or spacepletely under the control of the demon Tubian.]

    ''Let me take a look.''

    [No, don''t!]

    Hudson tried to warn Lee Shen but he had already begun his attempt to open his eyes.

    *crack*

    ''Not good!''

    Lee heard the sound of his bones breaking as he tried to open his eyes.

    [How did my right arm''s forearm bone break?''

    The result from the unexpected event was quite enormous that Lee Shen struggled to bit down the pain. He copsed on the ground, but he failed to detect ground under his legs.

    ''Hudson, D, any attempt to decode my current situation is appreciated.''

    [We too are clueless as you.]

    The silence that followed the conversation was eerie. It conveyed a sense of despair and horror.

    No matter how hard he tried, Lee Shen was literally a sitting duck in the deep ocean waters.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>8 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,490 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ----

    Another notification came up and Lee Shen was updated regarding the time. Other than the system interface, he was unable to sense anything around him. He assumed the this has to be rted to the Tubian''s affinity.

    ''Hudson, create a spatial tear to enter the System Space.''

    [Already attempted multiple times, and failed consistently. The spatial tear cannot be formed without stable coordinates and we don''t know where we are.]

    Lee Shen knew about the importance of a stable footing before opening a spatial tear. Using the Affinity Soul of the Space element, he was able to easily travel between the System Space and reality.

    ''Any irregrities detected?''

    [Irregrities? Hell, we can''t even detect any regrity!]

    Hudson''s voice conveyed his defeat in detecting any fluctuations around Lee Shen. He thoroughly checked for any anomalies but met a dead end.

    [Something is happening.]

    D notified both Husson and Lee, and they could detect extremely feeble ripples sweeping past them. It grew powerful by each passing moment and so transformed into a giant and continuous ripple!

    Then, Lee sensed something.

    [Yes, the demon Tubian is in the vicinity.]

 Chapter 277: Mastermind Of Chaos

    Chapter 277: Mastermind Of Chaos

    With eyes shut tight, Lee could feel the overwhelming presence of the Tubian. The demon woman standing in his vicinity made him alert, but the realisation that he is unable to do anything hit him a secondter.

    ''System, how many Essence is needed to increase one stat point of a Tubian?''

    The query Lee Shen asked was replied with a panel.

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>The Essence to stat point conversion is not fixed. Larger the stat,rger will be the conversion rate. Since the Tubians are not naturally able to increase their stat, the Essence usage may increase tremendously.</strong>

    <strong>The Will of the Dimension insists the host find the answers on your own.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    Lee Shen was not able to obtain a precise answer but did acquire a mould to create the correct answer.

    ''So I need to inject them with Essence until one of their stat points rises by one point.''

    Now, Lee Shen waspletely aware of how to defeat the Tubians. But, there was a problem.

    ''The amount of Essence is the problem.''

    Indeed, the amount of Essence needed to increase by one stat point was unknown to him and had a possibility of surpassing millions. With his current reserve, Lee could only hope to pull it off.

    It was then that Lee observed something.

    ''System, are Hudson and D unable to see the screen?''

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>Yes. To be precise, only those who trigger the hidden criteria could onlymunicate with the panel.</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    While conversing with the embedded information, Lee was gradually starting to sense the surroundings. After almost half an hour, the veil over his senses was lifted to great extent.

    ''Map.''

    After summoning the location panel, Lee was startled in the inside.

    ''Underwater?''

    The Map clearly showed his position to be underwater. Furthermore, the panel disyed the depth at which he and the demonic woman were at.

    The Life imbued Mana had healed his forearm bone which broke earlier. Now that he did not feel the force over his eyelids, Lee slowly raised the curtain over his windows.

    [This Tubian is a serious threat.]

    What D and Hudson anticipated to see was an air bubble. But they ended up witnessing drynd under the sea!

    Lee couldn''t help but open his eyes wide as he swept his eyes left and right. Thend was indeed dry.

    ncing above, he was able to see an enormous envelope of water. It was as if supported by gigantic, yet invisible pirs.

    ''Hudson?''

    [I can confirm that we are indeed underwater.]

    [Just what is this bitch''s actual extent of power?]

    After observing the surroundings, Lee Shen finally saw the demonic woman sitting on a rock a little away from him. Unlike Lee, who was lying on the seabed with his limbs bound tight, she had a pleasant smile on her face upon seeing his expressions.

    "Don''t struggle. You will not break free from my grasp."

    The women in herte 20s had an alluring figure. Her curvaceous body coupled with the seductive smile on her face was enough to shake a man''s resolve.

    But not that of Lee.

    Instead of showing off his indomitable courage, he chose to disy the fright of a helplessmb.

    "W-Where am I? Who are you?"

    Though the trembling was not up to Lee Shen''s expectation, it was adequate when considering his non-verbal expression. His face exhibited paleness and fright.

    "You can consider me as a goddess. I am a very powerful being. Be thankful that I am pleased with you."

    The expressions and micro-expressions conveyed the fact that Lee was thoroughly frightened. But in actuality, Lee wasughing at this boasting bitch.

    [All skills and functions are back on track. We are ready to act.]

    ''Is she still on guard?''

    [No.]

    ''Open her stat screen and ready the Essence reserve.''

    [What are you up to?]

    ''Wait and see.''

    When Lee Shen felt that his legs are no more bound by an invisible force, he stood up after some struggle. Yet the force pulling his arms to the back was unwavering.

    "You are a demon, aren''t you? Are you the reason for the recent unrest in the city?"

    Lee disyed the standard behaviour of a human. To them, the race of demon was sinister and crooked. The races once waged wars so intense that they ended up waking up the Kraken!

    "Since you are not going to see the light of the day anymore, I shall be honest with you.

    Yes, I am the reason for all the unrest that had happened in recent days!"

    The demon epted the responsibility of the recent chaos without any prelude or hesitance. There was an air of arrogance around her which made Lee Shen ufortable for real.

    "Are you going to kill me?"

    Lee asked in a trembling tone as he could feel his hands slowly loosening up. He continued to shake and free his forelimbs from the invisible binding.

    The expanse of dry seabed where both the demon and Lee Shen stood was in the Surface Zone. The soil under their feet was saturated with sand and fragments of rocks. Above them was ocean forming suspended by an unknown power.

    Contrary to the darkness outside, there was ample illumination in the inside of the air bubble!

    As soon as his limbs were free, Lee released his Essence reserve at a very slow rate.

    When he attained a battle stance with his fists raised to guard, the demon was amused. She disappeared from her spot and reappeared right in front of him within a blink!

    Her firm grip took hold of his wrists and the demon began to savour the Essence that was leaking from him.

    When Lee Shen tried to liberate himself, the demon chuckled at this vain attempt.

    "Why- why are you doing this to me?"

    The fright was much evident in his voice and the demon seemed to be pleased. She loosened her grip to not break his bones. But it still held Lee in ce.

    "Do you know how precious you are?"

 Chapter 278: Forgotten Trinity

    Chapter 278: Forgotten Trinity

    "Do you know how precious you are?"

    The demon began to narrate about the existence of Essence, the purest and most stable form of energy. She gave a concise description of why Tubians such as her needs to consume the Essence to live.

    As Tubians consumes Essence, they naturally obtained an acute sense to detect the presence of ''edible'' Essence.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>9 PM.</strong>

    <strong>9,577,700 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    As another hour went past, Lee grew very bored to listen to the demon''s lecture. He promptly decreased the output of Essence to see her reaction.

    And as Lee Shen expected, her brows knit for a brief moment but loosened up afterwards.

    After taking a moment of pause, she let go of Lee Shen''s wrists and he quickly took a few steps backwards.

    "I will give you two choices. You can either live here as my Essence generator or die."

    Lee Shen creased his brows and asked-

    "When my Essence is depleted, will you kill me?"

    The woman let out a chuckle and replied-

    "I don''t need to kill you. When your Essence is depleted, you will naturally die."

    Lee Shen took a moment to act like he is weighing the pros and cons of the choices. But he was talking to Hudson and D regarding the audacity of this bitch to consider the mainstream races as Essence farms.

    [Aren''t you doing the same?]

    ''Well, I am not as wretched as them. My Essence farnds include trees, nts, animals and mischievous people, like the mercenary gang and a bunch of cultivators.''

    After a short session of ''contemtion'', Lee Shen raised his eyes to the female demon as his fist clenched with resolve.

    "I hesitate to live under the likes of a demon-like you. You can kill me."

    Both the voice and face expressed his unwavering determination to face death rather than living as Essence farnd for this demon.

    But this was an unexpected revtion to the demon. Her hands crossed in front of her chest was loosened up and the smirk on her face faded away.

    As a Tubian, she had great strength that overshadows the most powerful cultivators. But above that, the otherworldly race had an appreciation to those who exhibited unnatural courage even in adverse conditions.

    Her face gave birth to a smile of admiration as her hands sped behind her.

    "Tanya, that is my name. Remember well."

    As she brought her arms to her sides, a dagger was in each of her palms. The visibly menacing design of the twin daggers was meant to scare the enemies at the first nce.

    Hudson promptly notified Lee Shen that those daggers once belonged to a demon.

    When Tanya took a step forward, Lee Shen raised his voice.

    "Wait!"

    Tanya paused her steps as she asked-

    "Are you having second thoughts?"

    Lee Shen shook his head as he spoke-

    "No. Since you are going to kill me, I would like to know something before I die."

    Tanya took a step forward and replied-

    "Speak yourst wish."

    Though she did not hold any hostility at Lee Shen at the moment, the fact that she is exceedingly stronger than him and the sight of the twin daggers were bothering his resolve.

    He did not forget to take ount of her true powers which are unknown to him!

    Thus, he took a step backwards in caution.

    "Why did you destroy the waterfolk settlement?"

    Tanya''s face turned nk as she heard the least expected query. She never expected someone about to face death to ask about the reason behind one of her casual and chaotic act.

    When she fidgetted her index fingers over the daggers, the menacing twins disappeared. Her arms came back in front of her plentiful asset and crossed in a way that the bridge highlighted her beauty.

    "What you asked is something that I should not disclose. But since you are about to die, perish peacefully."

    As she raised her left arm and snapped her fingers, a pitch-ck rock on the seabed rose and became a tform for her magnanimous rear to rest.

    With a smile, she said-

    "Be at ease."

    Though she smiled, it was like a barbarous grin to Lee. He who has seen the stats of Tanya was very cautious as he decided to sit on the seabed.

    "Tell me, do you know about the continents?"

    Lee Shen nodded and implied that he knows about the eight continents.

    "Then, have you heard about the Forgotten Trinity?"

    [Forgotten Trinity. Where have I heard this name? Ugh... I can''t recollect anything these days.]

    As Lee Shen heard the words of D, he shook his head sideways and conveyed that he does not know what the Forgotten Trinity was.

    ''Hudson, anything from your side?''

    [I do remember this term, but I forgot what the term meant. Let''s hear it from the demon herself.]

    After Lee Shen conveyed hisck of knowledge regarding the term, Tanya scratched her chin as she tried to pinpoint where to start.

    "Ah, screw it! I will just spew all out so listen closely.

    Before the eight continents came to existence, there were only fivendmasses. Apart from the mainds of Intellus and Chaos, there were three more which were collectively known as the Forgotten Trinity!"

    ----

    Time passed as Tanya borated the past of these chaotic non-sentient disasters. Whenparing to Tanya''s exnations, the description that D gave him paled.

    She went on describing the properties of the Forgotten Trinity with great detail and precision. Her words were so vivid that Lee Shen assumed that she might have seen them first-hand.

    Throughout the lecture, neither D nor Hudson made any noise as they both were absorbed in this detailed ount of the Forgotten Trinity.

    Even the hourly notification was dismissed before it could manifest in front of him.

    As a result of unflinching attention, it was noteworthy that the duo of D and Hudson was able to acquire some vital information that they did not know about.

    ------

    "...and that is the story of the Forgotten Trinity."

 Chapter 279: Planet Shattering Conspiracy (1)

    Chapter 279: Shattering Conspiracy (1)

    "...and that is the story of the Forgotten Trinity."

    Tanya let out a sigh after she finished the narration. She took a moment to observe the receiver''s face and found it brimming with expectations.

    "But you did not tell the reason why you destroyed the waterfolk city."

    Lee Shen folded his arms in front of his chest and asked as he was sitting cross-legged on a rock.

    "The Forgotten Trinity is no more. As I said, the war waged on the continents as one big army finally shred thendmasses to two.

    And now, we, the Tubians are assigned to bring the Forgotten Trinity back to life!"

    *gulp*

    Lee Shen unconsciously swallowed his saliva as he heard Tanya.

    ''No wonder the earthquakes are unusually frequent.''

    The memories of widespread destruction and agony came shing in front of his eyes. The tranquillity of the city of Lorin was reced by raging pirs of fire right in front of his eyes. He couldn''t just forget these events that made his heart bleed.

    Not to mention that he lost two friends that day!

    Anger materialised in his mind like a typhoon of fire. Every cell in the body screamed to pounce on Tanya and tear her apart to shreds. His mind chanted to torture this demonic woman for all of eternity.

    But, all these emotions were perfectly insted from going out of his mind. The sanity was unshaken as Lee Shen almost exploded in the inside.

    Lee Shen had attained the highest value of resolve a human could achieve. Due to this invisible variable, the rampaging emotions did not make the slightest fluctuation to his being.

    Lee Shen scratched his head and raised a genuine doubt.

    "But how is resurrecting Forgotten Trinity rted to that waterfolk city?"

    The doubt was something that Lee Shen''s knowledge found unable to solve. As he is an outsider, his knowledge about Zaxalukees from D, who seems to becking and disconnected in certain areas.

    "Since you are hearing about Forgotten Trinity for the first time, you would have not heard about the Prime Glyphs."

    [Great, another term which I have no idea of.]

    Hudson and Lee Shen listened to D''sment and then sharpened their ears to Tanya.

    "Prime Glyphs are well-disguised mysterious symbols that are scattered throughout the. There are more than 500 of them. These glyphs are invisible to naked eyes and would make no sense even if one finds it.

    About 87% of these arcane characters are underwater. They could be anywhere. It could be found on a tree trunk or could be even in the greatest depths of the.

    These Prime Glyphs does not have any individual peculiarities. But this enormous array of glyphs connected by intangible lines of energy exists for one purpose alone - the safety of the."

    Lee Shen was guessing at where this is going, and Tanya proved his theory.

    "These Prime Glyphs came into existence when the continents were split and its energies were spilt. Certain sentience enveloping the entire dimension assigned this array for prevention of any future incidents."

    [She is talking about the Will of the Dimensions. Good thing that she does not know the name.]

    Dmented as Tanya continued to lecture.

    "To bring the continents back to life, every single one of these Prime Glyphs must be destroyed. Even if a pair of them are to survive, our mission would fail."

    Hence, Lee Shen''s theory was proved.

    Raising his hand, he queried again.

    "But aren''t they scattered across the? How do you expect to find them all?"

    The demon was amused by the curious human being sitting in front of her and let out a peal of faintughter.

    "We have been searching and destroying the Prime Glyphs for centuries!"

    "..."

    [This is bad news.]

    The trio of D, Hudson and Lee Shen never imagined that this mission has been continuing for about a century. The Tubians who are very powerful individuals took more than a century and yet not have destroyed them all.

    "There are less than 20 Prime Glyphs left to destroy. So our efforts will beat fruit soon."

    Lee Shen''s heart skipped a beat when he heard how close the danger had arrived. His heart continuously muttered to act now, but his mind was not released of the restrains.

    "Then, the city you destroyed..."

    "Yes, a Prime Glyph was embedded inside the boulder upon which the city was built."

    Tanya replied casually and observed Lee Shen''s expressions. She felt excited as his emotions turned livid.

    But he had a lot of doubts to ask before dying!

    "How do you find them? You did say that they are well concealed."

    Tanya hesitated to answer, but the next second, she realised that she was fulfilling this man''sst wish.

    "To find the presence of these masters of concealment is exhausting. But we can assume the general location of these glyphs by constantly searching for ces brimming with life.

    Normally, these areas are were underwater settlements are built. Maybe it is due to the presence of the rich and intangible energy lines passing through this region that causes waterfolk to settle in the area."

    Questions began to pop up in his head as Lee Shen thought about it.

    "Yet I can''t believe that these important Prime Glyphs are left unprotected."

    He muttered to himself, but it was loud enough to fall in Tanya''s ears.

    She quickly corrected his assumption.

    "They do deploy countermeasures against intruders. As soon as we halved the number of Prime Glyphs, the remaining glyphs began to randomly relocate itself and brought bnce to the instability.

    To increase the heat, there are numerous beasts stationed solely for protecting these Glyphs."

    Upon hearing this, Lee Shen recalled the names of the beasts D had once mentioned. Lee too was suspicious about their existence for a long time. And it turns out to be for this specific objective.

    The cross-legged figure supported his chin with his hands as the fingers scratched his lower jaw.

 Chapter 280: Planet Shattering Conspiracy (2)

    Chapter 280: Shattering Conspiracy (2)

    The basic and most essential outline of the incidents is now disclosed to Lee Shen. As he contemted, more and more information was eventually theorized by him.

    [Ask who assigned this job to them.]

    ''Ah, right.''

    Hudson''s words broke Lee''s train of thoughts but he was d about that. The question he was about to ask might give him a clue about the Amortals, D thought.

    With a deep frown, Lee raised his eyes and queried again.

    "You said that you all are assigned to do this task. Then that person must be very powerful than you, right?"

    Tanya''s face darkened for a second and she replied in a rather distasteful tone.

    "They are all-powerful beings. You don''t need to know theirs identifies as they are beyondprehension. All I could let you know is that they offered an undeniable proposal."

    [An undeniable proposal? To Tubians? I have every reason to believe that she is referring to Amortals.

    But the proposal?]

    Lee Shen was already trying to find every possibility of the proposal. The term ''Undeniable'' helped him sort and eliminate most of his assumptions. Still, he was left with several hypotheses.

    "Since I am about to die, I would like to hear about the proposal too."

    Lee Shen did not show any sign of fright as his voice was stern and stable. Tanya nodded at his words and continued to speak.

    "These all-powerful beings asked us to destroy the Prime Glyphs and resurrect the Forgotten Trinity. In return, they will grant us powers greater than what we already have."

    Tanya spoke and saw a frown on Lee''s face. The concise description of the proposal barely conveyed anything useful. So, Tanya decided to borate.

    "We, the Tubians only have a single trait as our innate affinity. It could be rted to a substance, an action, an element or an emotion. For some, it isplex and has to fulfil certain criteria to disy the prowess.

    The heavenly beings that contacted us imparted a tiny fraction of their powers to us as a demonstration."

    Tanya took a pause and turned her head to her right. She stared at the wall of saline water surrounding the air bubble. Then, she extended her right hand to where she was looking. The fist was closed and it opened up to reveal nothing.

    Then, the next second, arge sphere of water detached itself from the waterbody and floated gently floated towards her hand.

    "Telekinesis?"

    Lee Shen sounded his doubt but there was no reply. Tanya was focused on the beauty of the perfect sphere.

    [No, this is an extinction-level threat.]

    As D carefully observed the water sphere, the contaminants and other pollutants that were present in that sphere ceased to exist. It became crystal clear and its visible charm was exponentially increased.

    Upon closer inspection, Lee Shen saw that the water sphere was not empty.

    [A tadpole? But the water waspletely unupied a few seconds ago.]

    Hudson was the most attentive among the trio. He analysed and inspected Tanya''s actions with great interest. His observations were very keen that he saw the almost invisible and tiny tadpole swimming inside the sphere.

    "This power has no name. It has never been in the records and is indescribable. One can onlyprehend its nature by witnessing its function."

    Tanya sounded mysterious when her voice resonated inside the air bubble. Lee shuttled his eyes to her face and saw a different aura around her.

    ''She has got more powerful.''

    Though Tanya concealed her brimming energy, Lee Shen was still able to detect rtively new energy flowing out of it. Since she gained this power from the Amortals very recently and her mastery over it was not noticeable, he was able to detect this otherworldly force flowing through her body at a close range.

    ''D, does this presence feel nostalgic?''

    [Indeed. How could I ever forget this feeling!]

    At the first exposure, D recognised the source of this power. No matter how old he bes, he would still remember the ambience of Amortal''s powers.

    [T- This is beyond words.]

    As the trio witnessed, the miniature tadpole of the size of half a millimetre grew into an adult frog within seconds. Then the frog was transformed into a salmon which leisurely flew inside the water sphere.

    The astonishment did not end there!

    The fish began to develop vibrant scales and its fins were modified to razor des. The mouth of the fish was reced by the entrance of hell with two sets of a saw-like tooth.

    "Bloody hell!"

    Lee couldn''t help but exim as he saw a normal-looking salmon transform into a grotesque flying amphibian monster with stingers, fangs and lethal ws coupled by some bizarre body modifications.

    It soon swam out of the water sphere and climbed on it. The water sphere began to solidify but did not evolve into ice. Instead, it turned to obsidian.

    The bizarre little monster about three inches started to bite and chew down chunks of rock. It soon developed a liking to the rock and devoured it in seconds.

    Upon shoving thest bits of rock down its throat, the monster stood up and gave out a roar!

    GRAAAWW!!!

    For its size, this expression of pride was impossible. But with the weird ability of Tanya, the lowest being in the food chain became an intimidating presence.

    "This is your new-found power?"

    Tanya did not answer to his query right away as she patted this tiny abomination. She caressed its back and inspected her creativity up close.

    Then she turned to Lee Shen.

    "The full extent of the powers that I received is unknown to me. But this never will be the threshold of what I could do with it."

    In her hand was the unholy creation of her wildest imaginations and it climbed up and down her palm. It disyed its immense reserve of energy to run around and rampage.

    A secondter, the monster showed an urge to settle down. It silently retreated to Tanya''s palm. Under the watchful pair of eyes, it plopped down.

 Chapter 281: Amortals Power

    Chapter 281: Amortal''s Power

    Under the watchful pair of eyes, it plopped down!

    "The true extent of the power that I have received is not defined. It takes you where your imagination lies

    Most importantly, this power allows me to bypass the entrance of the dimension!"

    The resolve of Lee was shaken as his eyes went wide in awe. A sense of horror crept up on his face as he knew what she meant.

    [Impossible! She cannot defy the supremacy of the Will of the Dimension!

    .

    .

    .

    Or, can she?]

    The System Space became chaotic as Hudson found the frightening potential of this power.

    The only thing that made Tubians refrain from mass-murdering was the deportation of the soul by the Will of the Dimension. But what Tanya revealed so casually reminded him that the clock will strike midnight at any given moment.

    As his mind repeated foresaw danger at each probability, Lee Shen kept the mental fluctuations insted inside his mind. Thus, his face was nk of any emotions.

    "This application is my favourite among all. Watch this."

    As Tanya spoke these words, the hybrid animal began to disintegrate. It was more like a controlled disintegration where its anatomy was disclosedyer byyer.

    Within a minute, the animal''s body was stripped off of its bones and flesh. Its hideously modified skeleton soon sublimated into thin air.

    [Lee, I am afraid that this power, unknown to her at the moment, is Molecr Maniption.]

    ''It could even extend to Sub-atomic Maniption.''

    [Complete annihtion in silence. Nothing was left of it.]

    When the trio shared their opinions, Tanya showed her empty palm to Lee Shen. It was to prove that there is nothing left of that tiny abomination.

    Lee Shen began to contemte as his fingers were crossed in front of him.

    ''Forgotten Trinity, Prime Glyphs, Amortals, Tubians and an assigned task.

    It seems like the Amortals are in a hurry.''

    [Why would they be in a hurry? They have lived for aeons, and yet have not disyed this kind of behaviour any time before.]

    [Maybe it is rted to you, D. The Amortals have already sensed your return to home dimension and it might be the reason.]

    [But this Tubian did say that they have been doing this for centuries.]

    [Ah, I forgot that part.]

    ''Leave the reason for now. If it is rted to Amortals, then it is bad. Severely bad.''

    When Lee Shen held a conversation with D and Hudson, Tanya was growing impatient. But she did not rush things as she considered a possibility of him giving in.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>11 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,500 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    -----

    ''I think we willpromise the integrity of the System Storage.''

    [Correct. She can also destroy the System Space like crumbling a piece of paper.]

    [There is also a spatial lock on this space. So you cannot use teleportation.]

    ''Then we have no other way than to kill her.''

    [But you will have to lower her guard to do so.]

    Lee raised his eyes and met Tanya''s gaze. Unlike her expectations, his face was calm and his mind serene.

    "Before you kill me, I need to meditate."

    Lee Shen stood up and looked Tanya directly in her eyes as he spoke. She saw his unwavering resolve to ept death bravely and thus let him take his time to meditate.

    Turning around, Lee saw a rtively t rock protruding from the seabed. It was at the height of his knee and was perfect for him. The brownish-ck hue on the surface of therge rock was one among the manymon colour schemes found underwater.

    ''Spread the Essence around me.''

    Upon Lee''smand, the Essence began to leak out of his body and enveloped him. Tanya quickly felt the emergence of this delicious ambience and strode towards Lee. As she got closer, Lee, through the Map, saw her unconsciously licking her lips.

    [Eww...a truly horrible woman.]

    Apart from the curvaceous physique and plentiful assets, her face was like any average demonfolk. If she was to grow a tail, she would have been more beautiful.

    ''She is near, eh?''

    Lee Shen could sense the approaching presence of Tanya. Simultaneously, he felt a sinkhole through which the stagnant Essence escaped and disappeared.

    ''Hudson, notify me when her guard is down.''

    [Okay.]

    In every manner, death was standing at his doorstep. In stats and powers, Tanya overshadowed him. She knew information that even Dimension Sovereign was a stranger to!

    Every decision to forcefully escape her grasp was debunked as D was well aware of the unknown extents of an Amortal''s power. The power she so casually used was the same power that Amortals used to create the 999 dimensions in the first ce!

    ---

    7 minutes had passed when Lee Shen peek opened his right eye. In front of him stood the alluring figure of a demon, and her eyes were closed. Her hands were resting on her sides and were rxed. She had a faint smile on her face as she savoured and absorbed every bit of the leaking Essence.

    ''How about now?''

    [Wait a little bit more. She seems to be at the verge of falling into a trance.]

    ''At this point, I am not daring to ask anything about her.

    So just let me know when the time is right.''

    Closing his eyelids, Lee Shen could see the Foresight interface which was activated unconditionally. In it, the remaining amount of Essence, Mana and Qi could be seen.

    He silently condensed 30 million Essence inside his palms and the spheres werepressed and they almost materialised as a tangible object. Inside the cloud of Essence that surrounded them, this particr development had gone unnoticed.

    All that Lee Shen wanted right now was the permission to proceed.

    ---

    3 minutester.

    [NOW!!]

    D shouted at the top of his lungs and Lee circted his body with both Mana and Qi. The two counteracting energies enhanced Lee Shen''s body and his agility skyrocketed and almost rivalled that of Tanya. At the same time, Mana and Qi repelled each other and produced an explosive fluctuation in the atmosphere.

 Chapter 282: Times Up, Tanya

    Chapter 282: Time''s Up, Tanya

    When Lee Shen pounced on the demon Tubian, Hudson detected extremely faint spatial ripples around Lee. This was due to his unnatural speed and the participation of two contradictory forces in one body.

    Tanya was not slow to react, but Lee Shen was simply too fast for her to dodge. His open right palm came like a dart and was nted on her face. To not let this woman escape, his forelimbs brimming with coiling energies of Qi and Mana held her in ce.

    "What the-"

    Though Essence was of her liking, she could not avoid detecting the two counteracting forces empowering Lee Shen''s body. She was bbergasted to see a person exploiting these energies, not to mention its efficiency.

    (A.N. The Tubians are not innately repulsive to Mana or Qi. It''s just that those two forces are deviant forms of Essence and that develops a lethal property only effective on Tubians.

    Just letting y''all know.)

    Tanya almost cursed out at this development. The surprise attack which shook her ego and pride confused her and it was visible on her face.

    "Hasta vista, Tanya."

    60 million Essence rushed into the Tubian''s body and the stat panel of Tanya began to glitch crazily. The moment this overdose of Essence entered her body, she lost all control of her body.

    [I had a doubt about this peculiar effect of Essence on Tubians. Turns out, I was correct.]

    D was thoroughly inspecting Tanya when she was immersing herself in the stagnant pool of Essence. As time passed, he could tell that the dense amount of Essence was slowly intoxicating her and was taking her guard away.

    Hudson had also considered this possibility. Anything that could be consumed could also be intoxication, was the basics of his thought. When he coupled his thoughts with D''s observations, the weakness of Tubian race was clearly disclosed.

    Tanya, a Tubian as old as the history of mankind, had a prejudice that nothing under the twin stars could hurt her. She was arrogant and prideful in her awe-inspiring stats and supernatural powers. This attitude gradually clouded her sense of caution.

    All of her neuralworks had became inactive and numb. Except for the pair of eyeballs, she was as lifeless as a puppet. Her limbs did not respond to hermand, and her powers behaved as if they were sealed wlessly.

    Hudson quickly took note of this observation and analysed her physicalposition. He quickly disclosed to Lee Shen that not the soul of the Tubian, but the physical body of the Tubian is the real deal.

    Tanya could feel something creeping over her skin. She could only stare at Lee Shen through the gaps between his fingers in anger.

    Secondster, Tanya''s stat panel turned red and a notification popped up.

    <strong>[=+=+=+=+=></strong>

    <strong>WARNING!</strong>

    <strong>Imminent danger detected. Move away from the object!</strong>

    <strong>[=+=+=+=+=></strong>

    An enormous force pulled Lee Shen away from Tanya. It threw Lee to the wall of water, and the air bubble began to lose it''s stability. Lee quickly got up on his feet and saw the beginning of the infamous deportation phenomena.

    Tanya was gasping for breath as she was released from Lee Shen''s fierce grip. She plopped down on the floor after a vain attempt to raise her torso above her feet.

    The next second, her eyes began to glow. Not only her eyes, but her nose, ears and mouth began to disy bright pirs of white light. Within a few seconds, these pirs grew vertically and became denser. Soon, these bright lights grew in size and merged together and enveloped here

    [Take cover!]

    BOOM!

    D barely finished his words when a gargantuan boom went off with a blinding light. It disrupted the energy equilibrium and the water bubble copsed. The Waterworld was activated after as the system detected the ocean engulfing Lee Shen.

    A violent shockwave trembled the bottom of the sea as many underwater hills broke down. The dust and soil on the sea floor was kicked up and Lee Shen lost visibility as he twirled and twisted under the violent water currents.

    ----

    "Looks like they are gone."

    Lee Shen mumbled to himself as he crept out of his hiding spot. He summoned the Map and confirmed that the waterfolks are not lurking around.

    It took almost a dozen of minutes for all the chaos and dust at the seabed in the Sentience Zone to calm down. To make things worse, a group of waterfolk scouts came near the spot and made a preliminary diagnosis before leaving.

    [Lee, we have acquired something precious.]

    D spoke with excitement as Lee took out the empty shell of the Tubian out of his spatial ring. It looked like a recently deceased person. The eyes were closed and the body showed the characteristic red hue of the demon race.

    It goes without saying that the body was an eye-candy. Though it was properly clothed, it floated in front Lee and the water currents caressed the long brown-ck hair.

    With a single touch, the soulless body of Tanya went inside the System Storage and the hourly notification popped at the same time.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Day 26.</strong>

    <strong>12 Midnight.</strong>

    <strong>5,978,900 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee wanted to sigh, but realised that he was underwater. He quickly shot up like a bazooka and broke through the surface of the ocean. His peak-human agility coupled with the boost of Mana sent shockwaves to the surroundings.

    Many marine animals including Spear Marlin, Rogue Fire Tuna and Poison-tail Tiger Shark moved out of his trajectory as they felt threatened by his sheer speed!

    Flight was activated prior to this and Lee rose up into the sky with the momentum.

    After reaching about 4 kilometres into the sky, Lee halted his ascent and hesitated in the air. His eyes were fixated on the lighting he could see in the city.

    "Beautiful, isn''t it?"

    With the help of Foresight, his eyes could see every face walking on the streets of the city. After taking a few seconds to scan the entire city, he wondered what kind of twisted serene fortune he had been bestowed upon when the images of every painful and blissful moments shed in his mind.

 Chapter 283: Tubian Of Lightning & Thunder

    Chapter 283: Tubian Of Lightning & Thunder

    There was no expression on his face. But his mind was swinging between pain and happiness with passing moment. Both Hudson and D understood their helplessness as they silently witnessed the emotion eclipses.

    *blip blip*

    With a series of blip noises, the Map was automatically opened. Lee and the soul duo stared at the Map and saw something homing in on where they were.

    As they observed, the object indicated by a radar blip decreased its distance to Lee Shen''s position by 20 kilometres!

    [Shit! That is a Tubian!!]

    There was no need for any further exnations as they were the only residents of Zaxaluke to pull out such an agile feat. Without any dy, Lee Shen nose-dived into the city while activating the Dark element affinity.

    After bing one with the darkness, Lee Shen descended on one of the tallest buildings. He looked up into the sky with expectation and scanned the atmosphere. There was nothing notable in the sight and Lee Shen took a peek of the Map, only to see that the blip on the radar was already over the city.

    *Crackling of thunder*

    The sky lit up with a disy of aggressive lightning and all the residents of the city were stunned. Everyone looked up and saw the threatening presence of nature.

    "What is happening?"

    "It was all until now."

    "Is it going to rain?"

    "Is this another cmity?"

    "The god of thunder is angered!"

    "..."

    ....

    Standing on the top of a building, Lee Shen could hear the loud exmations and enquiries down on the ground. The bustling streets became more chaotic and disordered at the sudden appearance of lightning and thunder.

    But only Lee Shen saw the Tubian standing high up in the sky. The person stood with pride and swept his eyes across the horizon and around him. With the help of Foresight, Lee Shen could clearly see the confusion in his face.

    [It looks like this Tubian is unaware of his fellow being''s death.]

    [I did not notice anything that was like a beacon when Tanya''s soul perished. Then how did this persone here with such uracy?]

    [Maybe the shockwave alerted him.]

    D and Hudson conversed about all possible ways through which this Tubian was known of the incident. They could not conclude, but they did affirm that this Tubian of lightning has no idea that Tanya perished.

    ''View.''

    Lee Shen activated the skill and an information panel appeared in front of him.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Name: ---</strong>

    <strong>Race: Tubian</strong>

    <strong>Age: 2 Centuries</strong>

    <strong>-----</strong>

    <strong>Health: 7,500</strong>

    <strong>Power: 10,750</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 9,400</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 760</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    "A Tubian toddler."

    Lee mumbled and D and Hudson agreed with his statement. Whenparing with the full-fledged Tanya and Hegerus, this 2 centuries old Tubian was like a toddler.

    ''Hmm...Lightning, eh?''

    When Lee Shen''s eyes shifted from the Tubian to its powers, a wild idea bloomed in his head. It did not take more than a second for both Hudson and D to realise his intent to experiment.

    [Boy, I can see what you are thinking and that is equivalent to betting with your life. I advise you to discard that thought.]

    Following this, Hudson spoke in favour or D and said that the idea is not only wild but weird and suicidal.

    "Whatever, let''s just defeat this boy."

    Mana began to pool under Lee''s feet and he shot up like a rocket. The Dark element was reactivated and Lee became invisible.

    Though this Tubian was not too powerful, his Power and Dexterity stats could easily overpower Lee. Thus, the cover was necessary.

    As if the concealment was not perfect, the Tubian looked down to where Lee was standing before. With a swing of his hand, the Tubian send a barrage of lightning down on the city.

    BOOM!!

    Lee quickly evaded the oing lightning and barely escaped from its threat. When flying through the rampaging strikes, Lee could feel a tinge of Amortal''s power from it.

    [This man also has the Amortal''s power.]

    The explosion that followed lightning when it touched the ground lit up the atmosphere like Christmas!

    The shockwave generated from the impact was simr to a humongous meteor kissing the surface of Utopia!

    The deafening boom made his eardrums to scream in pain and Lee Shen elerated. With the coupled effect of Flight and Mana enhancement, he quickly neared the Tubian.

    Through the Map, the magnitude of destruction was disclosed to him. The building over which he stood, had turned to ashes along with 22 or 23 buildings surrounding it. Screams of agony and pain saturated the air and almost a hundred lost their lives.

    The shock that transmitted through the ground broke the foundation of many buildings. Streets were deformed with falling boulders and many were injured.

    It was worth mentioning that the Cultivator''s Guild experienced the greatest tremor in its history!

    It only took a simple swing for a toddler Tubian to f**ck up many lives. It turned the serenity of the nightlife to a cmity of the world''s end!

    Anger boiled like water and his eyes turned vengeful. Lee Shen intended to kill this one just like how he killed Tanya. The overdose of Essence should do the trick, he assumed.

    But as his hands almost caught the Tubian''s neck from behind, the man twirled on his right foot and punched!

    BAM!

    The punch was too quick to see and Lee Shen could only bring his left arm partially in front of his chest. The surprise impact threw Lee Shen across the sky like a rubber ball!

    [This guy seems more experienced and versed with the Amortal''s power.]

    Quickly, Lee steadied his position in the air using Flight. It helped his cancel the forces of the punch which threw him away.

    When he thought that he was not injured, D reminded to take a look at his left hand.

    The contact made Lee Shen''s left forearm, wrist, palm and the fingers to scorch and burn. The hand had lost its skin under the exposure of concentrated lightning energy and was numb. It did not react to his neural senses not could he detect his left hand''s forearm.

 Chapter 284: Finding The Flaw

    Chapter 284: Finding The w

    A single punch! All it took for the Tubian to break through his imprable skin was a single punch!

    Tanya might be the most powerful Tubian Lee Could have met until now, but she was not troublesome to deal with, because of her pride and arrogance.

    Life imbued Mana covered the hand but it was not healing!

    [Lee, we are in serious trouble.]

    The wound leaking with blood and brimming with pain was hesitant to heal. No matter how many times he tried, the hand seems to out of the scope of Mana''s healing.

    Lee Shen raised his eyes and looked at the Tubian. The rage, enough to tear that man like a piece of paper, subsided as the trio saw the Tubian ncing all around him in confusion.

    ''The camouge is pretty good.''

    As they observed, the Tubian sent strikes of lightning around him. This made Hudson conclude that the punch was a lucky shot.

    [Or maybe not. It could be because the Tubian felt something threatening behind him.]

    D was correct. When Lee Shen shot up towards the mysterious man, his mind murmured one single word - kill!

    ''You are right.''

    Lee Shen deactivated all efforts to heal his left hand and let it swing lifeless. Every second, it sent loads of pain into his brain. It took him some time to win over the emotions of suffering.

    "Huff..."

    Letting out a mouthful of air, he rxed his limbs as he levitated within the concealment. His mind quickly calmed down and was as tranquil as an open ocean.

    [Now you may.]

    The Dark element guzzled Mana like a hungry jumbo jet and Lee moved forward. He flew at a gentle pace and took his time to close the distance as the Tubian was spraying his affinity element all over the sky.

    Dodging and evading, Lee finally came in 15 metres within the Tubian.

    Then...

    The Tubian quickly turned to his direction and mmed his palm. This time, Lee Shen was able to feel the movement and dodged the attack. Yet, it still made Lee feel the pressure of an Amortal''s power.

    ''Every attack is imbued by the Amortal''s power. This guy is well exploiting the new enhancement.''

    After dodging the strikes a couple more times, Lee Shen retreated a few metres backward. Surprisingly, the Tubian lost his attack streak!

    But the man stood with ferocious eyes. His palms had consolidated lightning balls to throw at any given time.

    A doubt rose up in Hudson''s mind. Before he could convey it, Lee Shen expressed the same guess.

    ''I think this Tubian cannot detect beyond a distance.''

    After he spoke, Hudson added-

    [And within that range he is literally a god.]

    Lee nodded at the statement and stepped near the Tubian a dozen times. Whenever he is 14 metres from the Tubian, he would attack.

    [We got the range. But how do we attack?]

    To kill someone was easy. But to kill someone who has a field of sovereignty around him, that was inconceivable!

    ''If that is the case, than let''s keep this man busy.''

    With a funny smirk, Lee propelled himself like a jet and entered and exited the Tubian''s range of detection several times. The man became irritated with this random popping up on detections while he could not see shit!

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>1 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,620 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    ---------------

    Have you all seen how the monkeys living in Africa ys pranks on lions by pulling their tails and quickly jumping up the tree?

    Well, Lee Shen was the monkey and the Tubian who was getting increasingly annoyed, was the lion.

    His actions had multiple intentions. One, to evaluate the power and pressure of his attacks. Two, to find any blind spots around him. Three, to check his sensitivity to the variables. Four, to agitate the person so much that both Hudson and D could scan the Tubian to the tiniest detail.

    ''Ugh, this man no blind spots. He is invincible inside the range.''

    As soon as Lee Shen let the duo know of his conclusion, they expressed their evaluations.

    [Each of his attacks are above the value shown in the stats. It means he is well-versed in the usage of the Amortal''s power.]

    [But his body and soul is sensitive to variables such as emotions and changes in atmosphere. We could make use of that part.]

    Soon after, Lee Shen discovered that the Tubian had a much quicker response to attacks with killing intent and rage, than attacks with no remorse of deed.

    ''Even if I attack with no killing intent, he would still intercept my strike. I can only boost my agility to a certain extent.''

    As the trio brainstormed to find a solution, the Tubian wore a mocking smirk on his face and lowered his hands. The rampaging lightning disappeared and he spoke-

    "I see that you are a coward bastard. If you were born with a spine, you would not have fought like a jumping monkey."

    The Tubian was a young and well-built man with a dark-chocteplexion. He had a typical wanderer outfit. His proud voice fell in Lee Shen''s ears.

    ''He is trying to piss me off so as to pull me out of my concealment. Clever move, but took him long enough.''

    [The problem is yet unsolved. You need to distract his attention and deal a killing blow.]

    Lee Shen did not reply, but stood there observing the Tubian. The man would move around in the sky inpletely random path and Lee had to avoid falling in his range.

    After thorough contemtion, Lee Shen asked D.

    ''When I grabbed Tanya''s face, it felt like any normal person''s skin. I was able to get a good grip over her face which stunned her.

    Isn''t that because the peak standards of human body are also applicable to Tubians?''

    After a dozen of seconds, D replied-

    [Hudson took a view of Tanya''s corpse and it is like any normal body. It is susceptible to injuries and wounds.

    I think it is the presence of their souls that gives birth to unnatural stat values.]

 Chapter 285: Lightning Constitution Vs Tubian Of Lightning

    Chapter 285: Lightning Constitution Vs Tubian Of Lightning

    Somehow, this reply made him smile. His mood was ted and his heart was filled with happiness. Both D and Hudson nced at each other in confusion.

    ''If that is the case, then this Tubian is so dead!''

    Hudson was so confused that he queried-

    [If what is the case?]

    ''Forget it.

    D, you said that Utopia''s radius is four times the radius of Earth, right?''

    [Umm, yeah. To be urate, the radius is almost 25,498 kilometres.

    Is there any problem?]

    Lee took a nce at the vain attempt to the Tubian to annoy him and turned around. His eyes fixed on the horizon had a sparkle in them.

    ''On the contrary, we have found the solution.''

    Countless numbers began to flood Lee Shen''s mind and the supeputer was at its maximum capacity. As Lee stood there frozen, his brain was trying to find a number. A number that was vital in defeating this Tubian.

    A few secondster, the brightness of his face faded away. Not only the result was unexpected, but also impractical.

    But he was not downcast.

    ''Workshop.''

    The vigour came back with a vicious grin and his hands began to move. The fingers started to dance and another unique construct was born!

    ---------

    [Hmmm...I remember this object. It is from your original world, isn''t it?]

    ''Then tell me it''s named.''

    A silence followed Lee Shen''s words while D scratched his head to remember the object''s name.

    When D admitted defeat, Hudson said-

    [I know. It is a rocket.]

    Lee nodded twice in acknowledgement to his answer. D had a nk face when he saw Hudson''s blissful face.

    [But why are you making a rocket?]

    --------

    Four minutester.

    The Tubian was constantly scanning his surroundings but could not find anything in his senses. He had thought about going back multiple times.

    But he was interested to know the identity of the person who was lurking around him. If possible, he wanted to dissect that person or object.

    His interest soon died out due tock of any disturbance around him. Thinking that the intruder had run away, he was about to fly back to where he came from when he heard a voice.

    "Immature ass*ole!"

    The Tubian paused his tracks and turned around to see a figureing out of concealment. As the Tubian''s eyes locked with Lee''s, he could feel this mysterious person''s anger boiling inside him.

    "What are you looking at, pu**y?"

    Lee Shen sounded extraordinarily brave when plucking the hair off of this superhuman being. Not to mention that D heard the knuckles of the Tubian cracking.

    The young man tried to control his anger and attempted to answer in a civilised manner. But Lee Shen was yet to stop.

    "You don''t know-"

    "Try me, bitch!"

    The anger began to umte and intense lightning spheres began to appear in the Tubian''s palms. They stuck on his body and began to spread all over the Tubian''s skin.

    Now, that young man was like the manifestation of the Lightning itself!

    [Shit! He''s trying to integrate the Amortal''s power and his affinity to product enhancement.]

    ''Toote to withdraw.''

    Large quantities of Mana began to disappear from the reserve and Lee could feel the destructive presence nearing him by each attack. He was barely dodging the Tubian''s attack with the under thebined assistance of Foresight and the Mana-enhanced agility!

    Fortunately, Lee Shen had already integrated with the Law of Lightning. Or else he would have turned to ashes by now!

    ''Even evading has be difficult.''

    The lightning strikes never followed a linear trajectory. It turned, twisted and twirled however it liked. This characteristic of lightning along with its destructive capabilities exponentially increased lightning''s atrocity.

    Fierce lightning strikes rarely bounced off of his skin while most attacks brushed his skin while severely injuring his epidermis. The pain constantly reminded of his situation, that he had poked his head into the hive of a bee.

    [Mana at 2000.]

    ''Refill, refill.

    Hudson, how long do we need to hang on?''

    [More than a minute.]

    ''Screw me.''

    Lee Shen was finally taking some serious hits when he urged Hudson to quicken whatever he was doing. The pain was pushing his limits and his brain was feeling overwhelmed for the first time after arriving at Zaxaluke.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>2 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,600 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    At the worst moment possible, the hourly notification appeared. The translucent panel obstructed Lee Shen''s visibility for a split second. That decided the oue of the battle!

    BAM!

    Under the impact of rampaging lightning, Lee Shen was twitching uncontrobly while trying to stand up in the air. All of his being was severely beaten up and damaged, and was beyond the scope of the healing of Mana or Qi.

    Lee Shen grabbed his chest as he coughed up blood.

    ''Bloody mess, it is.''

    With a stable footing, Lee Shen overcame the lightning''s effects with willpower. He then tried to take on offence.

    But...

    The realisation that both of his forelimbs are burnt crisp made him furrow his brows. The ragged breathing was quickly steadied, but the umted fatigue, remaining in his body was restraining his movement.

    "I heard you call me all kinds of curse words. And it turns out that you are all talk and no show."

    With blood and ck scorch marks all over his body, Lee Shen gave out a mocking chuckle.

    "Oh, you still have the strength tough?"

    The Tubian seemed surprised by Lee Shen''s endurance. He could not help but apud his enemy''s durability.

    But this person must fall, the Tubian thought.

    Lee Shen coughed once more as the Tubian took a step forward. Wiping the trace of blood with his wrist, Lee Shen stared at the Tubian.

    "For a Tubian, you are weak."

    The victorious smile on the Tubian''s face faded away and his face expressed abination of many emotions. There was a surprise, confusion, cringe, cautiousness, anger and curiosity on his face.

    But the Tubian then revealed a rxed face with a grin.

 Chapter 286: Finding The Secrets.

    Chapter 286: Finding The Secrets.

    But the Tubian then revealed a rxed face with a grin.

    "Ah...I remember your face.

    It was from afar, but I remember your pathetic expression."

    Tubian then chuckled before continuing-

    "Hegerus was stupid. He couldn''t even kill a worm. Now that the worm has grown, I shall put an end to its worthless life."

    The Tubian then clicked his tongue and raised his right hand. Lightning materialised in his palm and took the shape of a whip!

    [He should have seen the fight between Hegerus and you. That means he might know the location of the dark elf.]

    At the next moment, Hudson conveyed that the time has arrived.

    [Projectile at peak velocity. Shall Imence the attack?]

    ''Negative. I need to extract information.''

    After saying this, Lee Shen raised his fists and attained caution. The Tubian exercised the lightning whip and it spews lightning to the surroundings.

    "Do you know where Hegerus is?"

    Before the Tubian attacked, Lee Shen raised a question which made the opponent lower his whip andugh wildly.

    "Hahaha...you don''t need to know, because you will die now."

    His poker-face expression stared at the Tubian while D conveyed his assumption.

    [Tubians have a severe superiorityplex.]

    The whipshed out and Lee Shen evaded each strike with a very small margin. The whish caused destructive lightning to move in dynamic directions.

    As time passed, Lee was almost at his threshold of tolerance. The adventurer''s outfit was thoroughly burnt and damaged. Despite the enchantments worth thousands of Essence, the lightning whip shaved off the defensive properties little by little.

    ''I can tell that his attention ispletely on me.

    Hudson, deploy the needles.''

    Lee Shen elerated further and his Essence reserve was being consumed after recharging the Mana reserve continuously.

    [Needles en route.]

    With a nod, Lee Shen pulled out his nunchuck and attributed it with strength boost. He could tell that the strength has reached a whole new level but Lee was doubtful as to its efficiency.

    *crackle*

    When a weird weapon appeared in Lee Shen''s hand, the Tubian frowned as his attention was focused on the dangling object.

    [You''ve got his attention. Maintain it.]

    The nunchuck moved with incredible agility and evaded a dozen of lightning whip''sshes.

    But Lee Shen soon saw cracks appearing on the weapon.

    ''Not good. The weapon will notst long.

    Hudson, we are good to go.''

    [Ok.]

    While maintaining his stance, Lee swung the cracked limbs of the nunchuck to evade any oing strikes. But not only he couldn''t evade, but the nunchuck was eventually shattered to smithereens.

    Though the young man had no idea what that object was, the Tubian was able to assume that the object is a type of weapon and now that it is destroyed, Lee Shen has no other means to defend.

    The innate ability to look down on the natives of the Utopia was the speciality of Tubians. They were assured of their strength and that none on this could beat him.

    Technically, Lee Shen was an outsider, from Earth and received assistance from two elder souls and a system!

    The whip disintegrated and Lee Shen could be seen standing a little away from the Tubian, up in the air. Their disy of powers showered chaos on the city below them.

    ''Hudson, my vitals are dangerously low. I may not be able to take another hit.''

    Those words were not hollow. He was at his limit of taking any more of those lightning strikes.

    The lightning did little damage on him. But it was the usage of Amortal''s power that exponentially increased its destructive capabilities.

    "Struggling to stand up, eh?"

    From the distance, Tubian punched out and the shockwave dashed at Lee. His condition disabled him of any sudden motions and he had to take the attack head-on.

    Thus to defend, Lee crossed his arms in front of his chest.

    Bam!

    Puchik!

    "Gwaaa....!!"

    The Tubian roared out in pain as he was skewered with multiple projectiles.

    *coughs blood*

    To act as a decoy was difficult. When ites to acting as a decoy for Tubian, Lee Shen had thoroughly weighed the pros and cons. It was after a lot of contemtion that he decided to be the decoy.

    ''That''s a hit.''

    With consciousness hanging on thest dozen of threads, Lee stabilised his body and saw the Tubian losing his altitude.

    The projectiles entered the Tubian''s organic body from every direction except the front. As the undivided attention was on Lee, the prideful immigrants did not foresee such a sneak attack.

    As soon as the body was prated with Tungsten-Mithril-Mercury alloy, the enchantments began to take effect.

    The Poison and Paralysis enchantments embedded on the needles were powerful enough to knock out the Draconic-wyvern trio at the slightest whiff. Yet these umted enchantments could only take over the body of the Tubian at a slow pace.

    All of the Tubian''s palms, feet, elbows, knees and thigh bones were punctured by unparalleled strength. The triangr cross-section of the two metres long needles deformed after confirming the capture of the target and several nanobots were released to the Tubian''s body.

    "W-wha-"

    The needles deployed countermeasures to nullify the fall and levitate the puppet. The Tubian, stunned and screaming from the twist in the events, could only try to roar out. But the voice in his throat was sealed primarily.

    [We are getting the diagnosis reports.]

    Hudson urately controlled the triangr needles to puncture more of the Tubian''s bones as he disyed an urge to escape.

    (A.N You might be wondering about certain things. Let me help you.

    The Soul of a Tubian is the deadliest part of its body. But the soul is powerless without a body. So the body bes the vessel that contains the soul which directly makes the body of the Tubian, a fortress.

    If one could bypass the defence and inflict physical debuffs on the body of a Tubian, then their souls be powerless without an active vessel to work.)

 Chapter 287: When Death Is Again At Your Doorstep

    Chapter 287: When Death Is Again At Your Doorstep

    The Tubian felt powerless, and most importantly, felt the presence of death near him.

    "Y-you...what are you?"

    The Tubian levitated towards Lee Shen and they both disappeared from the right and detection as the Dark element enveloped them.

    As soon as the Tubian saw the ragged appearance of Lee, he began tough which made him cough blood.

    "Even if you kill me, you will die for sure. My sacrifice won''t be in vain."

    Lee Shen did not reply but started at the Tubian.

    [He is correct. The Amortal''s power has inflicted fatal wounds to your body. But your soul is somehow intact.]

    The needles further deformed and gifted physical torture to the Tubian. The man hung on the levitating needles ground his teeth and twitched at each second.

    "Tell me, where is Hegerus?"

    The Tubian bit down the pain and replied-

    "For what? To get your friends back? That is probably dead."

    "Oh..."

    Lee Shen identally came across a piece of information. From the spilt words, there was a chance for all three of them to be alive.

    When stitching this assumption with what Tanya had said, they use people as Essence farms for an extensive period.

    The smile that bloomed on his face made the Tubian frown. This smile was not what he had expected to see. There should be wailing of agony when he hears about his lost teammates.

    ''Or did I say something vital?''

    The Tubian began to revisit the words he just spewed. After a couple of attempts, the young man could not find anything.

    Lee Shen then noticed the Tubian''s change of expression. Upon Hudson''s prompt to proceed, Lee, with a vicious grin, spoke-

    "We will take it from here."

    The next second, the Tubian began to stretch and twist its limbs and neck. The process continued and Lee Shen could here the Tubian''sst wisp of consciousness crying out from the depths of the abyss.

    ''D, proceed.''

    Two million Essence we''re injected into the Tubian''s body and the panel turned blood red with multiple warnings screens!

    <strong>[=+=+=+=+=></strong>

    <strong>WARNING!</strong>

    <strong>Imminent danger detected. Move away from the object!</strong>

    <strong>[=+=+=+=+=></strong>

    <strong>WARNING!</strong>

    <strong>Imminent danger detected. Move away from the object!</strong>

    <strong>[=+=+=+=+=></strong>

    <strong>WARNING!</strong>

    <strong>Imminent danger detected. Move away from the object!</strong>

    <strong>[=+=+=+=+=></strong>

    The scorched skin and broken bones gifted Lee Shen with an avnche of pain and he could not move properly.

    "You...will...pay!"

    The disfigured human body expressed its wrath verbally and punched on Lee Shen. Both D and Hudson we''re astonished to see that the Tubian still had the energy tomence a suicide attack.

    BOOM!!

    The remaining Amortal''s energy inside the Tubian''s body exploded and the fabrics of reality were almost torn apart. The sky lit up like the scorching sun at noon and all of the Piscerent city saw this phenomenon.

    The explosion from close-proximity threw Lee Shen over several tens of kilometres over the sea and away from thend. It was so powerful that the Flight was ineffective in stabilising Lee Shen''s body.

    "..."

    Lee wanted to speak but words could not exit his mouth. Then he felt a hole on his neck. The violent air current blowing through the hole tore the wound wide.

    While being sted away from the explosion, Lee could rte the sensation he is now experiencing, to the sensation when he first opened his eyes in Utopia. That feeling of being attached and detached at the same time was eerie and unspeakable.

    Maybe it was because of the presence of Amortal''s power in the explosion, Lee Shen could notmunicate with D or Hudson. Any attempt to make contact with the system was greeted by an awkward silence.

    Not only themunications but Lee''s ability to sense his surroundings were also jammed!

    As his face began to feel a peculiar burn that seems to seep through the pores of the skin, Lee Shen attempted to open his eyes. But it backfired and his eyes began to bleed. The epitome of pain was thus recalibrated!

    The feeling of floating in the air was not a pleasant one as he could sense that he was falling. The body devoid of any mean to re-stabilise twisted and rotated like a lifeless dummy thrown from the atmosphere.

    Expecting a bone-shattering impact at any given moment, Lee Shen calmed his mind and focus on the situation of his body.

    When trying to evaluate his physical condition, he realised that his vitals are at a dangerously low level.

    About 80% of his skin was severely burnt or torn away. All of his fingers were broken and dislocated. The limbs were not suitable to support his weight at the moment.

    And when he was thinking about lessening the damage of the impact, he touched down on the ocean!!

    *Ssh*

    Lee Shen was fortunate that despite the fourfold size of the, the gravity was only 14 m/s. At normal circumstances, Lee would not be hurt even if he was to fall on his belly.

    But his condition, the most important variable in his safety, had swung from one side to the other!

    As soon as he fell into the water, the blood began to spread out. Luckily, there were no beasts in the vicinity.

    *burble*

    The skill Waterworld was important for underwater explorations. Without that, Lee Shen would not have escaped the copse of the water bubble when he deported Tanya.

    But the system was unable tomunicate with him. D and Hudson were stranded in the System Space and could not create a spatial tear. Somehow, fate disconnected the system from Lee Shen.

    Under adverse circumstances, Lee Shen began to struggle to stay alive. He had unconsciously taken in water and the irritation kicked his consciousness to alert mode.

    iling his hands, Lee Shen tried to swim upward. But his eyes were in an increased agony by the contact with saline water and Lee was stepping to the doors of the death!

    After a few seconds, the consciousness began to fade and all the attempt to keep water out of his innards failed. Slowly, he sunk to the depths.

 Chapter 288: Changes Happen

    Chapter 288: Changes Happen

    *CRACK*

    An intimidating crack could be seen forming just over the surface of the sea. The fissure grew nearly 3 metres wide when something jumped out of it.

    *ssh*

    The unidentified being was too quick for eyes to observe and it nose-dived into the sea. This rtively long figure had an otherworldly beauty and housed an absurd amount of energy.

    As if the figure has echolocation, ites in on Lee Shen''s almost lifeless body. It pierced water with such speed that the fishes and predators attracted by the scent of blood were thrown away by the shockwave.

    [He is hanging onto his life with willpower. Get him inside quickly.]

    The figure extended its hand and took Lee by his waist. All it took was a split-second to turn to the surface and...

    Boom!

    Like a cruise missile, the silhouette broke the sound barrier as it shot out of the water like a majestic dolphin. In a matter of seconds, that person covered several hundreds of metres while keeping Lee Shen safe.

    Like a well-trained dolphin jumping through the loops, the figure broke the water surface and leapt straight into the spatial tear.

    Within a fraction of second, the tear was patched and the reality was stitched together.

    ------

    The city had plunged into chaos. Every resident was in a hurry to pack their belongings and flee the area.

    Because they felt the presence of an unfathomable power!

    To be precise, the explosion of the Tubian spewed out the Amortal''s power with such density that the normal folks devoid of neither affinities felt threatened!

    The Cultivator''s Guild quickly dispatched people to help the injured and distraught. The sects also showed enthusiasm in fixing the disorder.

    It was noteworthy that the qvier academy came out of their campus walls to actively help people and restore order.

    The new enhancements acquired by the students sowed seeds of inspiration in others. Due to Mana''spatibility with nature, their presence was found to be more essential than the cultivators.

    -------

    About an hourter.

    Four Tubians suddenly appeared in the sky above the Piscerent city. They let their eyes sweep around them and observe the mayhem lingering on the ground.

    The suicidal attack of the Tubian sent shockwaves so powerful that entire buildings were broken down to dust!

    This unbelievable rate of destruction could be attributed to the Amortal''s power.

    The three among the four wore an outfit that of the cultivators. Thest one had a warrior outfit and a great sword on his back.

    But their genders were not readilyprehensible as they were all snakefolk.

    A characteristic green colour could be seen on their skin which was decorated by a vast array of scales. The snake eyes were frightening and would have instilled fear inmoners at the first nce.

    "One would have been fate. But two is suspicious."

    The smallest among them spoke with a slithering ent. Their hairless, bald heads were devoid of ears and any facial hair. The spilt-tongue, unique to the snake race, could be seen exposing out of its mouth as it spoke.

    "Shouldn''t we report it to Yava?"

    The tallest among them asked with a tinge of doubt. Upon hearing this query, another snakefolk looked at the person and asked-

    "Report? So you think we can just go in and report that two of our fellow beings have vanished without a clue? Or are you telling that you have the guts to convey this message to the Great Yava?"

    The questioning was unanswered as the one who asked the doubt couldn''t reply anything. He kept silent after realising his mistake.

    "That won''t be necessary. Yava knows everything and will know everything."

    The fourth one, which wore the warrior outfit, spoke and turned around to leave. Like a gentle breeze, that snakefolk disappeared into thin air.

    To be precise, its speed was so great that it looked like disappearing into thin air.

    The remaining three nced at each other and silently followed the lead.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>7 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,978,110 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    The System Storage, an independent and untraceable subspace connected to the system, was silent as a cemetery.

    The gigantic mansion was now a simple home. It resembled old wooden cabins in the woods.

    With two separate bedrooms and a living room, the wooden textured single storey building stood humble.

    In one of those rooms was a familiar figure. Heid on a wooden bed and was unconscious. The scars and wounds on his skin were yet to healpletely.

    asionally, Lee Shen would moan in pain. Sometimes, he would bite down the pain. Even when the agony of being tortured surrounded him, his unconscious mind did not make any noises.

    Across the room was a wooden table. Next to the table was a pair of chairs and a mature and beautiful feminine figure upied one of them.

    The solemnity of her face was evident in the air as her green eyes stared observed Lee Shen.

    "Rue, are you hungry?"

    Hudson came into the room with a ss of watermelon juice and a te of the sandwich. He ced them on the table as he nced at the unconscious person.

    There was seriousness on his face as his brows further knit upon seeing the hesitance of wounds to heal.

    He shuttled his eyes to Rue and saw that she had not touched the food. Then Rue raised her eyes and locked with Hudson''s gaze.

    "He will wake up soon."

    Rue spoke as she understood the meaning of the gaze. Hearing this, Hudson loosened his knot brows and nodded, and then walked out of the room silently.

    Rue''s eyes followed him until he disappeared from her sight. Then she focused back on Lee Shen. With no sign of waking up soon, Rue disyed uneasiness regarding his condition.

    -----

    System Space had its day-night cycle. The 24-hour cycle was wless as D, using his authority of Dimension Sovereign, created it.

    The night had fallen and the limited atmosphere of the subspace was painted ck with a bright moon. That heavenly body was unlike Utopia''s natural satellite.

 Chapter 289: Delaying The Obvious

    Chapter 289: Dying The Obvious

    Hudson walked through the living room and exited the house. His destination was the cafeteria.

    Numerous streetmps resembling medieval times illuminated thend. The twin lights hanging from the pole''s either side was beautiful with decorations.

    Hudson, with his hands behind him, looked deep and contemting at the moment. As he neared the cafeteria, a familiar sword was on the counter.

    "How is he?"

    A voice rose from the sword and it was weak. It was as if D had gone through tough physicalbour.

    Hudson kept on walking while taking a peek at the house over his shoulder. His hands were still behind his back and he shuttled his eyes back to the sword.

    "She says that he will wake up soon. But...I doubt it."

    Sitting on the nearest chair, Hudson leans over the table in front of him. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and dripped from his chin.

    The lights spread a yellowish-white shade around them and the Hudson was no exception.

    Hearing Hudson''s words, the sword slid out of its sheath by two or three centimetres. From the exposed part of the de, smoke began to rise. The dense smoke did not dissipate but began to flow down onto the ground.

    As soon as the smoke touched the ground, it began to condense. Soon the gas gave birth to an amorphous human figure.

    Two hands, legs, a torso and a head could be seen. But the figurergelycked any features. Looking no more than a colourless and translucent ragdoll, it lifted its leg and moved towards Hudson.

    As it moved away from the cafeteria counter, the sword was nowhere to be seen. If one could focus enough, they would see the vague figure of the sword embedded inside the ragdoll smoke.

    Strolling with leisure steps, the amorphous being came near the table and slowly lowered its body. The sword touched the chair and rested safely on it.

    Hudson had a peculiar expression on his face. It was the hybrid of confusion, curiosity and amusement.

    Like a king, Dnekewy''s amorphous appearance ced his hands on the hand rests. Then the bulbous head, with no features to determine which is front or back, turned to Hudson.

    "You know, it is ufortable to do this."

    Hudson had a faint smirk on his face when he heard Dnekewy''s exnation. Without dwelling on the words, Hudson shifted his eyes to the table in front of him.

    "How is your soul''s integrity?"

    Dnekewy''s voice came from the amorphous being sitting next to him. Hudson took a moment to raise his eyes to D and then took a nce at Zena and Fero who entered the scene.

    "Holding up for now."

    It was then D noticed Hudson''s hands. The pinky and thumb on his hands had turned transparent and the remaining fingers were beginning to be translucent.

    Sensing the gaze, Hudson retracted his hands from the hand rests and tucked inside the coat.

    Dnekewy slightly chuckled at this reaction. He raised his head and stared at the moon he had ced in the sky.

    "No need to hide it, man. We are already dead and are only dying the inevitable extinction of our souls."

    Though D was devoid of any facial features, his words conveyed his deepest thoughts in simple words. When Hudson looked at him, he could almost make out his current expression.

    For the next few minutes, there were no movements at the vicinity. Hudson and D sat like a statue, their breathing shallow. Zena and Fero sat near them and observed them. Their eyeballs went right and left and scanned the amorphous physique of the Dimension Sovereign and paleplexion of Hudson.

    Footsteps came from Hudson''s behind and he turned around to see Rue walking to them. D stretched his gaseous neck and saw a nk expression on her face.

    Now that she is a True Druid, Rue had gone through tremendous changes. The most significant difference was in the height.

    Reaching almost 2 metres, 6 foot 6 inches, she had acquired the physique of an adult Druid.

    This race, extremelypatible with nature, was blessed with supernatural affinity with life energy flowing through all of Utopia!

    When ites to stats, her values were only a little more than a normal human being. But the performance she could disy was many times to that of the stat values.

    There was a rtively shallow increase in her weight. But anyone seeing her for the first time would be attracted by her exaggerated and alluring anatomy!

    Druids were blessed with a body which had a wooden texture. The skin this showed their innate connection with nature. To add aesthetic beauty, her seemingly wooden hands were devoid of any hair and was smooth like polished wood!

    The long green dress she wore suited her racial features and beauty. Upon close inspection, one could find the the dress was actuall made out of interwoven vines.

    The hair colour had be blond and it matched her wooden skin texture. The thick hair was braided and delicate and tender vines grew and kept them intact.

    Hudson and D failed to notice the simple crown-like garment over her head when they first saw her after the awakening. It was not eye-catching, but increased her beauty by many times once they saw it.

    The dress inspired from the female outfit of medieval renaissance times of Earth outlined her figure and her assets while cleverly concealing them behind the vines. Even those with innate capabilities of imagination would find it difficult to create a naughty version of her, in their mind.

    Most importantly, Rue did not wore any kind of footwear. When asked about it, she said that Druids do not use any footwear. She added that the nature is one with her by essence and that stones and thorns cannot hurt her skin.

    When she entered the scene, both Zena and Fero became enthusiastic and joyfully hopped to her. Rue''s affinity with nature had a great influence on the beasts and monsters, both tamed and untamed.

 Chapter 290: Again!

    Chapter 290: Again!

    As Zena neared her with affection, Fero felt an indescribable pull towards her. The Split-jaw Hyenacked knowledge about her awakening and transformation. He only saw her sitting under a tree for about ten days.

    After caressing the fur of both beasts, Rue sat down on the third chair around the table. Even after she sat down, Hudson and D had to look up to her.

    "When will he wake up?"

    Dnekewy asked right away and she replied-

    "Within hours, I believe."

    Hudson turned his face to her with a frown. Upon sensing his expression, she added-

    "The Amortal''s power was beyond our imagination. Both of you suffered a bacsh. Even I, who recently became a True Druid, had to empty my boundless energy reserve multiple times to stabilise his condition."

    Her statement was not an exaggeration. History of Utopia does teach that True Druids are born with a ''boundless'' reserve of energy. It is neither Mana nor Qi. But it is another non-recorded form of Essence about which information greatlycked.

    Theck of information was because this power was innate to True Druids only and cannot be transferred or detected by the existing methods. The race soon decided to be a closedmunity which ced thest nail on the information regarding this unique power.

    Normally, True Druids are considered to be housing a boundless pit of energy. Their assistance in wars could turn the tides at an unimaginable scale.

    Thus the records show the inexhaustible reserve of this race!

    But this fact was unofficially overwritten when Rue felt her powers touching the bottom of the reserve as she stabilised Lee Shen''s health. When fighting against the wounds inflicted on his body, she finally realised that their powers do have a bottom line!

    It was then both Hudson and D realised the devastating potential of Amortal''s powers.

    As if the beasts sensed the stagnant air around the table, Zena walked towards the trio. To lighten up the tension, she quickly bit D''s amorphous body and her mouth went through the gaseous physique.

    When D was about tough, he then felt something ufortable.

    "Uh oh!"

    The Perrafin might have failed to bit D, but her aim all along was the sword. The projection of D as a gaseous being was rooted in the sword. After the forming of Sword Will, he had been permanently imprisoned in the weapon!

    A new vigour enveloped Zena as she jumped up and down with the sword in her mouth. Her pace picked up speed as she ran around with Fero in tow. The beasts expressed their happiness as they ran a marathon around the house.

    The unfortunate Dimension Sovereign was as helpless as a kite with its thread in a brat''s grasp. Zena ran around with the sword firmly ced in her mouth and the apparition iled its hands and torso as it got dragged away.

    Rue had a moment of amusement when she saw this. But it soon faded away as she sunk her mind in contemtion.

    A True Druid''s vast energy reservoir was backed up by their energy recovery skill. It was an innate skill and exclusive for adult Druids. Other races also had recovery methods but they all are vastly inferior in the regenerative capability.

    This skill was the undisclosed cause behind thebel ''boundless energy''!

    As Rue sank into thoughts, she could feel the immensity of the replenished energy reserve. And she wondered just how ridiculously powerful an Amortal''s power should be to overshadow the energy regenerative skill.

    The Essence which Tubians consume for survival is the purest form of energy avable in Utopia. One value of Essence could be halved and you either get two units of Mana or Qi or one unit of each.

    The conversion rate was different for the True Druid''s exclusive and unnamed energy. The long-term researches of Druids finalised that only 85% of a unit of Essence is needed to produce oneplete unit of this exclusive power.

    This also denoted the higher quality of the energy and its associated purity and efficiency!

    ------

    The hours moved on and the clock went on ticking. The night went and the day came. Under the watchful eyes of Hudson, Dnekewy and Rue, Lee Shenid unconscious on the bed, with no knowledge of passing time.

    -----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>Day 31.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    A month had passed since Lee Shen opened his eyes in Utopia. Coincidentally, Lee Shen opened his eyes again on the first day of the second month.

    The first thing he saw was a wooden roof unfamiliar to him. Amusement filled his heart as he recalled that almost all instances where he saw a wooden roof when opening his eyes were after a tiring event.

    A casual move of his hand and he froze. Tremors engulfed his body and Lee Shen''s eyes began to well up with tears. Not that it was an exciting moment, but his body lying still and recuperating while fighting the invading energy of Amortals was unfit for any movement at the moment.

    Unbeknownst to him, Rue depleted her energy reserve multiple times to stabilize his vital signs to a satisfactory level. While her energy regeneration tried to refill, Hudson and D used their soul''s essence to assist Rue in the process.

    *panting*

    The pain that made him reluctant to even breath slowly subsided and Lee Shen was sweating profusely. His heart rate had spiked to an astonishing level and he had to regte his heartbeats to survive.

    With eyes staring open wide at the ceiling, he let out air through his mouth and forcefully sucked back the air in. His chest moved up and down in rhythm and every second was filled in agony.

    Then, he heard fast-paced footsteps rushing in.

    "Lee!"

    Rue and Hudson came running into the room. Fero and Zena followed them and way joyous to see their master alive.

    But their eyes sank as they saw him expressing immense pain and yearning to cry out loud.

    "Stay still. You are notpletely healed."

 Chapter 291: Alive & Awake

    Chapter 291: Alive & Awake

    The pain clouded his senses but he could hear Rue''s voice. The next second, a soothing sensation rushed up to his body and he fell unconscious.

    "Phew..."

    Standing back up on her feet, Rue let out a mouthful of air as she pushed his consciousness back to slumber.

    When she turned around with beads of sweat on her forehead, Hudson felt weariness from her.

    "What was that?"

    D, the weightless gaseous projection of the soul, sat over Zena and voiced his curiosity. Rue inspected Lee Shen''s physique and concluded.

    "It was nothing serious. His body had not moved for almost a week. The reconstruction made him uneasy and was painful when he tried to move."

    She walked out of the room and Hudson followed her. Rue needed to rx and meditate to get back the spent energy.

    While going out of the house, Hudson took the sword off the back of Zena. He intended to give the beasts a few moments to be with their master.

    Due to their pr opposite affinities, Fero and Zena have be bosom buddies. They could also establishmunication telepathically over a short-range.

    The Perrafin tiptoed to Lee and Fero followed her lead. The duo gently rested their heads over the edge of the bed and scanned Lee Shen from head to heel.

    Fero nced at Zena upon his preliminary analysis and Zena nodded at his conclusion. They could feel that though Lee Shen looks peaceful on the outside, his body had gone through numerous hardships and tortures.

    When Rue dragged him out of the death''s entrance and into the System Space, they were there. The duo beasts witnessed the pathetic state Lee had been reduced to and could only stand and stare at Rue''s distraught face as she carried him inside the house.

    That hour of the day was when D thought this subspace was about to shatter. The wounds on Lee Shen''s body emitted an untraceable amount of Amortal''s energy which was enough to tremble the whole subspace like an afraid kitten!

    And there were casualties.

    The terrain and the time inside the System Space were disordered while Rue tried to nullify the foreign energy. For the first time in her life, she touched the bottom end of the ''boundless'' energy reserve of a True Druid, glorified throughout history!

    When she felt her powers were insufficient, D did not think twice to partition his soul to repair his body. Though D was a wisp of the soul, it was the soul of the man whom the Will of the Dimension acknowledged being the newest in line of the legacy of the Sovereigns.

    Hudson felt guilty for letting D burden alone and he too sublime a part of his soul to stabilise Lee Shen''s vitals, and the conjoint effort paid off!

    It was only under thebined effort of the trio that Lee Shen was left to live again!

    When the trio took a break from the process, it was then D noticed certain anomalies with the system. Since he was the system, he promptly detected the damages.

    Like how Hegerus took away the system''s immunity feature, the malicious mastermind''s powers had corroded the system to its efficiency.

    ---------

    "..."

    "...he is opening his eyes."

    Hours went past and the night seeded the bright light of day. The System Space, now tranquil and silent, was illuminated by the moonlight.

    In the forest near the house, animals and beasts roamed around freely and there the Wyvern trio slept without bothering anyone.

    Inside the house, Rue sat on the chair next to the bed and Hudson was sitting by her. Their eyes were focused on Lee Shen whom Rue foretold to be awakening at that hour.

    Hudson hushedlymented while his eyes did not go astray. He and the woman carefully analysed the micro-expressions waxing and waning on his face.

    Finally, the moment of waking up was near. It was evident to them as Lee Shen moved his fingers and his brows knit.

    Then...

    .

    .

    .

    Eyes opened wide and Lee Shen sprang up like a released spring. He sat up on the bed and his face disyed astonishment while he breathed heavily!

    That was not the reaction Hudson expected. He unconsciously slid back the chair with him on it.

    When Lee Shen jolted up and sat on the bed, it scared Fero and Zena.

    But this reaction failed to fluctuate Rue''s resolve. She looked at him with a tinge of curiosity as if she was expecting this.

    Lee, with a sense of disbelief, checked his hands. He then checked his body and found that he was perfectly intact.

    It was only after his inspection that the figures of Rue and Hudson were noticed in his sight.

    Upon seeing an unfamiliar feminine figure, Lee Shen was about to query who she is when he remembered who she was.

    "Rue-"

    Lee could not express his doubt verbally as a painful headache attacked him. He squinted his eyes and curled his body in pain. He then plopped on the bed and the sound of gritting teeth was audible.

    "Rx and sleep."

    The moment she spoke, her power was released through her hands and Lee Shen was once again put to sleep.

    "Are you sure that there is nothing wrong with him?"

    For Hudson''s query, a nod was the answer. Though he did not find the answer satisfactory, he decided to believe the True Druid, for now.

    "Perhaps when he wakes up tomorrow morning, he would be okay."

    Rue added her words before leaving the room. Hudson and D found the answer adequate but frowned at the ''perhaps'' part.

    The day ended silent and in anticipation. The night reflected the serenity as Rue sat under a tree and meditated without a break.

    ------

    *birds singing*

    The melody of birds woke Rue from her meditative state. The warmth of sunlight shone on her face and soaked her in blissfulness.

    With a sigh, she realised that her depleted reserve is back to brim. She could feel the nurturing energy coursing through her veins.

    When the house and the cafeteria came into her sight, her stomach grumbled in hunger.

 Chapter 292: Account Of Losses

    Chapter 292: ount Of Losses

    As she stood up and stepped to the cafeteria, she casually swung her eyes to the front door of the wooden cabin and saw a person standing at the doorframe with a smile.

    "Oh, he is awake!"

    Hudson eximed as he too sensed the newly appeared presence of Lee Shen. Till a second ago, he was not there.

    Lee, wearing a pair of trousers and a tee-shirt, slowly walked to them. Seeing Rue''s figure, numerous questions and assumptions popped in his mind.

    There was no change to the cafeteria. It looked the same with a counter and a table with four chairs around them.

    "Morning kiddo."

    Dnekewy''s voice rose from the sword which was kept on the counter. Hudson who sat next to the sword quickly made some tea. He then walked to the table with those three teacups.

    After Hudson left the counter, D materialised as the gaseous apparition. The sight was a total surprise for Lee as he stared at the funny movements.

    Walking barefoot, Lee Shen felt the grass bristles brushing to his foot. Enjoying the sensation, he came close to the table with gentle steps.

    The trio had already seated when he took his sweat time to walk. Finding their eyes focused on him, Lee silently sat on the fourth chair.

    As soon as he sat, Fero came running at him as wind and Zena overtook him before he could reach Lee.

    Without saying anything, he let his fingers run through the beautiful ck fur of the Hyena and the unparalleled beauty of the Perrafin. The beasts pushed their forehead to his thighs in return. Telepathically, he spoke to them.

    The trio then noticed his smile fading away and reced with solemn expressions. It did not take long for them to conclude that Lee could talk with the beasts he had tamed.

    About a minuteter.

    The duo left from Lee Shen''s vicinity and he focused on the teacup in front of him. The warmth of the tea was assured by the steam rising from the cup.

    As Hudson, D and Rue watched, he took the cup and pour the hot tea into his mouth!

    It was quick and the cup was ced back on the table. D leaned forward and found that the cup had be empty. With concern, he asked Rue-

    "Hey, are you sure that you fixed him right?"

    The question was a joke but D intended to ask that since what Lee Shen did was gulp down hot, piping tea!

    Even as the Dimension Sovereign, that was a trick difficult to pull off. Even after bing a soul, he did not try to attempt it.

    Rue nodded in reply and observed Lee Shen. His face revealed his mindpiling and organising information.

    The next second, he raised his eyes and skimmed over the faces of the trio.

    "Tell me everything that happened."

    From the beasts'' ount, Lee Shenprehended that the chaos and disorder the System Space went through was rted to him. Now he wanted to know how much the system and its residents have suffered.

    Rue took a quick peek of the faces of the two souls. Hudson locked gaze with her and they stared at Dnekewy together. Thus, D was assigned to exin everything to Lee Shen.

    "The Amortal''s power...it was more destructive than we have imagined."

    D took a pause and the expressions embedded in those words were understandable to Lee Shen. The undeveloped head turned its head and took a look at the dense vegetation growing a little far from the house and continued-

    "Your body which was reconstructed to the peak of human standards were thoroughly ruined by the Tubian. Whether it is your skill in dodging or your luck, something helped you from taking killing blows.

    The part that made your rescue insanely troublesome was the final suicide attack. That st spewed out all the Amortal''s power like a fountain and you were exposed to it at high concentration.

    Stating the fact, that power was what gave form to the 999 dimensions and induced the Will of the Dimension and serendipity in them.

    Since it wascking a source and in a foreign body, you, it tried to consume you. That caused your state to be more miserable. Our joint effort repelled the force after six days."

    A sudden frown on Lee Shen''s face made D stop the narration. Lee had an internal urge to open the system interface and see the current stats but he suppressed them and nodded at D to continue.

    "When Rue rescued you and brought you inside the System Space, things went unexpected. The energy inside you began to weaken the stability of the subspace which led to numerous instantaneous and random cracks in the fabric.

    Except for the three wyverns, Zena, Fero and us four, only small beasts are left alive in here. The less agile Minotaurmunity fell through the cracks and was lost forever.

    With the loss of a closely-knitmunity and your unyielding physical injuries, we thought the damages had performed.

    But we werete to know that a part of your soul and the system were also the victims."

    D gave a short break for Lee to ask questions. Instead, he said-

    "Continue."

    "The exposure of your body to the Amortal''s energy was quickly repaired. The reconstruction was done naturally. Rue was adamant to not use the privilege of the Workshop.

    But the exposure of your soul is yet to heal. Humans have the least spiritual healing properties, so you will have to consult Rue to slowly recover the perfection of the soul."

    D deliberately hid the sacrifice of their soul essence. He did not want Lee Shen to be in debt to him. The Dimension Sovereign was the one indebted to him in the first ce.

    When D went silent after the exnation, Lee then sensed the imperfection in his soul. He was unable to enter his conscious chamber and that was reason enough to say that the damage was real and intense.

 Chapter 293: The System

    Chapter 293: The System

    When Lee Shen tried to materialise Mana, he felt inconsistency in the construct. It was directly rted to his spiritual well-being.

    "The system?"

    Inspecting the gaseous projection, Lee Shen asked in a soft voice while feeling his physical body as a whole.

    The amorphous existence sipped the tea and then answered-

    "The system is fine. But it did receive some severe judgements.

    Open the interface. I will exin as you skim through it."

    Lee Shen nodded and muttered the magic word-

    "Interface."

    <strong>/=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>PERSONAL INFO:</strong>

    <strong>Name: Lee Shen</strong>

    <strong>Race: -</strong>

    <strong>Essence: 437,227,761</strong>

    <strong>Money: 6,426 G; 866 S; 75 C</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>Days psed: 32</strong>

    <strong>Time: 9 AM</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ATTRIBUTES:</strong>

    <strong>Health: 4,060</strong>

    <strong>Power: 2,860</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 3,880</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 350</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>PROGRESS:</strong>

    <strong>Cultivation: Peak Soul Manifestation</strong>

    <strong>Qi: 0</strong>

    <strong>Mastery: Lord Level Mastery</strong>

    <strong>Mana: 4,087</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ELEMENTS:</strong>

    <strong> Fire</strong>

    <strong> Water</strong>

    <strong> Ice</strong>

    <strong> Wind</strong>

    <strong> Stone</strong>

    <strong> Gravity</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>STORAGE:</strong>

    <strong>1. ck (Pinnacle - D possessed)</strong>

    <strong>2. Grey (Pinnacle)</strong>

    <strong>3. Tanya''s Corpse</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>WORKSHOP:</strong>

    <strong>SYSTEM SPACE:</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=/</strong>

    All four of them saw the popped up disy. But only one of them frowned at this revtion.

    Flicking his finger, Lee Shen sent the screen away but the knit brows were still on his face. He stared at D in demand for an exnation and his face conveyed his need.

    "As you see, the damage was beyond our expectations. None of us thought of a possibility where the system would be crippled to this extent.

    And since we were focused on saving your life, we kinda forgot about the system which worsened the system''s condition."

    D then poked Hudson to speak up about the system. When ites to observations and management, he was better than the Dimension Sovereign.

    "Ah...y-yes.

    *ahem*

    When the Amortal''s power attacked your body and your soul, it simultaneously shaved away a part of the system. Since Dnekewy''s soul was merged to your soul to produce this magnanimous existence, he too suffered a lot when the system was ripped apart.

    The part that was torn away will note back when you restore your soul to its perfection. It will be lost forever. You can also try and re-establish the missing portions if you encounter such-shattering serendipity.

    As you can see, the system lost some of the attributes and elements while the weapon proficiency vanished into thin air.

    And also, the Map function is gone forever."

    Lee was emotionless on the outside. He silentlyprehended the extent of damage the system had suffered while evaluating the lethality of Amortal''s energy.

    "In a nutshell, the system is shrinking."

    Leemented and Hudson nodded before saying-

    "When your soul became iplete, the statbels began to disappear. So we have reason to believe that they might be restored with your soul.

    Though your Qi cultivation and Mana mastery are untouched, the elemental affinities are stripped down to basic ones. Luckily, the Gravity affinity is avable.

    Since Taming was a skill that needed a soul bond between you and the beast, that skill was also removed by the Amortal''s power.

    Along with that, all other skills are now nonexistent in the system."

    The exnation went on while Rue sipped her tea listening to it. The bulbous head of D made it difficult to know where he was looking, but Rue can feel his focus on the surroundings.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>10 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,270 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    "The corrosive property of foreign energy was too much that your Lightning constitution was disintegrated. The power weakened by a great margin after it dissipated the constitution, yet it was powerful.

    It is thanks to that elemental constitution that made the invading energy spent a lot of its potential on it."

    Lee was wondering how the trio suppressed the overwhelming presence of the extra-dimensional energy. Turns out that it exhausted itself afterpletely shredding the elemental constitution.

    "The Map had been an inevitable part of our expeditions. Its help had turned the tides in favour of us.

    Maybe the Amortal''s energy deduced about the importance of this system feature, the first thing to be removed from the system was Map.

    Now we have no means to observe the main dimension from System Space."

    While listening to the exnations, Lee rubbed his chin and regrly shuttled his eyes between Hudson''s face and the interface be summoned again.

    As time went by, he was being more exposed to the indecipherable peculiarities of the supreme energy.

    Hudson soon felt that Lee Shen was not listening to him anymore and was having a brainstorm, and thus hushed down. Utilising this break, Rue went to the counter to prepare a simple breakfast.

    Just after she left the table, D, Hudson and Lee heard the rustling of leaves. Turning to the jungle, Lee Shen was more surprised.

    With curiosity and astonishment, he turned to Hudson and eximed-

    "What in the world did you feed them?"

    It was no exaggeration to say that the three Draconic Wyverns grew like bamboo. What were about 20 metres a couple of weeks ago was now above times of it.

    The gentle steps of the wyvern trio masked their majestic stature. The twin pair of horns of the triplets were capable of instilling a sense of endangering at the first nce.

    Hudson had a proud smirk on his face as he saw Lee expressing his innocent amazement. It was under his care that these three children grew.

    Most importantly, even Hudson was amazed by their coefficient of growth. Their rate of development surpassed his prediction by quite a margin.

    When the system was crippled, it lost the View skill too. This left Lee anonymous to the wyvern trio''s current state levels.

    But through the soul bond, he could tell that they have matured faster than anyone had expected. Maybe it has to do with the special meat diet, he assumed.

    What surprised Lee Shen was the wyverns'' elemental affinities. Before, when the wyverns were reconstructed, their bodies emitted an untamed aura of the elements. At that time, Lee Shen felt uneasy standing next to them.

    But that had be the past. Lee could now touch their skin and feel the texture without getting hurt.

    This was because their control over respective elements had achieved its peak!

 Chapter 294: Serendipitous Creations

    Chapter 294: Serendipitous Creations

    "To be honest, no one foresaw that development."

    Hudson began to speak about the supernatural triplets. He expressed his enthusiastic surprise at each instance when he mentioned about their affinities and development.

    ording to D, there were a few variables that are considered to be the catalysts in the formation of these otherworldly existences.

    Hudson agreed with D when he pronounced the involvement of reconstruction chambers.

    "The fact that there have not been any Draconic Wyverns registered or recorded before, points to that these specimens are the only one existing and ever to exist in Zaxaluke."

    As soon as D gave out his verdict, the second variable, the element-imbued wyvern meat, became a topic of discourse. But it ended by three or four exchanges as its influence was obvious.

    Together, Hudson says, the meat and the chambers gave birth to a serendipitous creation of these triplets.

    Then D recollected and shared a few of his memories. When he was alive and living in the continent of Intellus, his fellow leaders of Samaya sect hade across a tamed wyvern, which they brought with a hefty price.

    "But that beast was at least a decade old. It had fire affinity and its control over the element was excellent.

    But, its mastery did not reach a level where it could manipte the element at any given time. That wyvern needed focus and undisturbed air to fully release its fire potential."

    Unlike the wyvern D described, the fire element Draconic Wyvern had an awe-inspiring ability to change its body temperature from white-hot to morning warmth.

    This was also applicable to the other two. The ice element beast could be one with the water and be invincible in aquatic environments. Hudson noticed that it once went through a phase that made it look like a crystal sculpture!

    Though they shared and analysed information about these triplets with great interest, they could not unravel the mystery behind their existence. While they did not dare to recreate another cross-breed between colossal threats, the trio was convinced of the effect of the reconstruction and specialised meals.

    The Draconic Wyverns'' exquisite pattern that runs along its body caught Lee Shen''s eyes. Though it looked random, it attributed an unrivalled beauty to these beasts. Not to mention, the three of them had the same pattern with the same properties and designs.

    All that differed between them was their elemental affinities.

    Pyro, Cryo and Aero we''re soon dismissed to roam around after an hour. The beasts, devoid of any facial expressions, telepathically congratted Lee on his recovery.

    While Hudson, Rue and D were unaware of this exchange of words, Lee Shen''s bbergasted expression gave away a hint that these beasts were beyond what they had ever imagined being!

    It took Lee Shen a few second toe back to his senses from the shock. His eyes were still open wide as he nkly stared at the empty teacup on the table.

    "They were so big that they did not slip through the spatial cracks. And they were agile enough to avoid being injured or dismembered by the spatial fluctuations."

    Rue came back to the table and spoke as she ced three tes of sandwich on the table. The fourth te contained sd and diced vegetables and fruits which made Lee look at Rue through the corners of his eyes.

    "Your condition demands healthy food. So shut up and stuff them in your mouth."

    Rue sounded rude but Lee Shen understood that she was saying this for his betterment. Without saying anything, he reached for the cup of green tea specifically made for him.

    -----

    Hours went by and it was time for lunch when they finished their breakfast. Nobody bothered to care about time as it never got scorching inside the System Space.

    All this time, the four of them talked about many things. Their topics included Tubians, Amortals, Prime Glyphs, Forgotten Trinity, the triplet beasts, the duo of Fero and Zena, mysterious wooden coffin and many other trivial matters.

    "By the way, what happened to that Fallen Tubian?"

    After swallowing thest slice of cabbage, Lee asked in a curious tone.

    "Oh that, that fe is fine. It continued to disintegrate and when its size fell below a certain limit, it found that it would be removed from its existence if it continued. Thus, it learnt a lesson and now is inside a slightly smaller Rubix cube.

    It is still reluctant in sharing its secrets."

    The bulbous head of the Dimension Sovereign had consumed the te too. Rather than eating, the food and the te dissolved into its amorphous physique.

    Lee Shen stood up from his chair and conveyed that he is tired after all the chatting and eating. He added that he needs rest and quickly disappeared into the house.

    "You felt it, right?"

    Rue turned to Hudson and asked, to which he nodded. He then gazed at the front door through which he disappeared.

    "His soul is too weak at the moment. He will need a couple of days before going out of the subspace."

    Hudson paused and shot a nce at Rue, and said-

    "Help him get better, please."

    ------

    Daylight ckened and darkness came. The twinkling stars winked from the sky and the System Space was tranquil.

    Soon, the horizon was lit up with sunshine and the subspace was awakened by the gentle warmth.

    -----

    Hudson sat on the couch with D, the sword on hisp when the 7 AM notification went off. Through the greyish screen, he could see the daylight seeping through the windows.

    "Hudson, whatever happens, just don''t let me go. Okay?"

    The reply was a silent nod. Then both of them heard a low growl and the threat D indirectly mentioned, was at the door.

    Perrafin peeked inside through the door and a chill went up the Dimension Sovereign''s spine.

    His helplessness while being dragged around as the beast likes, was a horrible experience. Sensing D''s alert, Hudson scolded the winged feminine beast.

    Zena pouted and quickly left the scene in anger. Fero who entered the scene at the nick of time was clueless about the situation as he saw his friend exiting the house with a gloomy face.

 Chapter 295: Three Conclusions

    Chapter 295: Three Conclusions

    A sudden loud, short whistle came from behind the couch and jolted D and Hudson up. The beasts that ran out of the house in disagreement came running in with joyous face.

    Upon seeing Lee appearing from his room, Zena and Fero leapt at him happily. But they were stopped by Rue who followed him.

    She raised her hand and gestured them to stop. The beast duo halted their steps quickly and stood a few metres away from Lee.

    But he could not act as if he had not seen their enthusiasm. So Lee walked to them and caressed them. His warm hands ran through their fur and they expressed their thoughts through the soul bond.

    Zena licked Lee Shen''s face while her tail''s tip swept the floor. Fero too expressed his care to his master as he rubbed Lee''s legs with his head.

    "Go and y."

    Upon Lee Shen''smand, Zena moved like the wind and snatched the sword from Hudson''s grasp before making a run for it. Hudson, who was surprised by this, began to chase her. Fero wagged his tiny tail before following the figure of Hudson.

    ----

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>9 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,970 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Inside the house, on the couch, sat four people.

    Though Hudson and D were only wisps of their souls, they, along with Rue and Lee Shen, were the only citizens of the subspace.

    The air inside the room was rtively silent. Hudson and D shared their knowledge about everything till now, in a soft voice.

    "What about the reports?"

    An enthusiastic smile bloomed on Hudson''s face as he asked in an excited and loud tone.

    "Where should I start?"

    "Tanya."

    Rubbing his chin, Hudson recalled the conclusions and then spoke-

    "I believe I have told you about the significance of the Tubian souls. The body is like any other vessel to contain its power. But it is the soul, housed in the body, that empower and allow Tubians to perform unimaginable feats.

    Tanya''s corpse is now a lifeless average demon''s body. When it housed her soul, that body was an imprable fortress with all the buffs she gave on her soul.

    Additionally, channelling the Amortal''s energy through her body seemed to have enhanced the body''s constitution. Though it is lifeless, it is tougher than a conventional opponent.

    But the most vital information was drawn out of the Tubian of Lightning. Though that fight was a tricky one, we gained new insights on the Tubian race and obtained some amazing knowledge.

    When the nanobots entered the Tubian''s body, the diagnosis came positively.

    As we thought, if we could bypass the defences of the soul, then any direct attacks on the body, such as debuffs like paralysis or petrification, will be effective. If the body is limited by debuffs, then the soul will struggle to reorder the disorder.

    And it turns out that Tubians does not have an innate ability to repel the debuffs on their body."

    "So they use the Amortal''s energy to fix that w."

    "Yes, and due to its vastness, a little amount of the energy would help the body to recover.

    Also, this archaic energy makes the Tubian''s body vulnerable to both Qi and Mana whenever it is in y."

    Lee Shen raised his eyes and gazed at Hudson as he heard these words. With disbelief, Lee asked-

    "Come again?"

    "I said, both Mana and Qi can have an adverse effect on a Tubian''s physical body if he/she is attributed with the Amortal''s energy."

    Hudson, therefore, began to exin the essence of his diagnosis. His experiment was fruitful and this game-changing factor was now known to them.

    "I was able to extract the memories of the Tubian before he made his suicide attack. From the fragmented images, I attained three conclusions.

    One, the Tubians are living as a closely-knitmunity somewhere in the Intellus. If what I saw is correct, Gauthama is imprisoned there, and An, Mia and Tera are all kept in a suspended state.

    Not only them but a lot more people and beasts are under their captivity.

    Two, the heritage of Dimension Sovereigns of Zaxaluke is outstanding. It is interwoven in Mana and Qi. Many adventurers and cultivators have decorated that position before D.

    Turns out, there were a few among them who had no affinity at all.

    The third one is a hypothesis about Amortal''s energy. There is a sliver of a chance that I might be able to decode that overwhelming energy."

    Lee Shen was surprised by the third conclusion and spoke without veiling his amazement.

    "Why don''t we start with thest one, the hypothesis?"

    There was anticipation on his face. Lee Shen became hopeful by Hudson''s words and his bodynguage conveyed it as he leaned forward.

    "The hypothesis was derived from the observation of three test subjects, Tanya, the Tubian of Lightning and you."

    Lee Shen''s brows twitched when he heard Hudson. The brows were knit and Lee Shen squinted his eyes as he asked-

    "You used me as a test subject?"

    Hudson quickly realised that his words have been misinterpreted.

    "No no, not like that. While you were recuperating, I observed your mental, spiritual and physical motions and responses from the attack and finalised the hypothesis that was actually rooted in the assessments of your fight with the two Tubians.

    In a nutshell, it might be possible to say that the Essence is a much, much degraded and impure form of the Amortal''s energy!"

    Sensing some fluctuations around him, Lee swept his eyes over Rue and D. Then he realised that Hudson had not shared this piece of news with anyone. The astonishment on the True Druid''s face and confusion emitting from the gaseous apparition was evident.

    "Does that mean the Essence could be produced by breaking down the Amortal''s energy?"

    Hudson scratched his head as he remained seated. When D leaned forward with an interest of the subject, Hudson spoke-

    "Err... I am not sure. After all, this is just a hypothesis.

    But I specte that the True Druid''s energy could be created from the Amortal''s energy."

 Chapter 296: The Relation Between Energies

    Chapter 296: The Rtion Between Energies

    Two pairs of eyes and a ragdoll head turned to Rue who had no idea what this development is. She stared at the trio with confusion and frown.

    "Rue, did you feel any kind of hostility when you suppressed the Amortal''s energy inside Lee?"

    Rue shook her head and said that she did not feel any disturbance when healing Lee Shen''s soul. She also added that her energy reserve was continuously depleted by nullifying the invading force.

    "Exactly."

    Hudson continued-

    "When all of the subspace and its residents were disturbed by the mere presence of the injured Lee Shen and the Amortal''s energy residing in him, you, who carried him all along was safe and uninjured. The only thing you faced was the depletion of your energy reserve and tiredness.

    Your body and mind were unscathed and your soul was immune to the invasion.

    From that, I assumed that there is something between these two exclusive and less-known powers.

    Lee Shen, when I inspected your body, I found that the Amortal''s energy is destructive. Both of the Tubians you encountered had explosive strength. Tanya failed to channel this explosivity into her agility which caused her death. The Lightning Tubian also were not versed in efficiently utilizing this power.

    A True Druid''s power is creative. She nurtured the forest and protected it to an extent. After awakening, she became more powerful and her energy capacity grew exponentially.

    Like everybody noticed, her physique had developed tremendously. But it would take us a few moments to conclude that her strength had gone beyond what she should possess.

    To summarise, she is now an undertrained killing machine!"

    A wide grin appeared on Rue''s face as she agreed to every word Hudson said.

    "But her power nullified the Amortal''s power. Even if it was at a very small pace, she finally managed to dissolve the invading energy.

    All these factors and events made me guess that the Amortal''s power is an exaggerated and overwhelming version of what that opposes the True Druid energy.

    But how this happens or what happens when they interact are a mystery to us, for now."

    Hudson continued to speak about the ferocity and durability these powers disyed. He continued to talk about them and attempted to interpret their function and purpose in this world, but failed at the end.

    "Why don''t we talk about the location of the damn Tubians?"

    Dnekewy voiced his opinion and Hudson quickly rerouted his words.

    "Umm...since we don''t have the Map feature anymore, I will just describe it.

    The memories are vague and colourless, but I have managed toprehend it.

    Intellus is considered as the cradle of civilisation. Among the continents, it is the most vibrant and diverse.

    Since this continent is one of the oldest two, there are many mysteries to it.

    Around at the central portion of the continent lies a humongous mountain range. It is covered in dense forests for about a hundred kilometres in all directions.

    These mountains are arranged in a circr shape and form an enclosure inside it. This trough, separated from the outside world by cloud-stalling peaks, is the hideout of the Tubians.

    The smallest of the peaks surrounding the trough is above 24 kilometres. Clouds are restricted from entry by these towering natural formations and the trough has its climate cycle!"

    "Give me a name, Hudson. I might be able to locate it."

    Hearing Dnekewy''s words, Hudson''s enthusiasm faded away.

    "You see, that is the problem. That Tubian''s memory did not contain a name about the ce. All we know about it is the approximate shape."

    Hearing this, D couldn''t help butin-

    "But Intellus is so vast. Mountain ranges are somon throughout the continent."

    Then, Lee Shen''s voice shook them from their thoughts.

    "What about An, Tera, Mia and Gauthama?"

    The contemting frown of Hudson was loosened upon Lee Shen''s query.

    "The Tubians have created a settlement inside the mountain range. They rival a small country in size and a continent in their attack force. From the memory, I was able to count up to 316 Tubians.

    There are different buildings and spacious settlements, and the Tubians live a normal life there. After being imposed by several rules by the Will of the Dimension, they lead an isted life.

    But they do regrly send Tubians out of their nest for collecting information about the world.

    The people they have captured are imprisoned in an underground chamber. They can be counted more than 700 and some kind of spatial engineering is done to their prison. I don''t know anything more but every Tubian gets a chance to enter there and consume a limited amount of Essence daily."

    Lee Shen noticed something from Hudson''s description and his voice interrupted the narration.

    "Why would they need to consume Essence when they have been granted the Amortal''s energy?"

    Hudson''s face lit up with a smile as if he was anticipating this question. He voiced that the properties of both energiese into y here.

    "There are three variables that support theplete answer to your question.

    One, Amortal''s energy is destructive. It can only be used as an enhancement that can produce an exponential increase in physical attributes.

    Two, the dimension Zaxaluke does not support the Amortal''s energy. Due to its extra-dimensional origin, the dimension will exhibit repulsion torge quantities of this foreign power.

    Three, though the Amortal''s energy could not be supported by the Zaxaluke, it could be refilled by consumingrge quantities of Essence."

    Lee could swear that he saw Rue''s brows twitching as Hudson spoke. But that was only natural as that energy opposes her''s and she does not have any essory to speed up her regeneration.

    "Refill?"

    With confusion and curiosity, she asked.

    "From the fragmented images of the memory, it is possible to assume that the Amortal''s energy can be supported by intake ofrge quantities of Essence, which would still be insufficient for properly recharging the depleted power.

    Among the reels of images were a scene where a mighty dragon speaks to all Tubians. After stitching the words together, the beast conveys that Amortal''s energy is the product of pressurised, condensed, refined and perfected Essence extracted from its impure shell."

 Chapter 297: The Deterring Factors

    Chapter 297: The Deterring Factors

    "After stitching the words together, the beast conveys that Amortal''s energy is the product of pressurised, condensed, refined and perfected Essence extracted from its impure shell."

    Pausing to see the fellow resident''s expressions, Hudson continued.

    "I can tell you what your thoughts are. But unfortunately, our bad times aresting long"

    Then, he waved his hand and the Workshop interface came appearing. Hudson began to create something as his fingers began to dance in the air.

    "If you are thinking that we can produce Amortal''s energy, then you are indeed bright.

    Because it is possible to create that destructive force after condensing and extracting it from the Essence.

    But two factors deter us from achieving that aplishment.

    One, that energy is highly corrosive to me, Hudson and Lee. Rue''s energy would be nullified at a tremendous scale. Even after the subspace is swept clean and is removed from existence, the energy would continue to exist.

    The risk factor is too high!

    And the second one, well, see for yourselves..."

    As the trio directed their eyes on the interface, they could see a majestic object constructed in it. Hudson continued to add more intrinsic decorations to it and it began to take a bizarrely beautiful form.

    Rue and Lee Shen did notice the Essence cost moving upward its scale. The number went from a hundred to thousand and then to a hundred thousand.

    When they were wondering about the second factor, they could not help but contemte on the relevance and purpose this object might hold in the aplishment of the feat.

    But contrary to their expectations, the Workshop interface turned glitchy with red and blue stripes randomly appearing on the screen, the moment the Essence cost touched the million range.

    This did not stop Hudson from designing further. His hands moved with vigour and then...

    The Workshop interface dissipated into thin air after glitching like it is being skinned alive!

    *boom*

    An invisible force pushed all four backwards and Lee Shen and D was thrown away from their chairs. But both of them were uninjured as Rue used her powers to telekically bring them down to the ground.

    "What was that, Hudson?!"

    It would be a miracle if this did not piss Rue off. She shouted at Hudson after quickly bringing them to safety.

    Her anger was well visible in her eyes and clenched fists. Hudson felt a certain amount of threat emitting from her.

    "Rx Rue, I was demonstrating the second factor."

    The anger slightly faded and a frown was associated with it as she red at Hudson. Taking this moment, Lee came near the table and Dnekewy also neared Hudson.

    "Hudson, what exactly happened just now? Why did the system interface behave like that?"

    This question was directed to both Hudson and D. As the one who demonstrated, Hudson was to provide an exnation and D should have known about this danger.

    Lee Shen was only able to see the incredibly glitching interface and the next second, an invisible explosion threw him away. Thanks to Rue, or else he would have broken a bone or two.

    Gesturing to sit down, Hudson has a simple smirk on his face which irritated Rue but she concealed her anger.

    "The explosion was caused by the sudden creation of a vacuum when the interface forcefully retracted itself into the system upon sensing danger. If the Workshop interface had failed to do so, then we would have already ceased to exist."

    The gaseous apparition exhibited difort upon this revtion. Though the figure was devoid of any features, Lee and Rue could detect the emotional and mental fluctuations of D.

    "But why didn''t I detect it? I swear that there was no warning of any sort of danger."

    Hudson, with a smirk, replied casually-

    "Because your control and supervision over the system have been severed a while ago."

    The apparition was taken aback by the statement and D vanished into the sword. A few secondster, he came back up screaming-

    "What the hell did you do, Hudson?!?!"

    The apparition pounced on Hudson but the gaseous body failed to hurt him. The Dimension Sovereign then went back into the sword to cut Hudson in half.

    But he failed to notice a pair of predator eyes stalking his movements!

    The moment D went back into the sword, Fero sneaked from the behind and bit on the sheath with the sword in it, before disappearing like a wind.

    The three of them only saw an afterimage of Fero as he vanished into the forest.

    "Unlike D''s ims, I did NOT do anything to the system. It was a part of him and I am very much surprised to know that the system is now independent of his control.

    It took me a while but I found the culprit."

    "Which is?"

    Rue''s face expressed unconfirmed assumption as she asked. Hudson nodded at her andpleted her sentence.

    "The Amortal energy."

    The moments of surprise were nonexistent as they had known the sour truth that every change in the system is due to that outrageously powerful energy.

    "I don''t know what happened. But the current system is free from D''s control and is being driven by a set ofmands and instructions that I am unable to decode. These codes keep the system from falling off and prevented further destruction of the system."

    When Lee Shen heard the exnation, some memories shed in his mind. He recalled the hidden existence of the instructions embedded by the Will of the Dimension and arrived at a conclusion.

    "Anyhow, the Workshop is now unable to create anything that costs beyond 999,999 (nine hundred thousand nine hundred and ny-nine) Essence. As we move towards the threshold, the screen will begin to glitch like a software with bug and would eventually force itself to close, which results in an explosion."

    Rue stared at Hudson when he took a break of his words.

    "So, this is the second factor."

    Her chin was supported by her palms as she leaned forward in her chair. The frown embedded with helplessness, confusion and contemtion was stered on her face when Lee Shen asked-

    "Anything about the Prime Glyphs?"

 Chapter 298: The Clouded Third Way

    Chapter 298: The Clouded Third Way

    "Anything about the Prime Glyphs?"

    The answer was preceded by a disagreeing gesture.

    "Except for their number, the Tubian had no information regarding its position or powers.

    But from Tanya''s ount, we could assume that these Prime Glyphs are established by the Will of the Dimension.

    Thest bit of information about these arcane symbols is from a memory of the gathering of Tubians. An elder of theirmunity notifies that the Prime Glyphs will reappear if all the of them are not destroyed in a fixed timespan or could be rejuvenated by some unknown means.

    The words scramble and images blur soon after these words. Before I could venture further, the Tubian had initiated the suicide attack."

    "Do you remember thest glyph the Tubian destroyed?" (Lee Shen)

    "Yes. It is 12 kilometres into the ocean and was on a coral reef about a kilometre below the surface.

    Are you scheming to find out what these are actually?"

    Hudson''s query was unanswered and Lee Shen turned to Rue.

    "Can you go and take a look at the site? We need to know what these are and how these glyphs could be reactivated."

    Rue took a moment to nod as she hesitated initially. Upon hearing Lee Shen''s exnation, she decided to help him.

    Without breaking the continuity, Hudson lectured-

    "But the facts I shared did not surprise more than my second conclusion.

    Can you believe that the heritage of Dimension Sovereigns consists of people who had no f**king clue of Mana and Qi?"

    Hudson sounded excited and brimming with vigour as his voice rose. His face resonated his expressions with wide-open eyes and a disbelief tone.

    "Even D was bbergasted when I shared this info. He said he had no clue that his predecessors containedmoners with no affinities."

    Lee Shen raised his hands and cut off Hudson.

    "Hold up, so you are saying that one can be a Dimension Sovereign without having an affinity?"

    Hudson gave a big nod and said-

    "Precisely."

    When Rue disyed her clueless face, Zena walked to her and ced her head over herp. Rue loosened her frown and caressed the Perrafin''s fur which relieved her from her confusion. The Druidpletely focused on thepanionship of the feminine being.

    "It was difficult to ept the truth. But when I figured out the reason behind it, the fact became justifiable.

    We all know that the Dimension Sovereign is the highest individual achievement in Utopia. It is the title attributed to one who is acknowledged by the Will of the Dimension.

    To be epted by the Will of the Dimension, one must either cultivate Qi or master Mana. These are the standard paths for the journey.

    But, after skimming through the memories of the Tubian, I figured that those are not the only ways one could be a Dimension Sovereign."

    A short pause and Hudson''s eyes scanned Lee Shen and Rue. As if she understood every word Hudson said, Zena disyed an interest in his words.

    "People always try to achieve more and more with no idea of what the underlying criteria are. Thus, many fail miserably though they think that they are fit for the achievement.

    Throughout history, people have tried binge achieving mastery and cultivation. But that proved as a failure and fatal to living beings.

    After many years of research of trial and error, a mastery system for Mana and a cultivation system for Qi were introduced to the world.

    Thereafter, the contradictory forces found in nature became a part of many lives.

    What many failed to notice was a specific twist in their journey to power which always brought forth a new vigour to the person.

    In both standard paths of achieving the title, the penultimate step is about the introduction and befriending of Essence.

    This is the one and only criteria for acquiring the title!"

    Fero ran in the background with the sword between his jaws. Hudson looked over his shoulder after pausing his words as he heard D''s scream for help.

    Lee Shen pped and Fero stopped to look at him. At his gesture, the hyena hopped to him.

    Fero ced the sword on Lee Shen''sp as if submitting offerings. The next second, hyena jumped on to hisp and cuddled in a round fluffy ck furball.

    "What did I miss?"

    D had jumped onto the table a fraction of a second before the hyena seated on the sword. The sword moved about the surface of the table and Hudson could tell a pair of eyes looking at him from the sword.

    Hudson did a quick recap of the things he has conveyed to Rue and Lee. When the revision finalised, D said-

    "Interesting topic. Continue."

    Acknowledging themand, Hudson began to continue his narration.

    "If we are to count the total number of people who reached the position of acquiring the title, the number might seem exaggerated but it should surpass thousands of billions.

    But those who truly became worthy of the title were below 200.

    This was obvious because they failed to recognise and nurture Essence.

    When running to the peak of individual perfection, people concentrated entirely on their respective affinity and failed to reach the pinnacle, except for those who attained the title of Dimension Sovereign.

    The criteria for the acknowledgement of the Will of the Dimension was assimting Essence, the purest form of energy, into oneself.

    That is why all others lost, despite their hard work and effort."

    "You are taking your sweet time on introductions."

    D voiced his opinion and it contained a tinge of arrogance. Zena did not like the tone and she growled at the sword which shut D up.

    "There existed a traditional notion that only through Mana mastery or Qi cultivation that one could be fitting for the higher power, for millennia.

    This was shattered when the firstmoner ascended to that position by sheer luck. His name was Wilson Sorrow and the advent of this farmer unlocked another way for exploration - the Body of Law."

 Chapter 299: Triplets Going Out!

    Chapter 299: Triplets Going Out!

    Rue and Lee Shen had no change in facial expressions as they peered at the narrator without even blinking.

    "The Body of Law is the assimtion of aw fragment to a person''s body. I don''t need to tell more as we have all seen Lee Shen assimting with the Lightning Law fragment."

    A confused expression clouded Lee.

    "But I did not be a Dimension Sovereign."

    Hudson nodded and calmed Lee Shen''s troubled countenance.

    "Yeah, you did not. Because you still had a few more things to achieve.

    There is a strict condition for this process. That is, only amon folk could pull off this trick. It simply means that the person must not have an affinity with either Qi or Mana.

    The path of Body of Law has three steps.

    First, the person and thew must recognise and acknowledge each other to begin the journey.

    Second, the Law is purely natural and it directly introduces the person to the mysterious existence of Essence. What to do with the Essence and how to manipte it through the Law is up to the person''s intellect.

    Third, the person has to travel a path simr to mastery and cultivation. This is different from the traditional methods as the person tries to integrate pure Essence into his being. This generates enhancement in physical and mental attributes.

    Well, the Body of Law method is not seen anywhere because of continuous oppression from cultivators and adventurers."

    ------

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>12 Midday.</strong>

    <strong>5,975,190 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Lee Shen silently stared at the notification and his eyes did not move. The unchanged focus dictated that he was pondering on something.

    Then, a spatial tear formed a little away from where he was. The formation caught Lee Shen''s eyes and he jumped up.

    *swish*

    A figure jumped out of the spatial before it was stitched together. The wet hair stuck to the skin and Hudson came out of the house hearing the sound ofnding.

    Rue walked to the table as she shook the water from her being. The droplets spread around her as she walked to the table and plopped on the chair.

    "Damn...it was exhausting."

    Rue spoke between her breaths and Hudson came near her to hear her findings.

    "I scouted the site but there were no symbols or glyphs in the vicinity. A portion of thend was devastated by seismic activities and many reefs fell under the gravity.

    I had to withdraw quickly because a bunch of waterfolks were camping near the spot. If they had seen me, it would spark an unnecessary war betweennd and water."

    Hearing this, Hudson rubbed his forehead with aplex expression.

    "As expected, no clues."

    Dnekewy then turned to Lee Shen.

    "Heal up quickly. You need to move quickly and disrupt the Tubian''s n. Rue can assist you but take care not to jump into troubles."

    "Then I assume we are going to Intellus."

    When he spoke, there was surprise and anticipation in Lee Shen''s voice. His fists clenched unconsciously with suppressed anger.

    ----------------------

    Hours went by and two days have passed.

    When Lee Shen woke, he was greeted by good news-

    "About 90% of your soul is restored. That is enough for you to roam outside without getting hurt."

    Rue gave green signal regarding his health. She also added that the remaining 10% is much difficult to heal whenpared with the already healed 90%.

    After rmending rest and exercise, the True Druid went out to rx and meditate to restore the energy depletedst night.

    ''Time to go out.''

    Since all skills are now non-existent, Lee walked to the bathroom to take a routine bath.

    ------

    Twenty minutester, he walked out of the house and towards the cafeteria.

    Like arge banquet, Pyro, Cryo, Aero, Zena, Fero and Hudson were stuffing their mouths with delicious food. Rue was sitting under a tree basking in sunlight while meditating and the sword was over the table.

    Maybe it was because of hunger, Lee Shen''s steps were towards the cafeteria counter. Remembering Rue''s words, he prepared some sd for him.

    "You look better today."

    Hudsonmented as he scanned Lee top to bottom. He could feel that Lee''s soul has stabilised enough to travel without worry.

    After all, except for timely healthy meals and freshening, Lee had to sleep all the time under the instructions of the Druid.

    Thus for the past two days, Rue only took very short breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and returned to heal Lee Shen as quickly as possible. When Lee enquired about this continuity, she replied-

    "My powers are enough to heal you for two days straight. And the efficiency of the treatment would only increase if it is not limited to hours or sessions."

    And her effort bore fruit. Now his soul has settled and stabilised.

    -----

    A few minutester.

    The beasts and citizens of the subspace rxed on the grass in. After seeing the Perrafin and the hyena, Hudson had an urge toy down on the grass.

    "Hudson, where is our exit point in the reality?"

    Lee Shen sitting on the ground cross-legged, softly asked as he was only 9 foot away from him. The tranquil atmosphere devoid of any noises enhanced the sound transmission.

    Hearing the query, the blissful smile on his face faded as Hudson opened his eyes and raised his head.

    "About 10 kilometres into the sea, less than 20 metres above the water.

    You can''t walk on water, can you?"

    Hudson''s words made Lee Shen smirk as he had already found a way to traverse the waters.

    Turning his head, he observed the muscr figure of the three Draconic Wyverns.

    Reaching over 55 metres, these monsters have grown beyond anticipation. Their scales under their belly and their hide had acquired a beautiful shade of their respective colours.

    If we failed to mention the menacing pair of twin horns and the triangr formation of three eyes on either side, that would have been a crime.

    After weighing pros over cons, Lee decided to take the triplets outside.

    But...

 Chapter 300: The Draconic Wyverns

    Chapter 300: The Draconic Wyverns

    But...

    Perrafin presumed Lee Shen''s decision to take the triplets with him. Shyly, she walked to Lee Shen who''s eyes were still scanning the Draconic Wyverns'' insanely powerful and unique anatomy.

    *purrs*

    A soft purr like a kitten and Lee turned around to see the feline face of Zena. It had a peculiar expression as if she mildly disagrees with Lee.

    Lee Shen couldn''t figure out the reason right away, but a secondter, his knit brows rxed afterprehending the reason.

    "Why don''t we all fly together? Your elder siblings would be happy."

    Lee Shen spoke in an excited tone and Perrafin''s face brightened. It at once licked Lee Shen''s face and jumped all around him ecstatic.

    *growl*

    Pyro let out azy growl and everybody heard it. The rtively threatening sound woke Fero and Hudson up from their nap and D peeked out of the sword. Cryo and Aero peek opened one of their eyes and started at Pyro.

    But only Lee Shen could hear the embedded message in that expression.

    {We are all males, Lee Shen.}

    An atomic bomb of surprise blew up in Lee''s mind and the resultant mushroom cloud made him not breathe for almost 10 seconds.

    When Pyro transmitted an embedded message through a simple growl, Lee Shen was as if struck by lightning.

    He hadmunicated with both Zena and Fero telepathically, but the possibility of this kind of active dialogue with a creature never crossed his mind.

    When the beast addressed him by his name, the surprise doubled. Apparently, after the reconstruction, these three have upgraded their intellect to a whole new level, Lee deduced.

    He also found that the beast has a sense of identity which means that either the soulbond had weakened or this is an after-effect of the reconstruction.

    Still, the art of embedding a message inside a noise to transmit was iprehensible to Lee Shen no matter how many times he spun his head around it!

    Lee Shen decided not to pursue this trait and elongate the conversation. He was afraid that if he had asked to justify the im, the beast might disy his reconstructed sexual organ that could make the women go crazy!

    Thus, gulping down his saliva, Lee nodded with a wryly smile. He quickly averted his sight and focused on warming up before flight.

    ----

    "I am d my skills are not rusty."

    As the sword drew an invisible line in the air, Lee Shen slowly executed his actions in slow motion. Hudson and Zena saw beads of sweat dripping from his chin. His dress soaked in sweat constantly gave difort to him, which made Lee Shen tear apart and throw away in one pull.

    ''I should have done this earlier.''

    Without dwelling on the torn tee-shirt, he picked up speed.

    D, inside the sword, regted the aura of the weapon which enabled Lee to swing it without worry. Had D not done this, the subspace would have been shredded by now.

    [My control over sword aura is at the pinnacle!]

    D eximed from the sword and his words marked a happy response on Hudson''s face. Lee continued to chop the air without remorse and his motion picked up speed.

    But...

    His pace onlysted a few minutes and began to breathe heavily. Dropping the sword on the ground, Lee Shen plopped down on the grass.

    "Now...I see...why she said...that...thest...10%...is...time-consuming!!"

    Leepleted his sentence in between his breaths. His chest moved up and down in rhythm and disyed his weariness in a single nce.

    After almost a minute, he stood up and walked to the house. After taking a quick bath, Lee Shen felt incredibly energetic.

    Quickly designing an ordinary adventurer''s outfit, he wore them and felt the presence of a second skin which wasfortable in nature.

    Without wasting a second, he stepped outside the house. At the very moment, the hourly notification appeared in front of him.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>10 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,030 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    A quick skim over the panel and it disappeared under his mentalmand.

    "Boys!"

    Lee Shen shouted like a toonmander and the Draconic Wyverns came stepping towards him. Their prideful stature somehow faltered Lee Shen''s mind for a fraction of a second, and he reflected that his resolve has weakened greatly.

    Cryo lowered his head and Lee Shen climbed onto his horns. It took him almost half a minute to figure out how to sit on them and after sitting, Lee felt a faint coldness under his buttocks.

    "Shall we?"

    Not bothering the sensation, Lee sounded excited as he shot a nce at Hudson. At this act, Hudson nodded and turned around.

    When Hudson waved his hand, the spatial fabrics of the subspace was distorted and a portal was formed. It was huge enough for a Draconic Wyvern to pass without any worry.

    The portal took a moment to stabilise and the System Space was connected to the main dimension of Zaxaluke.

    "Stay out o-"

    Swish!

    Hudson''s words were cut short by Aero''s wing beat as he zoomed past Hudson and disappeared into the portal. Following him, Pyro and Cryo took off from the ground.

    ''Too fast, too fast!''

    Lee Shen almost fell from his seat when the Draconic Wyverns elerated. Until now, he had only seen them gently skimming through the air and pping the forelimbs while flying modestly.

    Fortunately,dy luck smiled on Lee Shen as they slowed down.

    Aero, flying up in front was apanied by Zena and the two other boys following his tail. The beast of Air affinity turned his head all around and then suddenly took a right angle manoeuvre.

    [I am surprised to see that these beasts could identify the directions.]

    ''Of course, they can. They were brought into the System Space from the main dimension.

    And since the twin stars are burning bright, this beast could use their peculiar instincts to find the correct direction.''

    [So you already told them the directions.]

    ''No. I thought you did.''

    An awkward silence befell them.

 Chapter 301: Over The Ocean, Far From Land

    Chapter 301: Over The Ocean, Far From Land

    [So you already told them the directions.]

    ''No. I thought you did.''

    An awkward silence befell them.

    [Maybe they overheard us talking.]

    D''sment was left unanswered as Hudson plunged into conclusions and Lee left them on their train of thoughts.

    Then he slowly lowered his head and hushedly asked Cryo-

    "Did you had this ability since birth or?"

    A dull growl came as a reply.

    {We acquired this ability after we woke up.}

    Two things surprised Lee Shen and his expression did not fade right away.

    One, Cryo shared the same tone and mildness of sound as Pyro had and it led Lee to assume that Aero might also sound simr.

    Two, he was disclosed to something which happened as a by-product of the reconstruction. This made him wonder what other tricks are these beasts hiding up their sleeve.

    Lee Shen did not probe further and kept silent. Hudson''s voice did not resonate in his ears for a while and Lee Shen asked again in a soft voice-

    "Since when did you all be self-aware?"

    The reply was a dull, long growl.

    {We woke up with a new body and intelligence. We werepletely different from our pathetic previous self.}

    Lee Shen then concluded that their advanced intellect was due to the reconstruction. He made up his mind to not use the reconstruction chambers for any purpose.

    "Then you three had heard every conversation we had, right?"

    The reply was a simple nod and Lee Shen was silent. He was amazed by the level of intellect these beings possessed, and they hid this fact from them wlessly.

    While contemting the conclusion, Lee was continuously scouting the surroundings.

    The wyvern trio moved entirely based on instinct. They assumed the southern direction and then corrected their flight trajectory.

    When Lee raised a question about how they managed to find the south, Cryo replied that they can feel an indescribable sensation when they are in the air. The beast rted this perception to gliding in the air.

    When winds blew with enough momentum, the birds only need to stretch their wings to stay airborne. The spectators would view this event as levitation but the truth would be different from a third-person perspective.

    Pyro came near Cryo and added that this sensation is like a set of unchangeable lines flowing through the atmosphere, invisible but felt.

    ''Is Cryo trying to decipher a maic field?''

    The only conclusion Lee could arrive at was that the Utopia has a maic field. But his conclusion was yet to be confirmed as a factor weakened this im''s foundation.

    It is indeed true that maic lines are parallel. They do not coincide and only converges at two points.

    But how the hell could these beings sense these fields??

    This question existed in his mind for barely a second as he stumbled across the answer.

    ''Of course, they are reconstructed.''

    The fact that reconstruction produced so many unanticipated results and effects was more than enough to be a reason.

    -----

    15 minutester.

    <strong>=====</strong>

    <strong>11 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,969,700 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====</strong>

    Following this notification, D conveyed that quite a lot of trolls have ceased to exist in thest hour. Though it was subjected to suspicious interventions, Hudson and D could not find any lead on their spections.

    When the noisy conversation died down, Lee Shen''s head was at peace. Below them was a vast expanse of water with no boundaries. Without the Map, Lee Shen wondered what all mysteries this water body housed.

    Lee was at bliss with the twin stars'' warmth. But Zena was the happiest of them all. She cheerfully flew while expressing her happiness.

    When she gets overexcited, her elemental trait would start to poke its head. This annoyed the Draconic Wyverns as they were not immune to lightning.

    Finding this fact, Zena leashed her excitement and sted forward. Her speed increased by two times and she performed mid-air tricks and exhibited her precise manoeuvrability.

    Soon, the Perrafin was tired. Its excitement and vigour consumed a lot of her energy and she felt sluggish. Slowly, she glided towards Pyro andnded on his back.

    The Draconic Wyvern did not mind this enthusiastic kid seeking shelter. The beast stretched its wings further and the sharp spines on his back were retracted. This gave more than enough space for Zena to take rest.

    A minuteter, Aero began to slow down and glided in the air with his gigantic wingspan. When Lee noticed this, he saw Aero looking at his left and that the beast''s eyes were fixed on the horizon.

    {Disturbance!}

    Aero''s growl was short and barely inaudible but it conveyed an unpleasant sensation. The Air affinity beast twisted its body and shot towards the location.

    Cryo and Pyro tailed him but they did not take a reckless and agile turn. Due to the presence of passengers, they were careful not to throw them off.

    The speed of the triplets easily surpassed 120 km/h. These creatures attained this velocity with the periodic beating of forelimbs alone. Other than that, they glided throughout their journey.

    Lee was forced to use Mana to conjure a shield to resist the wind. Without imbuing any affinity, the Mana formed an invisible shell around him which made his journeyfortable.

    About 2 minutester.

    Lee could see a gigantic dark cloud on the horizon. As they drew close, it grew exponentially. When they came close, a sense of threat was felt by Lee Shen when he witnessed violent thunderstorms dancing like cannibals inside the cloud.

    Even without the Map, Lee Shen could measure the immensity of this remarkable phenomenon. The vastness of this formation puzzled him as well as why the wyvern was attracted to its presence.

    The enormous appearance was truly scary. Thus, the triplets did not dive into its midst but began to circle it.

    Though the Draconic Wyverns had dropped their speed to 65 or 70 km, it still took them more than three or four minutes to round the formation once!

 Chapter 302: The Danger Cloud

    Chapter 302: The Danger Cloud

    [Spooky!]

    [I sense danger ahead.]

    Even after flying round in circles a dozen times, Lee Shen could not identify the reason behind the triplets'' aberrant behaviour.

    Also, his questions were unanswered by the wyverns.

    Neither D nor Hudson had any idea what was going on. Rue observed them as she meditated in silence.

    The dense dark cloud was unmoving from its position. The thunderstorms rampaging inside made the party hesitant to enter.

    [The wyvern''s senses are acute and abnormal. It was able to detect this presence from afar.]

    Hudson sounded his surprise as D paused. Soon they began to whisper between themselves about their conclusions.

    {There is a threat inside. There are people too.}

    Pyro conveyed his message and Lee Shen did not get a moment to be surprised. Because the triplets have already dove into the formation.

    Zena, rxing over Pyro, was awakened by the turbulence. Her eyes sparkled after seeing such beautiful strikes of lightning shing in the sky.

    This made her take off with all her spirit and chase after the lightning-like a glutton.

    As Lee Shen bare witness, she was engulfed in lightning. But not a tinge of concern was on his face.

    "This can''t hurt her."

    With an innate affinity to Lightning, he was convinced that these lightning strikes could not hurt her unless the threat that the wyvern spoke about intervened.

    Zena disappeared and appeared from the clouds while chasing the raging energy. Her entire focus was on devouring the lightning.

    It was then the wyverns dived down. Though Lee was surprised, he did not let go of his grip on the beast.

    The water inside the dark and dense cloud formation were unlike the serene surface outside. It rose and caused gigantic waves to ur. Lee saw this difference up close and scanned around while the wyverns'' agility and insight helped them avoid the iing strikes.

    Then from nowhere, a dense purple ball of energy came at Lee and hit his back. Fortunately, the Mana shield was activated and he escaped from the grasp of death.

    What made him surprised was that the Mana shield was slowly corroding away!

    [Death energy.]

    Hudson recognised this energy strike and it''s peculiar colour and shouted out. Lee Shen quickly transmitted this information to the Wyverns and they became extra-cautious.

    It took them three a few minutes to urately pinpoint the origin of the attack. Without wasting a moment, the Draconic Wyverns lowered their altitude and flew towards the vessel.

    Through the fog, the outline of four ships could be discerned. Three of them were intact and the fourth one was sinking into the ocean. Upon closer inspection, Lee Shen saw the final mes of dying fire on that ship.

    One of the three ships that remained floating had a rather aggressive outline. It looked chaotic and a pitch-ck piece of fabric fluttered on its mast.

    ''Raiders.''

    The wyverns slowed down further and kept a distance from the ships while circling them. The purple energy balls did not chase them again.

    Foresight was a system feature which was damaged mildly. After the incident, Foresight lost it''s zooming function and the disy of Mana and Qi count. But the interface was intact with Essence stock.

    [Looks like the Chief Raider is a mage.]

    Lee saw the lonely figure standing on the upper deck of the raider ship. The figure iled his hands and waves formed as his hand moved.

    At once, the person raised his eyes and stared at the circling convoy. A sense of threat tingled down Lee''s spine and hemanded to attack.

    The Draconic Wyvern closed in on the raider ship and spat out fire and ice. Aero''s wings broke the ship''s mast and it fell over a raider.

    Enraged, the Chief Raider chanted and his hands formed several ice needles in the air. They shot towards Pyro who sublime these needles with his overwhelming infernal fire!

    When a veil of fire was cast over the water, the passengers on the other two ships saw a breathtaking view.

    Well...they would not have been surprised to the core if they had seen an abnormally grown Draconic Wyvern before.

    By the effect of illumination, the three ships witnessed the oing disasters in the shape of Draconic Wyverns.

    Raiders who were busy ughtering and upying the other ships froze in their tracks. As they froze, the fear of death overshadowed them.

    Many screamed and made a pointless counterattack. This did not infuriate the winged beasts but amused them. They circled a dozen more times by themand of Lee Shen to acquire a holistic view.

    While the wyverns threatened the raiders from the sky, there were a few people on board who were dressed as warriors and they witnessed this sight too.

    At first, they were shaking like a helpless kitten. But upon seeing that the beasts are helping them, their strength came back and they fought hard. The raiders saw this development and assumed that these beasts are their summoned support.

    {Enough with the child''s y.}

    Cryo''s voice resonated in Lee''s ears and he expectantly waited for its disy of power. The beast took a long and wide U-turn and folded towards the raider''s ship.

    Roar!

    A deafening roar was produced by Cryo and Aero and Pyro quickly moved away from the vicinity of the raider ship. Confused with this scene, the raiders could not conclude what was happening until a nket of coldness enveloped them.

    SHAAA!!!

    Cryo''s breath was like nothing Lee Shen ever felt. It had an awful lot of hostility in it that made him cringe at the first sensation. Though Lee was sitting on the wyvern''s back, he could feel the pressure of the coldness.

    A perfect strike-through!

    Cryo flew over the vessel diagonally and his breath drew a line over the ship. Unfortunately, that line of ice-cold breath had covered the entire ship!

    When Lee Shen poked his head to see what had happened, what he saw made his heart ted and he let out a muffled sigh in awe.

 Chapter 303: Jewel Of Jealousy

    Chapter 303: Jewel Of Jealousy

    Like a gigantic ice sculpture, the ship and its raiders had be one with the sheet of thick ice!

    The raiders'' final moments were visible with their emotions and expressions resonating through their bodynguage. The fear and urge to survive were fossilised by the cold breath.

    This shook the morale of the invading raiders. They tried to escape, but thebatants of the other ships defeated them.

    But what happened next was beyond anyone''s expectations!

    The iceberg that enveloped the raider ship began to crackle and crumble. Except for the ice statues, the whole ship was exposed to air.

    ''Wait, what?''

    Lee personally felt the magnitude of the threat the cold air possessed. He witnessed the raiders freezing alive. Even the Chief Raider''s magic could not put up a quality resistance.

    After all this, the ship broke through the ice like it was nothing.

    Chunks of ice floated away from the ship. Its dark wood texture along with excellent craftsmanship was disclosed to Lee Shen''s eyes. As he inspected the ship, he found one person still alive and struggling to stand up.

    "WHO ARE YOU?!?!"

    For a normal human, the threat in the tone and the loudness of the sound were impossible. Yet this person on the upper deck, who struggled to stand up, shouted at Lee Shen.

    [Lee, I am sensing the presence of multiple artefacts on the ship.]

    ''No wonder.''

    The range of powers and extent of purposes were well known to Lee Shen. He knows that they are capable of doing things that are impossible otherwise.

    Cryo lowered his head while rounding the ship and Lee Shen carefully stood upon the beast''s neck. The sword was transported to the spatial ring before hemanded Cryo to fly near to the ship.

    The passengers of the ships saw the figure standing on the wyvern''s back. Though Lee did not have an aura around him, the spectators assumed him to be abnormally powerful for his feat of riding a colossal beast.

    With a loud thud, Lee Shen jumped onto the ship''s deck and the wood under his feet did not show signs of breaking despite its old and worn appearance. When he raised his torso from his superheronding pose, Lee saw a tinge of fear, confusion, rage, and arrogance in the eyes of Chief Raider.

    "For a human, you sure have a lot of guts to enter the infamous Jewel of Jealousy."

    The words conveyed some information but it did not convey how Lee felt the presence of an imminent threat in the proximity. As he observed, the chief, wearing a ragged trench coat with a menacingly decorated staff in one hand, raised his other hand in the air and chanted something.

    ''No, you don''t.''

    When Lee Shen pulled out the sword from the spatial ring, a ball of ice came shooting at him. With the t side of the sword, Lee swatted the ice and it shattered into smithereens.

    But his gut instinct told that this was not the end.

    Holding onto his instinct, Lee jumped backwards and a sharp needle pierced where he stood a second ago. The ice got embedded in the wood and another one camending more nearer to Lee.

    ''This man has ice affinity.''

    Dodging the strikes, Lee Shen drew close to the person in a strategic way. Due to the ipletion of the soul, Lee Shen was only a little faster than the Chief''s attacks.

    It was then something got caught in Lee Shen''s eyes.

    [A Death energy artefact.]

    The pitch-ck gem at the centre of the golden sunflower pendant hanging from the neck of the chief was supported by a golden chain.

    At the first nce, Hudson sensed the repulsive energy stagnant inside the gem. It emitted a sensation simr to ten thousand corpses piled up and decaying while plunging the surroundings into unrest and mayhem.

    [Beware of that pendant. It reeks the stench of blood and screams of souls.]

    After missing a few shots, the man brought his staff in front of his chest. The pendant came in contact with the magic object and its bluish hue turned ck.

    "By the gem of the jealousy, ye shall be sunk into the deep sea!"

    The man shouted and the entire ship trembled for a second. Then the miasma of death began to spread over the surface of the ship.

    Lee Shen tried to jump away from the corrosive force, but the miasma was faster. It coiled around his leg and pulled him down to the ship.

    At once, the frozen statues of the raiders disintegrated and was removed from existence. Several apparitions began to take form from the miasma and raised their figure over the dense ck cloud.

    [Lee, we were mistaken. There are no multiple artefacts on the ship. The ship itself is the artefact!]

    A peculiar sensation surrounded Lee Shen as he heard Hudson''s voice. When he gripped the sword, he raised his eyes and saw a barbaric grin on the Chief Raider''s face.

    Simultaneously, he felt Hudson''s voice thinning and vanishing from his ears. The Draconic Wyverns distanced themselves from the ship after the miasma appeared. Though they growled, Lee Shen was unable to hear their voices.

    ''Not again.''

    While slicing down the apparitions forming around him, Lee Shen felt a bit of despair. The sword in his hand was humming lightly, and it signified that D was trying tomunicate.

    The warriors on the other ships freed themselves from the harpoons of the raiser ship. Then they saw a change of air around the ship and went pale after seeing the ghostly apparitions arising from the deck of the ship.

    While they felt fortunate for breaking the bindings, they were also concerned about the young man fighting those figures. Their eyes then fell on the Chief Raider cloaked in a ragged trench coat.

    Helplessness could be felt from them as they found themselves unable to support the man who broke the enemy morale.

    Then, a faint breeze swept past the raider ship and the Chief flinched in fear.

 Chapter 304: Miasma Of Death

    Chapter 304: Miasma Of Death

    Then, a faint breeze swept past the raider ship and the Chief flinched in fear.

    For that fraction of a second, the miasma''s grasp of Lee Shen''s feet was loosened and he quickly jumped upward with the boost from Mana.

    The tentacles of the pitch-ck cloud failed to capture him as Pyro flew low and grabbed Lee''s shoulder and went away at the nick of the time.

    "Again!"

    Lee Shouted as he looked over his shoulder. Then he saw a winged figure flying towards the ship.

    When Lee Shen was rescued from the grasp of the deadly miasma, his connection with the residents of the System Space was re-established.

    At the very moment, he recollected the memory of the time when the Fallen Tubian''s portion was consumed by Perrafin.

    Stitching together the facts, Lee Shen concluded that the most effective weapon against Death energy would be the Perrafin''s lightning affinity.

    Zena was unaware of the developments till a few seconds ago. She was busy biting and chewing down the energy and it gave her a new vigour.

    When Cryo breathed the ship to an icicle, the lightning mysteriously vanished. This made her scout around a for a few more minutes and then her focus was on finding the party.

    Since she separated from them in pursuit of lightning, she had a tough time spotting the wyverns and the ship through the vision-obscuring fog.

    When she wandered inside the formation with no idea of the directions, the Chief Raider activated the pendant and the ship resonated with it. This created a beacon-like sensation to the Perrafin.

    She was quickly alerted about the existence of Death energy in the vicinity. Zena''s instincts fired up and she charged towards the location.

    Unknown to her, she was helping Lee Shen to escape from the grasp of death. When she flew past the ship''s location, her lightning affinity threatened the Chief Raider which made his control to weaken.

    When Zena saw Lee Shen in the vicinity, her eyes disyed confusion. When she saw that he was being rescued by Pyro, she deduced the situation.

    Her analysis was not as fast as Lee, but when his voice was heard, she did not think further.

    The Perrafin executed a perfect Split-S and her eyes squinted. Disclosing her sharp array of the tooth, she materialised lightning between her jaws.

    The Chief Raider wasughing like a maniac as the miasma crept over his being. The viciousughter could be heard echoing inside the formation and this created a creepy vibe.

    Maybe it was because of theughter or the change in atmosphere, the Perrafin was suddenly enraged beyond control. Her body began to crackle with lightning which left a trail as she flew past the ship.

    Like an aggressive A-10 Thunderbird II, she wreaked havoc over the ship. Every bolt of lightning she spat was deadly to the miasma and it surprisingly corroded the ship''s wood.

    Unlike Lee Shen''s expectations, the Chief Raider had gonepletely cuckoo and wasughing without reason. He continuedughing wildly and even when the ship was skewered by the Perrafin''s lightning bolt.

    [Something is not right.]

    D was abnormally restless and he sounded truly annoyed. With the perception ability of the Dimension Sovereign, he probed into the ship and found that a tremendous amount of Death energy is umting inside the hull of the ship.

    This news was quickly conveyed to Lee Shen who also noticed an uneasiness brushing against his face.

    He also observed that the Perrafin was somehow enraged beyond reason and it took him some effort to calm her drumming spirit.

    When he established a connection with Zena, she returned to his side and conveyed that rage somehow took control of her body.

    "That did not sound good."

    Asking D to probe, Lee Shen asked Aero to guide the two ships away from the raider ship. Since the raiders disabled the ships by breaking their propulsion mechanism, they were sitting ducks in the vicinity.

    Aero promptly flew toward one of the ships and grabbed its bow with his hind limbs. The passengers were surprised and felt endangered at first, but they realised that this behemoth had no intention of hurting them.

    Slowly, though not very slow, Aero pulled the vessel out of the formation and into the open sea. When the sailors and passengers eximed after seeing daylight again, their eyes saw the beast flying into the dark cloud looming just over the ocean.

    Almost half a minuteter, Aero came out of the turbulent zone with the second ship in tow. Those on the second ship waved and eximed to those in the first ship, disying their river of hope restored.

    The ships were not small and were almost 20 metres wide and 55 metres long and 9 metres tall. The special wood from which the ship was fashioned made its sturdiness unbelievably high.

    The abnormal sturdiness was associated with a weight of over 78 tons.

    Yet, when Aero clutched onto its bow, he identally broke the first ship''s bow. The sailors were thus afraid of seeing the beast crumbling the ship''s bow with a simple grasp.

    Learning from the mistake, Aero did not break the second ship''s now. Instead, he simply used his talons to pinch the extension of the bow which gave enough grip to pull it away.

    As the sailors and passengers shouted with bliss, Aero disappeared into the disturbing formation. This made some of the sailors to worry while others celebrated.

    Inside the formation.

    Perrafin, after regaining conscience, maintained a distance from the ship while raining lightning bolts of the ship. Pyro and Cryo tried their affinities but found ineffective of the umting Death energy.

    The condensing miasma began to solidify around the ship and its form began to change. Thin and long tentacles began to take shape around the vessel and the Chief was slowly losing his mind.

    The maniacalughter had not died down and it only attributed craziness to the overflowing miasma.

    Soon, Zena disyed tiredness and sluggishnded on Cryo''s back.

 Chapter 305: The Perpetual Tug-Of-War

    Chapter 305: The Perpetual Tug-Of-War

    She conveyed her weariness non-verbally and Lee Shen asked Cryo to take her away from the ship.

    The miasma flowing out of the ship''s deck gained density with each passing moment. This created an area of influence around the ship which forced them to retreat.

    [Lee, I assume that the artefact has a sliver of Deathw in it. I can feel its presence now.]

    When the condensation was over a limit, D began to notice the manifestation of pure Death energy inside the ship. Most importantly, it was faint and weak.

    When all were silent and trying to find a solution in the face of ever-growing threat, Rue raised her voice and told Lee to release the Fallen Tubian outside, into the miasma.

    [Are you crazy? The miasma and the Fallen are of the same energy.]

    [Exactly. They could fuse together and be a bigger threat.]

    When D and Hudson scolded Rue for her opinion, she replied without losing her cool.

    "Yes. Both the Fallen and the artefact of ship and pendant share the same energy of Death.

    But I came to this conclusion after a lot of pondering.

    The Fallen Tubian has shed its physical shell to avoid deportation. This was an irreversible deed and the Fallen had be one with its affinity.

    So essentially, the Fallen is now a pseudow fragment.

    The artefact has a faint amount ofw of Death energy in it. When it umtes enough miasma, it could produce the effect of a significant fraction of the totalw fragment.

    But the reason I asked you to release the Fallen Tubian is that both the artefact and the amorphous entity seems to hold a tiny bit on consciousness.

    Due to the peculiarities of the element and affinity, the Death energy does not allow them tobine but urges to defeat and take over the other.

    Coincidentally, if you are to release the Tubian now, then their focus would naturally shift towards the resonating sources of simr energy.

    I have foreseen two possible conclusions. 99.9% says that both of them would get destroyed in the process. But the remaining negligible fraction concludes that the Death energies from both sources could be united."

    The exnation of the True Druid was thorough and borate that Hudson felt himself to be a toddler inparison with Rue''s insight. He apuded her reasoning capability that transcends present and foresees future, even if it was only a fraction.

    Lee did not dare a second thought and quickly took out the ss prison. He threw it into the water andmanded it to break.

    The ss cube fell into the water and disappeared.

    A couple of secondster, the Chief Raider, nowpletely immersed in thew of Death, turned in the direction where the Fallen had fallen.

    A sense of confusion and anger coupled with great cautiousness could be seen on the face that had its skin partially melted away.

    When the miasma began to pool around the ship on a grand scale, Hudsonmented-

    [ it is beginning.]

    A sudden turbulence followed the preceding moments of tranquillity. The Fallen Tubian''s figure could be seen climbing up the ship.

    "It grew!"

    When released from its confinement, the Fallen began to exhibit its true extent of powers. Its powers were unleashed and it quickly sensed the presence of Death energy in the vicinity.

    While expanding like a Vampire Squid, the Fallen slowly engulfed the entire ship. Its glossy ck surface fended off the ship''s apparitions and a tug-of-war for dominance could be seen.

    Soon, the Fallen enveloped the shippletely. Now all that left in the sea was a giant glossy-ck object.

    Suddenly, the ship began to shrink at a tremendous rate. It was so quick that Lee suddenly assumed that a ck hole had originated inside it.

    "Retreat!!"

    Rue shouted and Lee repeated these words. The Draconic Wyverns quickly moved away from the spot and a secondter, they experienced an enormous pull.

    Even after dashing away from the ship, the beasts felt the pull''s magnitude on them. Thus the beasts attributed the respective element on them and the boost proved useful.

    The cloud formation began to show immense instabilities as lightning and clear sky dynamically covered the air. The veil of darkness around them intensified and weakened alternatively.

    [The Deathw fragment is forming.]

    Hudson conveyed that the Fallen Tubian''s affinity and the artefacts'' energy are fusing, with a surprise brimming in his voice. When he nced at Rue, he saw her frowning and scratching her head.

    Then D asked uncertainly.

    [Rue, what was the negligible conclusion again?]

    "Why?"

    [Because that is happening.]

    Not only Rue''s probabilities were wrong but it was also inurate as D added that despite the formation of the Deathw fragment, both the contender were alive and kicking each other.

    "If that is the case, then they have attained my third conclusion."

    [Wait, there was a third conclusion?]

    Rue nodded at Hudson and continued-

    "But its probability was too negligible to consider."

    Lee Shen sounded his curiosity to know that third possibility and Rue replied-

    "The third possibility is equilibrium. The Fallen and the artefacts with their advantages and disadvantages would fight to conquer each other. This would give birth to a stable condition where the cycle is perpetual until one of then concedes.

    But neither of them would give away their chance to be the one above other.

    The equilibrium would be delicate, yet powerful. Any external intervention would be eradicated by the sheer pressure they emit."

    Rue paused and sensed the silence. No one responded as they all fell into thoughts.

    [Rue, what would happen if the equilibrium is disturbed?]

    "There would be two possibilities.

    One, the opponents in the tug-of-war would shatter the stability and would use everyst bit of their powers to remove the other from existence.

    Two, the Fallen and the ship would disintegrate out of existence leaving behind their affinity and element to merge and form the fragment.

    The possibility of swinging between these two entirely depends upon the catalyst."

 Chapter 306: Catalyst Fero

    Chapter 306: Catalyst Fero

    The turbulence in the atmosphere had begun to affect Pyro and Cryo as they exhibited signs of tiredness. They have been airborne for quite a while and it was a surprise for all of them that they have such immense energy reserve and endurance!

    [Rue, how would you define the catalyst?]

    "I only have spections about it.

    But, the catalyst should have an affinity of Death energy or any element rted to the element to break the stability.

    If the catalyst has consciousness, then it would keep the two contenders away from devouring it and attaining the first possibility.

    If the first possibility is on, then the catalyst would trigger a self-destructive sequence that might level a range of, I don''t know, maybe a hundred kilometres from the point of origin. The shockwave is sure to go beyond the range in all directions.

    But if the second possibility is stimted, then the catalyst we invested in would have a chance to assimte with the Deathw fragment. Even if the assimtion is impossible, we would be left with a piece of the entirew fragment."

    The need to find a suitable catalyst became a necessary higher than ever. D then sensed that the perpetual cycle of the stability is increasing the amount of umted energy and warned that the field of destruction will increase with each passing second!

    Initially, Lee Shen blindly thought of jumping in but Rue severely scolded him for such reckless decision.

    Zena was out of the question as she was quite the opposite of what the Fallen was fighting for. If she was to jump in, they would conjointly disintegrate her and then focus on the battle.

    Aero, Pyro and Cryo were already exhausted and wanted to rest as soon as possible. But they reassured Lee Shen that they can continue to stay airborne by gliding around the ship''s location.

    Hudson and D crossed their hands in front of their chest at Rue''s nce. They were the only remaining wisps of theirplete souls and they did not want to die for something reassured by a Druid bad in mathematics.

    Somehow, every single one of them had forgotten the most favourable existence at the moment. Fero had overheard about all that was happening through the conversations. He was actually ready to go in butid down waiting for his master''s call.

    And his wish was fulfilled!

    ''Fero!''

    Lee Shen''s voice resounded inside the System Space at the very moment Rue turned around to see the ck fur figure. She had also reached the same conclusion as Lee but was a fraction of a secondte.

    Fero was the only one with an affinity close to Death. Though it was Dark element, it fulfilled the criteria for destroying the stability.

    Moreover, he was an intelligent being with consciousness and superior control over his element. Thus, even if he failed to assimte the energy, he would be alive. The maximum he would have to go through would be the pain of his soul and some physical tortures.

    Fero jumped up with vigour and enthusiasm. A spatial tear was formed which was big enough for him to go through. At the other end of the portal was Lee.

    "Boy, can you do this?"

    Lee asked in doubt as he felt the usual enthusiastic expression on his face. The hyena nodded and then conveyed that he had been ready for quite a time.

    Without wasting a moment, Pyro flew high into the sky and the slowly hovered over the glossy ck object. The aura emitted from the ship was slowly burdening Pyro with pain and he promptly told Lee Shen to speed up.

    When the time was right, Fero jumped out of the Draconic Wyvern''s back and nose-dived into the glossy object. It had deformed greatly and did not resemble a ship anymore.

    It looked like a glossy mass of slime floating over the ocean while maintaining the shape of the ship''s hull. There were no disturbances over the surface of the object and it signified that the equilibrium was perfect and bnced.

    As Fero drew closer and closer to the ship, the slimy object formed a funnel-like shape above the object to receive the oing object.

    And into the funnel, Fero disappeared!

    "Let''s hope for the best."

    Though it was an informalment, those words infuriated D and Hudson. They criticised the True Druid''s humour sense and engaged in a verbal war.

    ------

    For almost a minute, the object was abnormally stable.

    Then...

    Intense tremors began to ripple through the surface of the object and the Fallen was stretching and breaking at many ces. The slimy entity became skewered like a mosquito and the remaining was absorbed into the ship''s hull.

    When the Fallen disappeared, there was no sign of the Chief Raider and Fero. The wooden construct had been deformed greatly and it no longer resembled a ship.

    Instead, it looked like arge pile of wood floating in the ocean.

    The ocean also produced ripples in resonance with the tremors of the pile of wood. It was only for a brief period and it vanished.

    Many pairs of expectant eyes were fixed on the raiders'' ship. The Draconic Wyvernspletely forgot about their tiredness and their focus was unwavering.

    Along with Rue, the remnant soul of the Dimension Sovereign and the final wisp of the Mana user stared at the cracked deck of the ship.

    D could not sense any kind of presence from the wreckage. He conveyed to the others that the ship is on the verge of disintegration and that something is puzzling inside the hull.

    No matter how much he tried, Lee Shen failed to establish amunication channel with Fero. Though he could notmunicate with him, Lee assured himself that Fero would be alive.

    Rue and Hudson joined forces and then pondered on the next possible oues. But their effort reached nowhere and drew nothing.

    When the eyes expected a silent transition, the ship exploded with a bang that created intense spatial fluctuations in the vicinity.

 Chapter 307: Jonit Ushag

    Chapter 307: Jonit Ushag

    BANG!!!

    Dense shockwaves flew through the atmosphere and gave painful sensation to every living being in the vicinity. The wyverns twitched in pain and flewpletely random in hopes of avoiding these painfulshes.

    Needless to say, the shockwaves erupted out with a significant amount of force that pushed everything away, including water and the fishes.

    The disturbances soon vanished but the looming cloud remained intact. But D quickly found that the dense cloud curtain was thinning slowly.

    A lot of wooden debris floated away from the spot was the ship stood. When all wooden pieces floated away, Lee Shen saw a ck entity floating over the water.

    "Fero!"

    He eximed after observing that the entity have legs and a head intact. Cryo quickly dove to pull Fero out of the water and snatched him before sinking into the depths of the ocean.

    *screech*

    Cryo screeched out loud before dropping Fero in the ocean. He acted as if he was selected by something. When Lee closely observed, he saw that Cryo''s legs have been severely skinned off.

    [Rue, save him, please.]

    Dnekewy''s voice was heard and a portal was opened simultaneously. Rue''s tall figure leapt from it and into the water.

    Without any difficulty, she scooped Fero in her hands and jumped back into the water with the momentum.

    Then the most unanticipated thing happened.

    A panel popped up with a question.

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>Unstable Law energy detected.</strong>

    <strong>Use Essence to stabilise?</strong>

    <strong>[Yes] [No]</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    Following this disy, the System Space experienced slight fluctuations and that made Hudson conclude that Fero has obtained the treasure.

    ''Hit it.''

    The approval triggered the panel to dissolve into thin air. Promptly, the Essence reserve began to shrink by multiples of ten.

    ''Rue, how is Fero?''

    Inside the subspace, Feroid on the green grass motionless. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow. At a nce, people might mistake him as dead.

    Rue channel a lot of her Druid energy into Fero''s body to stabilise, but little was the effect. When Rue felt that her energy was being expended in vain, she retracted her attempts.

    This made the system initiate countermeasures.

    When the host approved the system''s suggestion, the space around the Split-jaw Hyena began to fill up with Essence. This pacified the unstable Death energy wandering inside Fero.

    By each passing second, the Essence consumption began to fluctuate. It would spike up and then go shallow.

    Ruemunicated that Fero''s vitals are getting better and the energy inside him is calming down. She added that this might cost more than a few millions of Essence.

    In the reality.

    The cloud formation began to dissipate and the Draconic Wyverns spotted the ships floating a little farther from them. Without waiting for Lee Shen''s permission, they drifted through the air and neared the ships.

    Aero was resting on one of the ships with Zena on his back. The passengers looked at the beast in awe and murmured about him.

    A few among them crept near Aero and touched his skin. Since he found them harmless, Aero did not make a fuss about that.

    While scanning around, he then saw Pyro and Cryo flying towards the ships.

    Growl!

    Pyro asked Aero to get off the ship and conveyed that they were more tired than ever. The response was a simple wing eat and Aero was airborne.

    Cryo upied Aero''s position and Pyro gentlynded on the other ship. The astonishment of the passengers went over the roof as they felt Cryo''s coldness and Pyro''s warmth.

    Lee Shen came down to the ship from the wyvern''s back. When the sailors saw his figure, they came to enquire about his identity and the raiders.

    "Young man, I thank you on behalf of our crew and the entire passengers. May I ask our saviour''s name?"

    The man who looked like the captain of the ship neared Lee Shen and asked in a polite voice. His voice carried the simplicity of a professional sailor. His sturdy and tall physique with scars over all over his skin marked that he was a seasonedbatant.

    Lee Shen recollected that he did saw him fending off the raiders invading the ship.

    With a smile, Lee Shen introduced himself as a traveller who had no specific destination.

    The man introduced himself as Jonit Ushag. This man in his early 40s had been in the sea for more than two decades. Jonit then introduced the sailors under his leadership and conveyed that both ships are under hismand.

    "You seem very talented. Your bonds are powerful and colossal."

    The captain rubbed his chin and his other hand rested on his hip while he scanned the beasts resting on the ships. His eyes shuttled between Cryo and Pyro and then examined Aero who circled above the ships.

    Understanding the situation, Jonit waved at the sailors on the other ship. They quickly moved objects under the deck and threw some overboard to make space for Aero tond.

    -------

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>2 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,560 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    The ship went silent after a few exmations and exchanges. The passengers were still mumbling about the Draconic Wyverns in amazement.

    Nobody dared to ask how Lee Shen obtained these serendipitous creatures. Though people observed the aberrant anatomy, they considered these beasts as mutations. Lee did not bother to correct their conclusions.

    Some of the people on board came to Lee to express their gratitude. They gifted him with trinkets and objects that ranged from ordinary to unique. Lee epted them humbly and thanked them.

    When the crowd dispersed, Jonit walked to Lee.

    "I forgot to ask. Where are you heading, Lee Shen?"

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    <strong>/=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>PERSONAL INFO:</strong>

    <strong>Name: Lee Shen</strong>

    <strong>Race: -</strong>

    <strong>Essence: 880,534,790</strong>

    <strong>Money: 6,426 Gold; 866 Silver; 75 Copper</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>Days psed: 35</strong>

    <strong>Time: 2 PM</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ATTRIBUTES:</strong>

    <strong>Health: 4,390</strong>

    <strong>Power: 2,900</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 3,887</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 350</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>PROGRESS:</strong>

    <strong>Cultivation: Peak Soul Manifestation</strong>

    <strong>Qi: 0</strong>

    <strong>Mastery: Lord Level Mastery</strong>

    <strong>Mana: 386</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ELEMENTS:</strong>

    <strong> Fire</strong>

    <strong> Water</strong>

    <strong> Ice</strong>

    <strong> Wind</strong>

    <strong> Stone</strong>

    <strong> Gravity</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>STORAGE:</strong>

    <strong>1. ck (Pinnacle - D possessed)</strong>

    <strong>2. Grey (Pinnacle)</strong>

    <strong>3. Tanya''s Corpse</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>WORKSHOP:</strong>

    <strong>SYSTEM SPACE:</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=/</strong>

 Chapter 308: The Voyage To Intellus

    Chapter 308: The Voyage To Intellus

    Lee Shen had just turned to gaze at the horizon when the rough voice of the seasoned sailor rose from behind.

    When Lee was about to turn around, Jonit came and stood next to Lee and stared at the boundaries of the ocean beyond sight.

    "I forgot to ask where you are heading. If you have a specific destination, we can help you reach there.

    You won''t be needing our help. But we want to show our gratitude. If we could help you even in the slightest manner, that would bring happiness to us."

    Jonit had been busy for the past one hour fixing the broken mast and repairing the rudders. The sweat had lined his dress and his skin with visible trails.

    The triplets took turns dragging the ships towards their destination. When Lee came to know that they were also heading to Intellus, he was joyous on the inside. He, therefore, asked Draconic Wyverns to help them move forward.

    "I don''t have any rtives alive. So I wander around. All I have are them."

    While finishing the words, Lee looked up his shoulder and his gaze fell on the triplets and Zena. Basking in the natural daylight, they have grown fond of the original climate of the main dimension. The triplets expressed their wish to stay on the outside rather than in the System Space.

    Jonit had an urge to query about the origin of these bizarre creatures. He hesitantly asked and Lee repeated the story D had prepared for such an asion.

    ording to the story, Lee stumbled upon them when he fell into a pit while roaming inside a jungle. The fall introduced him to an underground cave where he saw piles of bones and three tiny eggs.

    Sensing hostility in the vicinity, Lee Shen somehow escaped the inconspicuous tunnel with the three eggs. Theyter hatched and the triplets were born!

    The story had covered all the necessary loopholes prone to questioning. As an expert sailor, Jonit also shared his experiences of fortunes and misfortunes and epted the exnation.

    "I came to know about the other continents about a few years ago. I had thought of going there once, but the recent natural disasters quickened my decision."

    Lee Shen gave a short description of what he had heard about the Intellus and Jonit shared his knowledge. Though Lee could not attain any new information, he was convinced that the continent of Intellus would be a whole different stage of battle!

    After a short period of silence.

    "How did you all got stuck in that cloud formation?" (Lee Shen)

    "Oh, that! We only saw a giant rain cloud formation in a distance and as we tried to round about it, we found ourself engulfed by it. It was not too quick or slow.

    As soon as we were trapped inside, we lost sight of our sister ships. It took us some time to find each other and by that time, the raider ship had upied one ship.

    After looting and piging, they took every bit of gold and silver and all the living beings to their raider vessel.

    We have not heard from them since and we saw the ship catching on fire and swallowed by it."

    Hudson had inferred conclusions out of the narration. But they were all partially urate due tock of information input.

    Jonit stood next to Lee Shen for a few more minutes silently as his eyes surveyed the sea. Sensing something, he excused himself and went below the deck.

    Lee constantly observed his surroundings for anything unusual. His eyes ran throughout the sea and on the deck of the ship.

    ''D, how is Fero?''

    [Man, you won''t believe what just happened. He just went through an evolution!]

    D sounded enthusiastic and excited when he transmitted the information. Lee Shen maintained his nk expression as he asked D to borate.

    [Until a few minutes ago, Fero''s body was continuously consuming Essence for stabilising the Death energy. Though the Dark and Death elements are from the same root, the intensity and mode of function distinguish them.

    The Essence value began to show signs of stability and Fero began to move. His soul has been greatly weakened by the injection of the new element, but the supply of Essence helped him to assimte the Law energy wlessly.

    The final result was a quick and precise reconstruction of Fero''s physical body. Now, he is as big as a lion!]

    A wide smile spread on his face as Lee stared at the horizon. But his moments of ecstasy was cut short by a small wave of water drenching himpletely.

    Ssh!

    {Gotchu.}

    Lee Shen was shaken by the sudden attack. He quickly sharpened his gaze and stared at the water.

    A short growl echoed in his ears and the culprit was evident.

    "Cryo."

    Soaked in water, Lee mumbled as he shot a nce at the majestic creature swimming in the ocean. Lee Shen could derive that Cryo had a smirk on his face.

    The Ice affinity Draconic Wyvern sshed water like a joyous toddler. It lowered its head and took in a mouthful of water. It tried to rain it but failed as Lee had moved away from the spot.

    Cryo was initially hesitant to enter the waters. But when he found that his affinity and water are like siblings, he became an ocean addict.

    While Aero and Pyro dragged the ships being airborne, Cryo had the luxury of being on his turf.

    While spending time in the waters, Cryo unlocked the art of swimming. At first, he pped his fore-limbs which sshed water around. Soon he became efficient in swimming.

    Cryo sadly recognised that he cannot breathe underwater while spending his time floating over the ocean surface.

    Aero tried to make contact with water but was satisfied with a touch alone. On the other hand, Pyro was doing his best not to touch the ocean in any way.

    Cryo tried to spray water one Pyro once, once! And the response was a deafening roar which exhibited his anger and rage.

 Chapter 309: The Reunion

    Chapter 309: The Reunion

    ----------

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>5 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,820 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    Zena was sleeping with her head on Lee Shen''s back when the notification appeared.

    "Hey, be a good girl and move please."

    Just like Earth, every wild animal grew faster than humans. The humans were a race known for their slowest growth rate.

    Zena was not as big as to hurt Lee, but she had surpassed him in size. When she ced her head on Lee Shen''s back, he felt a sudden pain on his spine.

    When Lee Shen tried to shake her off, she coiled and ced one of her wings on him along with her tail.

    Thus, Lee Shen''s blissful basking in the evening sun turned into being a pillow for his familiar.

    When he struggled to move, he felt a faint tingling sensation running through his body.

    Purr!

    The voice has an embedded threat in it. Lee Shen did not dare to move any further as he knew what was that crept up his body like an impulse.

    There were elves and dwarves on the ship. The passengers also had a few orcs and beastfolks among them. Lee''s closeness to his familiar was quickly renowned among them all.

    Elves, as people with excellent affinity with nature, were very attracted to the unparalleled beauty of Zena. She initially expressed her shyness but was enthusiasticter.

    The bond that shared between Lee and Zena was something unique and special, an elfmented. Others agreed with thement and feasted their eyes on this unique connection between a human and a beast.

    They also evaluated Lee Shen as an aberrant human when they considered the existence of the triplets.

    The dwarves were curious about their origins. Thus, they initially burdened Lee Shen with questions, but soon understood their breach of privacy. They asked for Lee''s forgiveness and quickly left the scene.

    The Draconic Wyverns had peculiar behavioural patterns rted to their affinity. Cryo was chill and interacted with others with vigour. Aero was more actively social as he disyed his aerial manoeuvres that made everyone drop their jaws in awe.

    But Pyro was the most annoyed. Not that it was his behaviour, but the aquatic environmental surrounding him made him ufortable to the core. This made his anger seep through his skin and emit a rather hotter sensation.

    Dwarves found this sensationfortable to them. As beings with an affinity of fire and earth, they found Pyro''s hot-headedness to their liking.

    Though the triplets varied in the magnitude of social interaction, they shared an innatemunication channel between them. This was an exclusive transmission route for them and it was somehow imprable. Its existence was the greatest advantage for the trio and its range was vast and surpassed any heights and lengths.

    When Pyro and Aero felt hungry, they asked Cryo to fetch something. They were intelligent enough to not ask Lee Shen to expose the existence of the system or the subspace.

    Cryo immediately dove into the water and came up with a Spotted Shark in his jaws. He threw it to Pyro who swallowed the fish as a whole.

    He repeatedly went underwater and caught many kinds of fishes. After sharing with Aero, he produced some fishes for the sailors and the passengers.

    The orcs were the happiest to receive fish on board. Apparently, that race has developed a love for seafood but rarelyes across a chance to enjoy it.

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>6 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,680 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    Lee Shen took a nce at the disy before closing it. It has been almost an hour and he was ustomed to the weight of Zena over him.

    The Perrafin''s periodic soft purr was beautiful to hear and it was like a luby to Lee Shen. But before he fell asleep, she rolled down from his back and he was liberated.

    Quietly standing up, Lee Shen tiptoed to the edge of the deck. The setting stars had painted the ocean with a vibrant golden hue. The ripples of the ocean had attributed an iprehensible aesthetic beauty to the ocean.

    The twin setting stars could be seen on the horizon. They exhibited an urge to hide under the nket of water. With every second, they sunk further and moved to take rest.

    A gentle breeze blew across Lee caressing his face. At the moment, everything seemed to have stopped in the temporal progression. The serenity of the ocean and the refreshing presence of the wind had pulled off a mind-soothingbo.

    Perhaps it was because of this peculiar timing and setting, he did not sense three people approaching him. His senses failed to detect their presence as his back was facing them. Furthermore, their footsteps were gentle and almost inaudible.

    The unending loop of beauty that Lee Shen savoured was disrupted by a masculine voice.

    "Lee Shen, wasn''t it?"

    A fraction of a second before the question fell in his ears, Lee Shen detected their presence. As he was about to turn around, the question was raised. He stood there for a second wondering who they are and then slowly turned around.

    Eyes went wide as Lee Shen almost screamed out loud-

    "Darwin!"

    The surprise was enormous! The scene made him reluctant to believe his eyes for a moment. But after making a double-check, he almost was on the verge of ecstatic tears.

    Darwin was alive and was now standing in front of him. This was quite a surprise for Lee as he searched for his presence everywhere and even felt that he had died.

    Even when he had Map, D and Hudson failed to track Darwin''s aura which finally ended them concluding that he had perished.

    At a nce, the former mercenary group leader was fine. But it took Lee Shen a second to detect that his sturdiness had weakened and almost vanished. The Darwin now was a lite version of his former self.

    Wearing amoner outfit, the Mana user stood like an innocent man.

    Suppressing his welling up eyes, Lee Shen noticed the presence of two more people next to him. One of them wore a hooded cloak and the person''s face was obscured from vision.

    But Lee recognised the woman next to Darwin.

 Chapter 310: Perishing World

    Chapter 310: Perishing World

    But Lee recognised the woman next to Darwin.

    Before he uttered her name, he took a moment to sense some changes in her.

    "Freya? Where is your left arm?"

    Lee might have never knit his brows so hard ever before. Because the woman standing next to Darwin was a former female knight known for her courage, and she is now missing an arm.

    It was impossible for Lee to not see that her health had not been at its peak. Her face revealed tiredness which was veiled by a stered smile.

    "I..."

    Freya wanted to speak but she could note up with an appropriate lie. Thus she stammered and her attempt ended withoutsting a second.

    After inspecting Freya and finding her okay except for the loss of an arm and health issues, Lee''s eyes turned to the person hiding under the hood.

    There was no hostility in Lee Shen''s eyes. But Darwin felt some misunderstanding in the atmosphere. Quickly ncing around to find no one else in the vicinity, Darwin turned to the man.

    "King, it is safe."

    The mysterious man looked at Darwin for a second and then nodded before slowly lifting his hood.

    [No wonder the quest tab gave us a mission to save king Aizel at that time!]

    In front of Lee Shen stood the suprememander of the Venus Kingdom. Though Lee had heard about the king from stories and many ounts, he was yet to meet thetest in the legacy of liberators of the ves.

    The man was only slightly taller than Lee and had a majestic aura around him. The overgrown brown beard and the long and dense hair apanying the thick moustache that joined the beard formed a beautiful facial feature.

    King Aizel was the man with a well-defined physique. His mere presence could give away the vigour emitting from him.

    The man had a pair of expressionless eyes. It looked like Lee as if they had seen all the sufferings this world could ever offer.

    The staringpetition between Lee and the king was disturbed by Darwin''s voice.

    "King Aizel, this man is Lee Shen. A cultivator. We can count him as an ally."

    When Darwin spoke, Lee, for a fraction of a second, saw a golden glow in the king''s eyes. He did not get a second to raise a question about what he saw when the king spoke.

    "This man hides many secrets, and it would be troublesome to make him an enemy."

    The voice resembled the tone of a caring father and a caring leader. It did not have a tonne of arrogance and modesty was brimming in those words.

    Lee Shen, for a second, though whether this man here is the actual king or not.

    But upon considering the ounts about the man, what Lee witnessed was perfectly normal.

    The king quickly wore his hood and Jonit walked into the scene simultaneously. Finding Lee Shen talking to some people, he conveyed that they have made prepared dinner and asked him toe down when he is done chatting.

    Jonit returned downstairs and the party of four came following his footsteps a minuteter.

    Before going down, Lee did not forget to whisper to Zena that he was going to have dinner. The Perrafin barely opened her eyelids and gave Lee Shen a quick lick before slipping into slumber again.

    They went down and the gruel was served. The sailors and passengers as onerge family partook in the dinner. Some ate less while some ate a lot.

    Lee Shen slowly consumed the hot gruel served to him. Though it was exhausting to blow away the hot steam, the freshness of the gruel and its peculiarposition made his tummy feel great.

    ---------

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>8 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,978,050 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    Everyone had dispersed into their private lives after dinner. The rooms were upied and a few passengers have already slept.

    On the deck, Zena slept while the cold breeze brushed against her fur. The coat of fur insted her from the coldness and she had a tranquil expression while sleeping.

    Next to her was Lee Shen sitting on the floor. Right to his was Freya and Darwin sat opposite to her. King Aizel wearing the hood was upying a space opposite, Lee Shen.

    Darwin showed enthusiasm while probing the past of Lee. Heeding his request, Lee Shen gave an exnation of how things turned out and how the things are now.

    When it came to exining the origin of the triplets and the Perrafin, Lee spew the story cooked by none other than the Dimension Sovereign himself!

    Obviously, he hid the existence of the system, subspace, D, Hudson, Rue and other ssified information.

    Freya inquired about An Fenfang to which Lee replied that she had already left for the continent of Intellus along with one of her friend.

    For a second, her face showed vigour. But it was quickly removed by a darkened expression.

    Lee had been suppressing his urge to ask about their past. Freya''s swing of expression convinced him to probe about the topic fearlessly.

    "Um..."

    Darwin hummed for a second as he quickly scanned the surroundings. Other than a few elves and dwarves sitting and chatting here and there on the deck, no one was in the vicinity.

    After taking a nce at the king''s face, Darwin leaned forward and spoke hushedly.

    "The world is about to perish."

    But...

    It was Darwin who furrowed his brows. Since Lee Shen was devoid of any peculiar expression, it was a natural reaction.

    D and Hudson heard Darwin''s words and chuckled in the subspace before turning away to be immersed in their personal stuff.

    In confusion, Darwin gazed at Freya who also was clueless regarding Lee Shen''s unanticipated countenance.

    Freya was frail and as she tried to express her puzzlement, King Aizel spoke-

    "Do you know anything about it?"

    The King''s words had confusion and bewilderment brimming in it. But he spoke in a calm and collected tone which was only audible to the four.

    "I had a gist that the world might plunge into cmity in the future."

 Chapter 311: The Abnormal School

    Chapter 311: The Abnormal School

    Lee Shen leaned forward and his chin rested on his right hand''s palm which was supported by his thigh and the elbow.

    "From all the chaos and destruction, I had the basic outline of what might happen. But I never came to the conclusion that the world would be perishing."

    The solemnity in Lee Shen''s words made King Aizel nod in agreement.

    "Your ruling is on the right track. The recent destruction and disasters that enveloped the continent was only a prelude to what wasing.

    So let me address the issue directly.

    Millenniums ago, there was a war where all the living beings joined as one unified force to demolish some sentient enemies..."

    King Aizel went on describing the continents of Romoke, Chreith, Decarna and Exiriado. Though his information resource was not as deep and diverse as D, he still conveyed the idea and an approximation about these continents.

    "The saints and great men of history once predicted that the continents would rise. Afterpiling the current situation with the contemporary scenarios, we could conclude that the day is near."

    King Aizel''s voice resembled that of a kind andpassionate professor in a college. His feelings were well expressed through the words. Lee Shen, D and Hudson felt attracted to his way of speaking.

    --------

    After a small session of discussion, the king, Darwin and Freya bid Lee Shen good night and went to their cabins.

    Momentster they disappeared, Jonit emerged from below the deck and offered him room to sleep. But he politely declined the offer after telling him that he likes the breeze of night.

    Jonit felt after providing a nket to Lee. It was made of wool and was soft. Since Jonit did not force him toe down, he could only provide him with something to resist the coldness of the night.

    [The King Aizel...he is still wary of you.]

    ''As a king, he cannot just disclose ssified topic to an anybody. He needs to confirm whether I am worthy or not of receiving this information.''

    [Also the glow in his eyes...that is something I have never seen.]

    [I think that is called a Bloodline Ability. I have read about it when I was alive.]

    D was immediately barraged with an array of questions. He waited for the uproar to die down and then spoke-

    [ording to my memories, Bloodline Ability is a particr skill associated with a specific bloodline. It is widely considered as blessings from the gods. Though none had unlocked the mystery behind these powers, people with Bloodline Ability has an advantage over adventurers and cultivators.

    But one factor about Bloodline Ability confuses me. It has been proven that only those born on the continents of Intellus and Chaos could activate their Bloodline Ability. Then how did he...?]

    The disclosure made Lee Shen knit his brows.

    ''D, can we believe your memories?''

    [Of course, you can. I am dead but I have not be stupid.]

    [Then King Aizel has a reason to travel to Intellus.]

    The conversation went on as Lee Shen cuddled next to the Perrafin. The Draconic Wyvern trio also found refuge on the decks of the boat.

    The noise of the System Space died down as Lee Shen yawned loud. This made Rue and Hudson hush down and the voices in the head pacified quickly.

    "Good night Zena."

    Cuddling against the white furry beast, Zena wrapped her tail around Lee Shen as he slipped into the woollen nket. Both of them were pushed into deep slumber within seconds.

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>10 PM.</strong>

    <strong>5,976,650 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    ---------

    In sleep, time passes at different rates. Sometimes you take a nap and hours might have passed. Sometimes a long and refreshing sleep would have only had half an hour duration.

    Perhaps it is because of the serenity of the breeze that Lee Shen''s fatigue was quickly washed away. It could also be the reason why Lee Shen was not pissed off when Aero woke him.

    With sluggishness attributed from the sleep, Lee Shen sat up silently and removed the nket. His nk eyes caught Aero staring at him.

    "Why did you wake me?"

    *silent yawn*

    The expression conveyed that the sleep was so addictive that it was not adequate. If Aero did not present a valid reason, Lee would leap back into the sleep.

    Aero took a nce at Zena sleeping near him. Then he focused back on Lee.

    After staring into Lee Shen''s eyes for a brief second, Aero turned his head to his right and indicated him to take a look.

    As soon as he stood up, the sight that weed him was beautiful and endangering.

    Like fireflies, there were countless balls periodically glowing in the sea. The sight was immense and the number of these glowing masses were beyond hundreds.

    But when Lee caught the nce of a set of sharp teeth quietly swimming behind the illuminating balls, he lowered his head and continued to observe.

    ''Why do they resemble Anglerfishes?''

    [Because they are called Tight-lipped Sea Fishers. They are gigantic and ruthless versions of Anglerfishes.]

    ''Oh, okay. But why did the wyvern wake me up?''

    Lee Shen raised his head and stared at Aero for a second. The beast understood his demand and conveyed the message inaudibly.

    {Something is wrong with these fishes.}

    With knit brows, Lee Shen observed the fishes again. It took him some time to figure out what Aero actually implied.

    [No wonder the beast wake you up. These fishes are individual hunters. If they team up, then the chances of a sessful meal will dwindle.]

    When Lee took a nce at the other ship, he saw Pyro and Cryo looking at him. They were sitting on the ship with near to no motion.

    The fact that Cryo is still not used to the open ocean made him retreat to the ship at night. Pyro, needless to say, was very ufortable with the surroundings.

    [Hey Lee, did you notice the direction they are swimming in?]

    (A.N. I am expecting suggestions of the chapters till now. Please help me improvise my writing.)

 Chapter 312: School Of Solo Hunters

    Chapter 312: School Of Solo Hunters

    Turning his head left and right, Lee concluded-

    ''Is it...northward?''

    [If they are moving northward, then this might be the effect of the earthquakes.]

    ''Can you exin, Hudson?''

    [This is just an assumption.

    When the notorious continents were split in half, the positions of Intellus and Chaos were changed. They were brought to the equator from the poles and the other 8 continents were arranged to connect them.

    If the Forgotten Trinity emerges, then Intellus would be moved back to the pole. The seismic changes might have been felt by the creatures which triggered migration onrge scale.

    The tectonic tes would be severely rearranged and that would affect the lives of marine animals the most. Thus they are possibly trying to seek shelter in calm waters.]

    [Makes sense.]

    After understanding the possible exnation behind the phenomenon, the sleep came back to pull Lee Shen back inside the nket.

    When Lee casually swung his eye across Aero''s face, he saw the beast looking southward with a visible frown.

    ''Now what?''

    The poker-face of Lee Shen kept staring at Aero who was unaware of the nk re. The Draconic Wyvern stared in the southern direction and Pyro and Cryo also scanned in the direction, to find nothing on the horizon.

    Without wasting a moment, Lee went and cuddled next to Zena who used her tail to pull him nearer to her. Soon the human and his bond were breathing in sync while sinking into slumber.

    Lee Shen was unaware of Aero staring at the southern horizon. As a being with Air affinity, he was able to detect even the slightest changes in the air, including changes in magicalposition and disturbances or most kind.

    After some time, Pyro and Cryo too felt the sensation brushing against their skin from the southern horizon. They stood unmoving like a statue while pondering on this indescribable perception.

    ------------

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>4 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,010 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    Zena''s purr was the first thing Lee Shen heard while waking up. Her unique noise was simultaneously irritating and refreshing.

    A sticky sensation filled his face as he becamepletely conscious. The colourless thin substance was ufortable and Lee knows just who did this.

    "Zena..."

    Lee dodged her tail''s whish by a hair''s thickness and rolled back in momentum. He took a moment to calm his heart and recognise all these as her silly behaviour.

    Mana condensed in his palms and a sphere of water was formed. Lee quickly washed his face, mouth and his hands and acquired an energetic countenance.

    The twin stars had only peeked from the horizon. They shone their reddish-orange hue on the water and it sparkled with beauty. Through the silent waters, the pair of ships sailed peacefully.

    Anyone from a distance would be able to spot the ships because three majestic creatures were on top of the vessels. The Draconic Wyverns had officially revealed their existence through this act.

    Aero stood on his hind-limbs and stretched the forelimbs and the supportive wings. The pale yellowplexion of Aero reflected the first light of the day and made him drench in a golden hue.

    Pyro and Cryo were already flying in the air. Cryo wanted to take a dip in the ocean but waited for the stars to reach higher. He was wary of any possible threats lurking inside.

    About an hourter.

    The triplets scurried through the air while the passengers came up to feel the warmth of the morning. The unanticipated sight made many of them awe in amazement.

    Zena found that her elder brothers have be the centre of attention. Her pride did not let her stay dormant and she leapt into the air.

    With each wingbeat, she climbed vertically. Her rtively smaller figure enabled her to perform rather difficult manoeuvres with ease and she was filled with vigour.

    The sunglo-red Pyro, dodger-blue Cryo, picasso-yellow Aero and snow-white Zena conquered the sky and the hearts of the spectators immediately. Many even forgot to brush their teeth and wash their face as they stood on the deck in warmth and bliss.

    Among the audience was captain Jonit and the duo of King Aizel and Darwin. Lee did not see Freya with them and assumed that she is resting downstairs.

    Lee made up his mind to ask about her injuries the next time he meets her.

    Soon, people came back to their senses and withdrew from the deck. They freshened and had a light breakfast.

    While gulping down the soup, Jonit came to the dining room and announced that they will reach the inds near the continent of Intellus within a few hours.

    A few people who wore outfits like merchants hurriedly finished their bowl of soup and went to pack their belongings. Upon inquiry, Lee came to know that these people are merchants who travel between the two continents for trading.

    The northern continent had a rich cold region flora and fauna. The fur of the animals and the region-exclusive nts were in demand on the other continents.

    Simultaneously, the merchants would bring back various trinkets and objects imbued with either Mana or Qi and trade them in the northern continent. This gave birth to a beautiful economy and interdependence of people of different sses.

    Now that the time is nearing 6 in the morning, the passengers could feel the warmth of the twin stars much better. The Draconic Wyverns havended back on the ships and Cryo supplied his brothers with adequate marine animals.

    It was noteworthy that Cryo identally bit a Feathered Lionfish which made his lips to puff up!

    This coincidentally sparked a tide ofughter and Lee Shen felt Pyro''s mood brightening up. Aero tried to imitate theughter of the passengers but ended up roaring ceaselessly.

    D told that the Feathered Lionfish is a fish that most beasts avoid. He continues to speak about the animal''s umon poison attacks and concluded that the Draconic Wyverns should have poison immunity to an extent.

    Unbeknownst to those on the ship, the soldiers guarding the ports of the ind saw the majestic beasts sitting on the ships!

 Chapter 313: Osprey Riders

    Chapter 313: Osprey Riders

    Unbeknownst to those on the ship, the soldiers guarding the ports of the ind saw the majestic beasts sitting on the ships!

    And this sparked a series of warning bells and attack formations!

    It was a guard who spotted the ships through the telescope. The man standing on the tower was unsettled by the sight of the beasts.

    After confirming that those are colossal dragons, he ran to the office to notify them.

    Secondster, the port was on high alert. From the barracks, the soldiers came running to the port.

    This ind, one among the many that shared amon neighbourhood with Intellus, was only a few miles away from the maind. Due to the presence of gigantic coral reefs and underwater rock formations, the ships conclude their journey by these inds on low tide times.

    Jonit and his sailors were unaware of this development. Due to theck of Map, Lee Shen was also blind to the battle preparation taking ce on thend.

    Though the ind''s military power is limited, they had other troops that could assure them of their victory. The Grey-tail Osprey that is nurtured especially for aerial support grows taller than a human. When decorated with appropriate armour, they be a significant factor in assuring victory.

    The Osprey riders gathered at a short notice. The essence of the situation was conveyed and 37 Osprey riders mounted the birds. The next second, the troop leapt into the air and flew towards the ships.

    Jonit was taking a casual nce at the inds to determine the tides and condition of the sea when he saw several Ospreys rising into the air from the ind.

    The unusual sight he had not seen before made him confused. With a bewildered expression, he inspected around the ships and saw nothing.

    When he swung his eyes to the Draconic Wyverns, the knit brows rose like an inted balloon!

    "Oh shit!"

    Things became clear and Jonit almost fell as he dashed to climb to the crow''s nest. As he skimmed past, people became curious as to why he is in a hurry. A few of them saw the oing Osprey troops and disyed confusion.

    The sight of the oing aerial troops also caught Lee Shen''s eyes. It did not take him more than a second to deduce the reason.

    When he was trying to find a solution to dissolve the tension, Aero felt the presence of these oing birds. He made a quick assessment and told his brothers about the visitors.

    Pyro stretched his wings wide and the view reflected on the face of the Osprey riders with horror. Though Lee could not see their expressions from the distance, he could observe the ospreys disying turbulence at once.

    Following his brother''s lead, Cryo stretched his forelimbs and dove into the water. The unbelievable anatomy of the Draconic Wyvern while in water with its menacing pair of horns and truly threatening eyes broke the iing troop''s morale.

    To add tension, Zena hovered over one of the ships with a vibrant disy of lightning shing over her body.

    Without a confrontation, the Osprey Riders could tell theirck of strength, size and power!

    Yet, the troops were not ready to retreat. They charged forwards and towards the ''attacking'' beasts.

    Fortunately, Jonit had climbed to the crow''s nest and was waving a piece of green fabric. This action conveyed that these beasts were not a threat.

    Without sparing a second, all 39 ospreys took a U-turn and flew back to base. Their return was quicker, fuelled by fear and purely bestial instincts.

    When the first Osprey Rider touch down, he leapt onto the ground and dashed to the office to convey what he had witnessed.

    A minuteter, a female feline beastfolk and her assistant, a female elf, came walking out of the building followed by the osprey rider who ran inside.

    Since the green g was disyed by the captain himself, the port initiated the docking processes with soldiers observing the ships from the watchtowers.

    Jonit climbed down from the crow''s nest with beads of sweat visible on his forehead. When the sailors ran to him and inquired, he said-

    "Nothing. Get ready to dock the ships."

    The sailors dispersed at his instructions and the passengers were alerted to stay away from the edge of the deck. Apparently, the docking processes were not smooth and there had been idents in the past.

    Zena came near Lee and spoke telepathically that there is quite a bunch of people on thend to wee them. Since she was airborne and had seen the Osprey Riders retreat, she continued to observe and saw the increasing number of armoured and armed soldiers at the port.

    When Lee Shen followed her lead and walked to the bow of the ship, he too felt that the density of people at the ports was unusually high. He also caught a nce of daylight reflecting from the ss piece of the telescope.

    [Now we know how those cultivators got their hands on telescope.]

    Lee Shen silently nodded as he continued to survey the coastal area of the ind. Most of the beaches were riddled with sharp natural formations. At a nce, Lee was sure that they were capable of breaking the ship''s wood with ease.

    After a few seconds, it became evident that the position of the seaport was not chosen randomly. It was strategically positioned inside a bay that had arge mouth. The rocks in the water that poked their head out of the surface were too dangerous for an animal to crawl on and that eliminated any beasts crawling their way in.

    Several ballista and crossbows could be seen decorating the line of defence even from a distance of two kilometres. That gave Lee Shen room to imagine their size up close.

    There were 6 docks and four of them were empty. The two at the centre had a pole next to them with a green g fluttering in the wind. This was the sailors'' cue to park their vessel.

 Chapter 314: "I Am A Tamer."

    Chapter 314: "I Am A Tamer."

    Despite the smiles on the faces, the Draconic Wyvern trio was annoyed by numerous res and stares. Many people crowded the seaport as they caught the glimpse of these majestic beings sitting on top of ships almost as long as them.

    Among them were adventurers and cultivators. The spectacle of colossal beasts resting on the ships bewildered them. While theymunicated regarding the situation, the possibility of having a tamer on board never crossed their minds.

    Because people who could tame such majestic beasts only existed in folklore!

    The presence of soldiers and amanding officer in the vicinity gave birth to numerous rumours. Some whispered that these beasts are caught from farawaynd while some murmured that they have seemed asylum on the ships.

    But a majority of the people did not give their ears to these baseless ims. They eagerly watched the ships nearing the port and safely docking.

    The female feline officer turned to her assistant and muttered something. The elf woman nodded and went to one of the soldiers and conveyed the message.

    Hesitantly, two soldiers walked towards the ship. After the ropes were tied and the ship was secured, they boarded the ship before anyone got off.

    While they walked up the ramp, their eyes were cautiously scanning Aero and Zena.

    Jonit hade to see the deluge of people. Regardless of race and gender, their eyes were stered on the beasts and the ships.

    It was worth mentioning that many frowned at the sight of broken bow extension while some soldiers almost pulled out their weapon. This view made themanding officer reach for her rapier on her waist.

    "Themanding officer-in-charge of the port security demands an exnation."

    It did not take more than a few seconds for the soldiers to recognise Jonit and they transmitted the message.

    Jonit did not reply but nodded in agreement. His request to let the people on board to exit the vessel was taken rejected as per orders of the officer.

    Lee Shen felt that there is an unnecessary tension between the captain and the soldiers, so he tried to move near. But one of the soldiers pushed Lee as his palm mmed to Lee''s chest.

    ROAR!!

    It was short and concise, but the amount of threat Aero disyed made many run away. Soldiers unconsciously pulled out their swords and spears when the sound wave hit their ears.

    For a second, the entire port was on the verge of raining down arrows on the ships.

    The unfortunate soldier who became the focus of Aero''s anger almost peed in his pants as he gulped down his saliva. He was all okay a second ago but drenched in sweat now.

    "You had to push the dragons'' master."

    Jonit made a remark which made the two soldiers turn their heads. They were pale with a lite version of gale brushing past their being.

    For a second, the soldier nced at each other in terror and then walked back to themanding officer with fear and horror written all over their face.

    The change inplexion made other soldiers gulp down their saliva. Love of life was borrowing their morale and very few of them had their hands trembling.

    About two minutester.

    A soldier came running up the ramp and quickly handed a note to Jonit before running back to the formation. The captain opened the piece of paper and in it were written-

    "Captain Jonit Ushag, all passengers are allowed to exit the ship, except the man."

    The captain couldn''t help but take a nce at Lee Shen who happened to be standing next to him. He too read the note but his expression was unchanging.

    Jonit did not speak to him but turned around to announce that all the passengers are allowed to exit. Quickly, the number of passengers on board dwindled and the only living beings left were Jonit, Lee and his beasts.

    Finding the captain hesitating to leave, Lee said-

    "It is okay. I have not done anything wrong."

    Actually, Jonit was wondering how to console this man. Since he looks no older than a 27-year-old, Jonit assumed that this young man is confused and is helpless.

    But after hearing Lee Shen''s words, the captain simply nodded with a smile and walked to the ramp.

    After a few seconds, Lee silently stepped towards the exit. Zena came and rubbed her head to his leg and that brought a bright smile to his face.

    Somehow, Lee Shen felt his heart thumping faster than usual. Hudson let him know that that is due to the ipletion of his soul. He also added that he is yet to acquire the Resolve stat.

    [Just rx and quit overthinking.]

    Lee walked to the ramp as he heard Hudson''s voice resonating in his head. A gentle nod and he entered the ramp.

    *growl*

    The Perrafin voiced her objection in staring at them. Her eyes squinted and she disyed her fangs. Her wings were partially stretched as she followed Lee and emitted a sense of hostility.

    Lee slowed down and reached for Zena''s forehead and patted. She immediately calmed down but her fierce gaze was still around her.

    Many saw this marvellous beast and murmuring filled the air. The winged beast known for her infamous liking to blood and flesh had costed the lives of many in the past.

    But this fact was unknown to Lee Shen. Yet D was able to derive that the fame of Perrafins in this part of the world was not on a good scale.

    "Identify yourself."

    A strong and resolute voice resonated in the air and the officer in a dark green outfit took a step forward.

    The beastfolk woman was themanding officer of the ce. She was an officer of Lieutenant rank and the highest official ranking on the ind.

    When she spoke, all murmurings vanished and the air was silent.

    Lee Shen skimmed his eyes over the faces around him and spoke as his sight fell on the woman-

    "My name is Lee Shen. I am a tamer."

 Chapter 315: Information Scroll

    Chapter 315: Information Scroll

    "My name is Lee Shen and I am a tamer."

    Lee was cautious about the presence of Darwin and Freya in the vicinity. They were the only ones who knew about his cultivation past and they were sure to raise the question if they had heard him.

    But while skimming over the faces, Hudson caught the sight of King Aizel disappearing into the crowd with Darwin and Freya following him.

    Only when D assured that the trio had gone beyond the visible range did Lee Shen spoke.

    *mumbling voices*

    The noise of murmuring was louder than ever as Lee Shen introduced himself as a tamer. People began to exim what kind of tamer Lee was to have a golden chance to make a colossal beast his bond.

    His figure of a young man aged about 25-years-old sow seeds of disbelief among the folks. But those who were on board stepped forward and supported Lee Shen''s ims.

    "Your origin."

    The Lieutenant''s voice could be heard again and Lee Shen replied-

    "Northern continent."

    Themanding officer''s brows knit as she had no memory of tamers from the Northern Continent. Moreover, such people are not known to wander around.

    Lee Shen continued to descend the ramp at a slow pace. Zena followed him and the Draconic Wyverns moved forward. Pyro and Cryo joined Aero and they set foot on the port.

    People quickly retreated after witnessing the beasts setting foot on the port. They dispersed in fear and gave way for the trio to stand straight.

    The Lieutenant''s assistant surveyed the trio with caution. Her eyes did not miss the triangr eye arrangement which surprised her. As an elf, she was more sensitive to flora and fauna energies and presence.

    The Lieutenant, on the other hand, had her eyes on Zena. The Perrafin locked gaze with the beastfolk and they were absorbed in each other''s eyes. Perhaps it was the feline qualities that caused them to stare at each other intensively.

    Lee Shen was then asked to follow themanding officer to the base after deeming harmless. The colossal trio followed Lee and the sight was awe-inspiring.

    ------

    "State your reason for the arrival."

    Inside the well-illuminated room, the Lieutenant sat on her chair with pride and authority. In front of her was a wooden table with a bunch of papers scattered on it. The elf stood next to her with a scroll in her hand.

    Lee stood on the opposite side of the table and his arms were crossed in front of him. He had been annoyingly riddled by a bunch of questions over and over.

    "I have already answered it."

    Lee Shen did not exhibit any kind of expression after being bombarded with the same question for the 12th time. Though he initially felt irritating, Hudson asked him to leash his anger.

    "Your exnation is uneptable. I can tell that it is a well-fabricated story to cover up your true intentions.

    So spill the truth or we will do this the hard way."

    [Ah, for Utopia''s sake, what the hell is wrong with thisdy?]

    D was disturbed by this stupid session. He evaluated that this woman is either a psycho or aplete newbie to the job.

    Lee Shen did not reply to the Lieutenant''s words and stared at her. Themanding officer''s brows twitched and she gestured the elf to take initiative.

    The female elf walked forward and asked Lee to extend his arm. He was puzzled by the development but D knew what was about to happen.

    [The scroll in her hand is called an Information Scroll. It can consume a drop of blood and then disy the person''s memories.

    But dont worry. I will block the memory ess to all confidential information.]

    As D had exined, the assistant pricked Lee''s fingertip with something and blood started to ooze. It umted and dripped as onerge drop and fell on the nk paper.

    Like a sponge, the blood vanished into the scroll. Then several ck and white lines began to form on the open scroll.

    The elf quickly handed the scroll over to the Lieutenant and their eyes skimmed over the appearing sentences.

    A minuteter.

    "You seem to be telling the truth."

    Raising her head, the Lieutenant spoke with the frown still existing on her face. Lee Shen disyed his face devoid of any expression and a secondter, he asked-

    "If you are convinced, when can I leave?"

    The elf took the scroll from the lieutenant''s hands and she rolled it back and ced it in her spatial ring.

    "You are free to go. But you will be held responsible if your familiar beasts injure anyone."

    With a slight nod, Lee Shen escaped from the room. Walking out, he let out a sigh which made the guards stare at him cautiously.

    The military base was a building surrounded by numerous tents andnd. The soldiers stationed there are the defence force of this unnamed ind.

    This base also acted as a recruitment centre for rookie privates.

    At the centre of therge groundy three enormous beasts. Since Lee was taken inside, the trio of Draconic Wyverns could only wait for him outside.

    Unlike them resting in the daylight, Zena was active and rounded them like a proud soldier. She was somehow feeling enthusiastic and felt unable to contain her vigour.

    It was her who first detected Lee Shen''s approaching presence. At once, she paced into the crowd which was curiously observing this unusual team.

    The soldiers were surprised when Zena ran into them. The unarmed men and women scattered to the sides to reveal Lee Shening forward. Like a kitten, she came and rounded Lee while using her wings to run his torso.

    Though the trio sensed himing, they decided toy down for a few more minutes.

    "Come on, we are allowed to leave. Let''s go."

    Lee spoke and Aero raised his head reluctantly, followed by Cryo. As the one most annoyed by the journey, Pyro had an unquenchable urge to stay dormant but decided against it.

 Chapter 316: In A Foreign Land

    Chapter 316: In A Foreign Land

    <strong>/=====</strong>

    <strong>8 AM.</strong>

    <strong>5,977,550 Essence harvested.</strong>

    <strong>=====/</strong>

    Lee skimmed through the information on the disy. Before he could finish reading, he felt a sense of danger.

    The beasts were faster and the trio disyed anger. Zena turned around and hissed at the soldiers watching them.

    "The beasts really have sharp senses."

    The exmation in the voice was evident as the elf, the assistant of the lieutenant, came walking to them. Seeing her, Zena calmed down but the Draconic Wyverns were ring at the woman.

    "They have sharp teeth. Wanna check?"

    The infuriated reply was conveyed with a clenched fist. Though his face was nk and his voice devoid of expression, the woman felt hostility from looking at him.

    "May I ask-"

    The woman tried to construct a conversation but was forced to swallow down her words as Lee Shen turned and walked away.

    The trio took a split second to observe the woman for onest time and followed Lee. Zena lost her good impression of the elf and followed Lee''s footsteps.

    The woman was an above-average beauty. Though petite, her rearpensated thecking. Wearing a charming outfit that hardly suited the formal category, she was a typical soldier''s imagination material.

    The soldiers who witnessed this action were fuming in anger. Such rudeness! Everyone felt as if they were individually insulted. Within seconds, numerous stares of anger were focused on Lee.

    But their courageous thoughts to defend the beauty in distress was crumbled when they raised their heads. Into their very souls did these beasts stared. The menacing three eyebo was soul-splitting and many felt a tremor passing down their spine.

    The elf felt disrespected. But she could not move an inch as Zena looked over her shoulder and into the elf''s eyes.

    ''Move an inch, and I''ll make you regret'' was the words that the Perrafin intended to convey and she probably overdid. Or maybe it was because of facing a direct threat from an infamous beast that the woman unconsciously wetted her underwear!

    Peacefully walking out of the military premise at his leisure, Lee Shen scanned his surroundings carefully. He was cautious about potential threats.

    When he was being taken to the military base for interrogation, he noticed that many pairs of eyes were nted on Zena and they did not have good intentions. Some people were brave enough to scan the Draconic Wyvern and stare at it as they owned them.

    Two figures, particrly, caught Lee Shen''s attention while he was entering the military base premise. He saw both figures on top of a distant building and he couldn''t define their outfits or ethnicity.

    All he was able to observe was that one was a male and the other, a female. The masculine figure wore a conical hat and he wore a robe that fluttered in the air.

    The feminine quality of the other figure was evidently visible from the curves. She stood next to the figure with a conical hat and as he observed, they both vanished into thin air.

    D quickly warned Lee that that is probably a technique called Dust Walk. D conveyed that the skill is something taught to assassins and covert operatives.

    With the presence of cultivators confirmed, Hudson insisted Lee be on high alert. Since he is iplete, the Qi techniques of martial artists and cultivators could injure his soul more than his body.

    If there was one thing about cultivators that concerned Hudson, it is their affinity with Qi that can harm a person''s soul. This was an achievement that adventurers and mages would struggle to pull off!

    ''I miss the Map.''

    Scratching his head while looking left and right, Lee was puzzled about where to go in this foreignnd. He took a moment to look at Zena''s face which disyed innocence.

    A minute ago, she was about to tear that elf!

    Since the Draconic Wyverns are taller and have a good area of visibility, he asked their opinion, and immediately regretted it!

    Pyro was okay with staying put on thend andying somewhere in peace. But Cryo insisted on going to the waters which infuriated Pyro. Different from his brothers, Aero wanted to go airborne.

    *dull growling*

    The trio began to converse and it did not go well. What begun as a series of simple gestures grew into dull growls and eventually became a disy of hostility.

    "Knock it off, will you?!"

    The little man shouted and the trio paused a moment to stare at him. Then they skimmed their eyes over the mass crowded on the streets to watch these colossal monsters.

    "You are causing disturbance!"

    Lee said angrily and his voicemanded them to shut up. Promptly, the trio quieted down.

    Zena was watching these while standing next to Lee. She had observed the changes in the surroundings and was about to growl at her brothers when Lee shouted.

    [Kids.]

    ''You should have taught them a thing or two when they were under your care.''

    [Thats your job to do. A familiar beast only takesmands from its bond.]

    Lee did not reply and turned to face southward. He wanted to reach the maind as soon as possible but decided to take things slow when D rmended so.

    [Lee, your iplete soul is influencing your behaviour. So control your impulses.

    I suggest you dig up your memories about meditation you practised when you were on Earth. It might help you heal quickly.]

    The streets were less than 14 metres wide and that was enough for the Draconic Wyverns to walk. But the presence of carriages and transportation animals on the streets prevented them from walking.

    Comprehending this, Lee walked back to Aero to mount when a carriage came and stopped near him.

    The carriage pulled by two Dune Wolves was gorgeous with decorations. The navy blue coloured cabin had golden coloured borders with beautiful craftworks and designs on it.

    At a nce, it was luxuriously designed and its worth should surpass a few hundred gold coins. Whenpared with the other carriages on the street, this carriage had an air of royalty around it.

 Chapter 317: Hunt Family (1)

    Chapter 317: Hunt Family (1)

    *murmuring*

    As soon as the carriage applied breaks and halted near Lee, the surroundings had be noisy. Many carts which were supposed to pass through there stopped in their tracks and held their position.

    [Someone has their eyes on your possession.]

    It was obvious why the carriage had halted. If not for the beasts, then the driver might have identally applied the breaks!

    A man in histe thirties jumped out of the driver''s spot. He had a typical chauffeur attire and this indicated that the one inside the carriage must be a big shot.

    As the man reached for the handle of the carriage, Lee Shen spoke-

    "You dont need to open the carriage if you are here for my beasts."

    Saying this, Lee climbed on top of Aero.

    Lee Shen''s words stunned the carriage driver and froze. He hesitated to open the door for a second and almost retracted his hands when the door was opened from the inside.

    The chauffeur regained his senses and quickly pulled opened the door wide. From it, a gorgeous woman stepped out. Following her, a handsome young man came out.

    [The usual.]

    Just like how decorated the carriage was, the man and the woman were decoratedvishly. The female who had an alluring figure wore some really expensive jewellery and her dress was unfitting to the status of amoner. The man brimming with arrogance and pride had a moustache which was only meant to convey that this boy is mature.

    The glossiness of the red fabric from which the man''s outfit was fashioned had a costly texture. Perhaps it is the quality of these clothes that made him to repulsive to Lee''s normal adventurer outfit.

    When the chauffeur saw that Lee was yet to take off and flee which would directly embarrass them, he stepped forward and spoke-

    "Since you are new here, you may be unfamiliar with the most prestigious Hunt family.

    For generations, the Hunt household had controlled the economy of the ind and is powerful and rich. There is nothing the household could not get their hands on."

    Lee listened to the words silently and then turned to Aero and patted his neck. It indicated to take off and the beast stretched his wings.

    Then from nowhere, a fireball came flying at Lee. It was powerful and had an awful lot of explosiveness embedded in it.

    But Pyro swung his tail and swatted the fireball like nothing. It sted in mid-air and drew a vibrant red arc before touching down.

    Lee turned to the middle-aged man who now had a wand in his hand. It was a little longer than 12 inches and looked simple at a nce.

    "How dare you turn your back on the young master and mistress of the Hunt family?!"

    The chauffeur shouted and the voice stunned the audience. But what surprised them all was Pyro''s skin brightening with a red hue. Within seconds, the skin heated up and even people standing far from the beast could feel the warmth brushing their face.

    This alerted the chauffeur and he unconsciously took a step back. But amassing courage, he raised his wand.

    "If I give permission, you and your prestigious master and mistress would be a fistful of ashes.

    You are free to take initiative."

    Lee spoke after asking Pyro to stand down. His words conveyed that he was not bluffing and the beast could reduce them to ashes.

    *pping*

    The young man with the thin moustache pped with a proud smirk. He had an arrogant demeanour that was not veiled at all.

    "Name the price for the fire beast."

    The young man disyed bravery while asking Lee Shen the price. The surroundings became bustling upon witnessing this action.

    "Name your price and I, the young master of the Hunt family, would buy it."

    While spewing the words, the young man took his time scanning Pyro from head to tail. His eyes then moved on to Cryo who was standing next to Aero.

    Like a rich man eyeing artefacts and trinkets, his sight fell on Zena who was visibly repelled by this man''s presence.

    "How much can you give?"

    Lee Shen decided to mess with this man to evaluate the depth of his money reserve. Hearing Lee Shen''s words, his face exhibited a grin as a leather pouch appeared in his open palm.

    [Nice spatial ring.]

    When Lee saw the money pouch appearing, D saw the beautiful spatial ring marked with intricate craftworks. D deduced that the material from which the ring is fashioned is at least high-quality Mythril.

    "I will give you 200 silver to leave the beast here and get lost. If you now down to me, I shall give you an extra 100 silver."

    Shaking the pouch, the young man spoke with pride but his words made Lee Shen''s face to darken.

    ''Is this guy for real?''

    [Disrespectful and arrogant.]

    The might of Draconic Wyverns had spread across the ind. Many were pondering how much each beast might cost. Those who had the desire to strike a trade with Lee had to reevaluate their conclusions every time they saw the beast walked down thene.

    Seeing Lee Shen''s deadpan expression, the young man''s smirk dulled down. The youngdy took a moment to notice this change and shuttled her eyes back to the beasts.

    Lee Shen shook his head with a funny smile on his face. He raised his hand and a gold coin appeared in his palm.

    *gasps*

    Lee looked around and deduced that a gold coin was probably a rare thing to see. Thus he kept his left hand raised as the Mana levitated the coin in the air his palm.

    "Kings and nobles found my beasts worthy beyond gold. And here we have a stupid man with only silver coins."

    The next second, Lee Shen''s emotions took over for a second and his left hand drew an arc in the air. The coin in his hand dashed at the young man like an angry bull.

    *swish*

 Chapter 318: Hunt Family (2)

    Chapter 318: Hunt Family (2)

    *swish*

    A sharp voice originated as the coin sliced the air. It drew a linear trajectory towards the young man and passed him by. It shot further forward and embedded on the carriage.

    *thwack*

    The sound was dull and thin but the coin had gone halfway into the wood. The chauffeur almost screamed in horror as he saw the monstrosity of Lee Shen.

    The young man who had the pride smirk was now pale. He raised his trembling hands and touched his left cheek.

    Something fluid could be felt by his fingertips. The liquid texture was thick and a faint scent of blood entered his nostrils.

    "Take that gold and learn to behave."

    Among the silence, Lee Shen''s words sounded exceedingly majestic. The voice pulled the young man from the trance of fear. He raised his eyes and saw the wyvern pping its wings.

    Aero was airborne and his brothers followed. Zena flew close to Aero like a guard protecting the client.

    The young mistress of the Hunt family had frozen with a paleplexion. She was speechless for quite a while. Her throat was dry and no words came out.

    The young man got his resolve back and clenched his fist. The trail of blood on his cheek was thin but it was enough to symbolise his defeat.

    When the chauffeur was confused about what to do, the young man turned around and stormed into the carriage. Following him, the young mistress of the Hunt family walked inside.

    "To the mansion."

    The youngster shouted in anger while the chauffeur had already jumped back on the carriage. He whipped the rein and the wolves dashed forth. The carriage darted like wind and disappeared.

    -----

    "Let''s rest over there."

    While flying, Lee Shen pointed at a pasture and spoke. The short green grass on the pasture was refreshing to behold and a few cattle were roaming here and there.

    Following Lee''s directions, Aero flew low andnded on the ground. The breeze that brushes the party was mind-soothing and washed all the mental tensions away.

    The pasture was at the southern end of the ind. Beyond the pasture, were dangerous cliffs. The elevation of the ground was at least a few ten metres from the sea level and the ce was most appropriate for rxing.

    When the colossal beasts descended, the battles scattered away in fear. Some were thrown off their feet as the Draconic Wyverns pped their wings vigorously.

    Lee leapt from Aero''s back andnded with a soft thud. Quickly scanning the surroundings, he caught sight of a few humans and orcs observing them from a distance. Since Hudson found them harmless, Lee did not bother them.

    At the edge of one cliff was a tree with beautiful aquamarine leaves. The wless symmetrical shape adorned by the beautifulplexion made the leaves resemble leaf-shaped ss pieces.

    Lee found the ce exceedingly beautiful. The ground where the tree was, was slightly more elevated than the surroundings. The clear blue sky devoid of clouds were indescribably morous. The serenity of the ocean and the chaotic collision of the waves to the rocks beneath them pulled him into a trance.

    Lee Shen felt his body moving on its own as he sat cross-legged on the ground. As soon as he straightened his spine, a wave of bliss exploded in his mind.

    The Perrafin and the three Draconic Wyverns felt an aura of tranquillity around him and did not step forward. They observed him settling down on the ground with eyes closed and palms resting on his knees.

    "Huff...."

    Letting out a mouthful of air, Lee Shen felt something nurturing his soul. He did not bother to probe and savoured the sensation.

    The trio tiptoed away from Lee. They kept a decent distance between them and him so that he gets to meditate in peace.

    Perrafin wanted toy down and snore for the rest of the day but she saw Aero standing erect with caution. Turning in the direction, she felt something ominous heading their way.

    Goblins and elves were living nearby and they saw the beasts descending on the pasture. Initially, they were afraid that they would hurt the battles. But their fear turned out to be vain as Perrafin tried to befriend the battles that approached her with curiosity.

    A shepherd from the orc race noticed the trembling of the ground. He saw a couple of carriages and beasts heading towards Lee Shen as a convoy.

    [Trouble found us.]

    The familiar designs on the carriages were a dead giveaway as Zena turned to Lee and purred. Taking the signal, Lee Shen slowly got up and walked away from the tree.

    With gentle steps, Lee Shen neared the Perrafin and his fingers touched Zena''s forehead. At the moment, a tingling sensation originated from her forehead and travelled throughout her body.

    Zena was stunned by this urrence as froze there. Lee continued to run his fingers through the back of her neck and towards her spine and continued to the tail.

    After Lee Shen passed by, the Perrafin took a second to recover from the sensation. The feeling of tiny harmless electrical impulses touring through the winged beast''s physique was refreshing for an unknown reason.

    Hands came to his side and rested rxedly as Lee Shen raised his eyes and nced at the carriages.

    [I can feel the presence of both adventures and cultivators.]

    When D spoke, Lee was wondering what had made him uneasy for the past few seconds. But after finding the reason, he was rxed and the sword jumped out of the spatial ring and into his palm.

    The carriages halted aggressively and one of the carriage doors was gently opened from the inside. A figure stepped out as the well-decorated piece of wood skimmed through the air.

    The tall lean figure had a crooked smug on his face as he steadied his jacket. Turning to Lee, the man greeted a good day and his aplices leapt out of the carriages and from the back of the beasts.

 Chapter 319: Difference Between Earthlings & Utopians

    Chapter 319: Difference Between Earthlings & Utopians

    When the man spoke, Hudson began to produce unrest as he imed to recognise this voice. But his attempts to recollect the memories met a dead end due to certain reasons.

    [I am damn sure that I know his voice. My gut tells me that I recognise this voice... But...]

    Hudson was bing more and more ufortable as he repeatedly failed to locate the memories regarding the tone.

    [Hey, keep calm and take your time. We are not in a hurry.]

    D tried to calm the troubled soul and Rue gave her energy support.

    "Let me introduce myself. My name is Weily Triad from the prestigious Triad household."

    The ripples of anger Hudson produced were intense and Lee Shen felt his emotions. He had to implore Hudson to restrain his sentiments for the time being.

    "We, the Triad household, are not stupid like the rotten Hunt family. We have our pride as the most discerning minds in the inds and on the mainds.

    I am the eldest in the 32nd generation of the Triad household. Our household came to know about the foreigner who had tamed dragons and infamous creatures a few hours ago.

    Thus, our current patriarch would like to invite you to our household."

    With a gesture of respect, the tall man conveyed his intention of arrival. While expressing his words, his eyes have skimmed over the beasts standing behind Lee Shen.

    "I am a nobody, a simple human. What merit do I have to be invited by the Triad household?"

    Lee Shen had a faint smirk as he raised a question. His hands moved and sped behind him.

    Finding the unchanging expression of the young man, Weily deduced that this man might be difficult to rope in.

    "The Triad household treats everyone fairly regardless of their financial status. We see every stranger as a guest to the ind.

    The patriarch heard about the troubles you had to face when younded at the port. Since most people who end up at the wrong end of the military rule are threatened or humiliated, he would like to show our hospitality as an apology for their hostile behaviour.

    And as a stranger to the maind, we could also help you establish connections and create worthy aplices."

    If it was anyone else, Weily''s words would have made them approve to go to the Triad household. But Lee who knows Hudson''s past disyed hesitation on his face.

    Taking a few moments to act like weighing the pros and cons of the invitation, Lee engaged in a quick chat with D and Rue. Hudson shared his memories and evaluated that their original intention must lie in acquiring the beasts. He also added that they are known for their devious and underhanded ways of achieving their goals.

    The young blood of Lee Shen was fired with the excitement of adventure when he listened to Hudson''s words. Neglecting all thements of the subspace residents, he disyed a nod with a faint smile, gesturing approval of Weily''s request.

    Inside the System Space.

    "Is he for real?! I just told you all that the Triad family is one unfaithful bastard and Lee agreed to visit them!"

    If Hudson was not shouting, then things would have been abnormal. Rue sat on the grassy ground while observing Hudson mumbling angrily under his breath nonstop.

    Turning her head, she saw the Dimension Sovereign taking a sunbath in the warmth of the artificial sun. Rue felt ufortable while seeing D''s cool demeanour at the moment.

    "D, can you exin what is happening?"

    Rue stood up and walked to D raising a question. Hudson, who was pacing to and fro, heard her question and wondered what the query was about.

    With curiosity, he stepped to the amorphous entity.

    "Before I transformed a part of my soul to the system, I was able to evaluate Lee Shen''s soul in detail. From my observations, I primarily concluded that the humans of Earth are vastly different from the humans of Utopia.

    Due to theck of technological advancements, the of Utopia still holds a culture deeply rted to nature and soil. The people dresses and addresses in a simple way. The presence of Qi and Mana and the purest form, Essence, creates a cycle that keeps all the lives connected with the trueness of sentience.

    Earth, on the other hand, is devoid of any magical elements. Theck of directly utilizable energy propelled the humanity of Earth to contemte the possibility of technology. This coincidentally gave birth to a system that slowly detached itself from the nature and mystery of life.

    The soul and body of earthlings closely resemble that of a utopian. Except for the Qi pool and Mana pool, they are 100% identical.

    But their soul density differs from one another like a professional and a newbie."

    D took a break from his words to nce at Rue and Hudson who were absorbing the revtions.

    Finding their enthusiasm to his liking, D continued.

    "The history of Utopia that spans over several hundreds of millennia have formted a lifestyle rooted in nature. Be it a cultivator or an adventurer or amoner, their lives are undeniably coiling around nature''s existence by the bond of Qi and Mana.

    But the situation on Earth is not hospitable for spiritual well-being.

    The development of science and its disclosure of human''s underlying greed and lust for power have taken them astray from the goodness of nature. They have constructed an alternative reality where they purposefully ignore the fact that mother nature that supports them is on the verge of copse.

    This transition that had taken its sweet time to embed deep into humanity has drained a considerable amount of the soul''s density of all the earthlings."

    Taking a deep breath, D concluded his detailed statement.

    "If you were to visit Earth, you would either bury yourself in a pit or go on a killing spree to save the from the clutches of a species that should not have existed."

 Chapter 320: Triad Household (1)

    Chapter 320: Triad Household (1)

    Rue wasprehending what D was conveying. But she could not find a reason why he was not answering the question directly.

    "But what you said does not answer my doubt."

    Hearing this, D raised his torso and continued-

    "Youngsters of Earth ranged from maximum maturity to stupid and reckless as f##k. Lee Shen belonged to the second category. The loss of his parents at a very early age made a deep scar in his mind and made him have unstable emotional swings.

    Fortunately, his grandfather Lee Aiguo, a kung-fu expert, trained his grandson in martial arts and created a sense of bnce in him. The training proved extremely useful and provided Lee with a perspective of justice.

    In a nutshell, Lee Shen was a silent guy that goes unnoticed in an everyday crowd. But what made him stand out was his urge to help others and readily ept the consequences of the deeds he had done.

    It was his grandfather''s tutge that gave him a reason to calm down and help others in distress. I still remember Lee Aiguo''s words etched deep in his hearts, "Help those who stand beside you, protect if you must. Correct those who stand against you, defeat if you must".

    The teaching, at some point, began to increase his soul density by a very small margin. Since then he had been thoroughly refining himself through thoughts and actions.

    When Lee Shen was poisoned at thepetition, fate brought the monk there to rescue him from the clutches of death.

    After reaching the monastery at Kathmandu, his spiritual development was progressing invisibly. Within a year, he was healed and his soul was strengthened more.

    Then the unexpected event with the Amortals urred!

    The incidents that followed that, along with me hiding in his body and escaping back to my home dimension, were too much for his human brain toprehend. Thus, he struggled to assimte the information into his brain which resulted in him disying his immature side hiding deep inside.

    After my integration with his soul, his soul density rose to a whole new level, untouched by humans of Earth. And it was this unusually high soul density that cemented the existence of the system in his being."

    Rue was silently pondering on the information disclosed by the Dimension Sovereign.

    "I know I''m not a genius, but I am unable to find anything important from your narration."

    Hudson spoke with a deep frown on his face. Seeing this, D replied-

    "Rue have healed his mind and body to a great extent. Now it is his turn to heal his soul.

    The atmosphere of Utopia would help him to regain his soul''s perfection. The methods of meditation he had learnt from the monastery would prove their usefulness. Interacting with the beasts would eventually refine his resolve.

    And most importantly, the training and sense of justice he had been imparted with will y a vital role in nurturing his soul''s purity. Everything will go smoothly as I have foreseen unless an idiot decides to flip his switch."

    "Then?"

    Rue''s query was quick and at the very second, D finished his narration. There was no reply but a peel ofughter.

    "Then the one who flipped the switch will sleep in the 6-foot ditch."

    D continued tough and then felt someone''s breath on his back. The untamed demeanour of the wind gave away who it was.

    Before D could dodge, the massive jaws came and gripped the sword''s sheath with the speed of lightning. The creature pushed its legs to the ground and scurried away like the wind.

    "Fero...drop me now or no food for you!"

    D''s helpless wail rose from the sword and Fero slowed down. He came to a halt with the sword still in his jaw.

    In the reality.

    The team that went with Weily Triad consisted of adventurers and cultivators. Though they are normally known to create repulsions, the team under the Triad household was bnced and cooperated well.

    On the ground was the convoy with Weily in the carriage. Above them, in the sky, was the three Draconic Wyverns and the Perrafin following the convoy.

    "Quite a view, isn''t it?"

    Though it was an ind, it wasrger than Sri Lanka. This deduction made Lee Shen wonder what the actual size of Intellus might be.

    Zena flew close to Pyro upon whom Lee Shen sat. Though she couldn''t give a structured verbal reply, her conveyance was through the noises of purring.

    [That is the Triad mansion.]

    About one and a half miles away, Hudson detected the building familiar from his past. It had changed a lot in size, hemented.

    When the convoy on the ground turned to the road that led to the Triad household mansion, Pyro picked up speed and the beasts followed him. Zena flew through them like a skilful acrobat and enjoyed the eleration.

    The Draconic Wyverns closing in on the mansion alerted the guards and they helplessly gripped on their spears. Their hearts became clouded by fear of the appearance of the infamous beasts that they have been talking about.

    The trio and Zena rounded the mansion three times for an overall view and this was enough for the convoy to reach the gates of the mansion.

    The guards saw the carriage and the gates were opened. When the carriage came to a halt in front of the mansion, Weily came out of it and saw the colossal beasts descending on the front yard.

    When Zena caught the sight of the fountain in the front yard, she quickly paced towards it and drank from it. Following her, Cryo, Aero and Pyro moved to drink water respectively.

    While theirnding was silent and gentle, the violent winds they produced to attain that achievement was not small. The dashing currents smashed against the walls of the mansions and the window panes trembled. The beasts that arrived with the carriage disyed unrest.

    And those who came out of the mansion to investigate what was happening saw three humongous monsters drinking water from their fountain!

 Chapter 321: Triad Household (2)

    Chapter 321: Triad Household (2)

    No sound was made and no noise escaped their throats as they stood entirely bewildered at the sight of the three dragons.

    And as they witnessed, the fountain was licked dry!

    "Wha-?"

    The water flowing through the beautifully decorated fountain was not small in quantities. Yet, it dried!

    Those who gawked at the scene could only gulp down their saliva in panic while some of them amassed the courage to run inside to inform others of what was happening.

    Hudson was blissful upon seeing the Triad household members panicking and disying fear. Lee Shen evaluated that Hudson''s hatred of the Triad family is indeed a serious business.

    ''Hudson, you once said that a member of the Triad family took something from you before sealing you in the scythe. What was that?''

    There was a second of silence before Hudson replied-

    [Umm...I need some time to recollect.]

    ''Okay, but do you remember who took that from you?''

    This time, the silence was longer.

    [Him!]

    Lee Shen raised his eyes and saw a person standing at the top of the luxurious looking set of steps. The old man standing with his eyes fixed on the Draconic Wyverns had certain radiation emitting from him.

    [Lord level mastery.]

    It did not take more than a second for Hudson to spell out the familiar sensation. It triggered some painful memories and he began to curse the old man with the most profane words ever discovered.

    The wrinkles that covered the old man suggested that he is at least 90 or plus. The cane he used to walk was gripped firm and this conveyed that this man is not worth belittling.

    Then, the old man lowered his eyes and locked his gaze with Lee Shen.

    [Lee, this bastard has some bizarre bloodline ability. It was how he set me up for sacrifice.]

    Heeding the advice, Lee broke the gaze and turned around to walk to the beasts.

    "Interesting."

    The old man mumbled to himself with a faint smirk decorating his face. The middle-aged man who stood next to him only saw the smirk appearing on his face.

    When Weily saw Lee Shen walking towards the beasts, he quickly walked towards him and guided Lee to the stairs.

    "Brother, this is the eldest son of the patriarch, Exen Triad."

    Walking up the stairs, Weily politely gestured at the middle-aged man standing next to the old man while introducing him. Weily also added that he is that man''s eldest son.

    "Hello, my name is Lee Shen. I am a tamer."

    Lee Shen recited the words and the people who hade out to see the spectacle of beasts gasped and murmured.

    But their murmuring went silent as soon as the old man looked them over his shoulder.

    At the moment, an awkward expression crept up Weily''s face as his eyes unknowingly skimmed past the old man''s face.

    "He-, he is out patriarch, Sai Triad."

    When Weily spoke, he was pale from simply ncing past the old man''s face. Without saying anything, he took a step back and lowered his head. He did not had the courage to look up.

    Exen smiled at Lee and introduced his second and third son.

    Meanwhile, the old man was carefully observing the Draconic Wyverns and the Perrafin.

    "A triplet. Amazing."

    The old man''s voice broke the conversation and all were silent. Lee turned around to see the old man leaning on the support of his cane eagerly observing the beasts.

    *hiss*

    It was Perrafin who disyed the hostility. She hissed at the old man as his stares became slightly intolerable. Also, Zena was more sensitive to stares and res.

    (A.N. I wonder why. She''s the only female in the gang.)

    Unlike her, the trio was cool with the stares. The prative scowl did not bother them in any way and they were cing their torso on the grass on the front yard.

    When Zena hissed, the old man diverted his sight and his eyes drew an arc in the air before falling on Lee''s face.

    "You really are lucky to tame a three dragons."

    The old man praised Lee as he turned around.

    "They are wyverns."

    Lee did not hesitate to correct the old man.

    For a second, the atmosphere was silent. There was no motion for a few second and the air was tense. But Exen broke the looming silence.

    "Ah, my bad. My eyesight frequently fails to distinguish between two closely rted beings."

    With that said, the old man asked Sai to take the guest inside.

    -------

    [I can''t find any resemnce from the past.]

    Hudson was perplexed upon seeing the entire building remodeled and reconstructed. His preparation of collecting his memories took painstaking effort and yet ended up in vain. And because of that, he continuously mumbled for an extensive period.

    The interior decorations were top-notch. The cream coloured walls decorated with blue and silver lines of designs were eye-catching. The furniture seemed new and expensive. And from somewhere, a fragrance attacked Lee Shen.

    [Lee, that is not an ordinary scent. It has some kind of rxing property. It could lower your guard.]

    Lee almost had an urge to pull out his sword when he heard those words. But he asked D to help him at the situation and the reply was an avnche of pain.

    ''What the hell was that for?''

    [The scent is getting stronger. You need an overwhelming sensation to counter it.]

    Lee had to agree with D when Rue figured out the source of the aroma.

    [The flowers and vines decorating some of the walls are the reason. ording to Rue, the nts have a psychedelic effect on those without an antidote.]

    While Lee was listening to the description, he could feel his senses slowly clouding. At the very moment, D created the antidote using the Workshop and transferred it to the spatial ring.

    With a skilful trick, Lee Shen threw the antidote pill inside his mouths and the effect was imminent.

    As his eyes burdened by sluggishness was repaired, the vigour in his eyes made Exen and Sai frown.

 Chapter 322: Teacher Tamer

    Chapter 322: Teacher Tamer

    With a frown, Sai nced at Exen who nodded gently in return.

    "Please be seated."

    The luxurious set of couches were introduced and Sai politely gestured at Lee to have a seat.

    [These people are filthy rich!]

    D analysed the grandiose and gorgeous interior and concluded that they are rich enough to tremble the ind''s economy. Hudson did not retort, but number something inaudible.

    Sai and Exen sat on the couch and Lee Shen followed their lead. Other than those three, none others took a position on the couch.

    "We heard that the Hunt family troubled you."

    Sai Triad had a strong voice unfitting his fragile physique. The voice that rose from him acquired the attention of the room.

    Lee chuckled lightly before answering-

    "They were stupid."

    Lee gave a short narration of what happened when he encountered the immature brat of the Hunt family. His ount brightened the old man''s face with a smile.

    /=====

    10 AM.

    5,976,080 Essence harvested.

    =====/

    The old man then proceeded to ask about Lee Shen''s family and rtives. When Sai came to know that Lee was an orphan, his brows rose.

    -----

    About ten minutes passed.

    Lee Shen and the patriarch was talking smoothly. Exen sat silent while observing the conversation.

    In a concerned voice, Lee Shen changed the topic.

    "I still have no idea why I was weed here."

    Exen realised that it is time to disclose their intention of invitation. For that, he cleared his throat and said-

    "It has been only a few hours since we heard about your arrival. Your feat of taming wyverns is spreading like wildfire.

    To have stumbled across such unique beings are undeniably fortunate. Thus, we would like to request you to teach my youngest son to be a tamer."

    Exen did not give an extravagant prelude and quickly disclosed the matter. Hearing the request, Lee Shen frowned.

    "Your youngest son does not have an affinity?"

    Tamers are a category of people who tames animals because they have near to no affinity in Qi or Mana. This causes their social status to lower to that of amoner.

    But the eldest son of the Triad household patriarch was not ready to ept this fate. He wanted all of his children to be exceptional.

    Weily has a good affinity in Mana and his element is water. But his youngest child, a boy, only have a negligible amount of affinity with Mana.

    Exen then conveyed the situation in detail and requested Lee to teach him the ways of bing a tamer.

    "It depends...if your son has future in taming, then I can guide him. But if he does not have the skill, them I am helpless."

    Hearing Lee Shen''s words, Exen smiled with a nod while hiding his concern. He quickly summoned a servant andmanded to bring his youngest son to him.

    The servant disappeared and appeared a few minutester. Walking next to the tall and well-trimmed man was a boy of about 17 years.

    When Exen saw the boy, he stood up and introduced the boy.

    "This is my youngest son, Deril Triad."

    With a slightly obese physique, the boy had chubby cheeks. His anatomy hung between the categories of obesity and typical.

    [First, check the boy''s affinity in taming with Zena and then with a beast belonging to the household and finally with an untamed beast. You will find the extent of this boy''s skill.

    Also, I have prepared some meat for the Draconic Wyverns. It is stored in the System Storage. Feed them till they are full.]

    Lee scanned the boy from head to toe while listening to D''s instructions. Then he stood up and walked to the door after saying-

    "Follow me, boy."

    Sai and Exen followed Lee along with the boy. When they came out of the door, Lee Shen was already near the Perrafin.

    Raising his hand, Lee deposited the 3 million worth of meat on the ground and it formed a small mound. Without wasting a second, the trio charged in and began to devour the flesh.

    Turning around, Lee came near Zena and patted her back which made her follow him. He walked to the steps and stopped at the foot of the steps.

    "We need to evaluate your skill in taming.

    To do that, you have to touch this Perrafin."

    Lee took a few steps backwards after saying this. He patiently waited for the child to walk down the stairs.

    As he had expected, the boy walked down courageously. But he soon began to slow down as he neared the beast.

    The Perrafins were a species infamous for their killing spree. If two or more Perrafins are to join forces, they could level an entire farm in a night.

    Maybe it was these stories about the beast that pulled the boy back and hesitate with each step. Yet he disyed bravery to walk towards the beast.

    *purr*

    Zena purred in a dull tone while taking a step back. She turned her head to Lee who nodded and conveyed that all is fine.

    The boy was now dripping sweat from his forehead. His palms became wet and his body was overshadowed by an indescribable fear.

    And when the fear took over him, he was about three feet away from the Perrafin''s head.

    Zena stared into the boy''s eyes intensively and this broke down his courage. He felt a vicious beast staring holes through him.

    Unconsciously, he took a step back and proimed that he is at his limit. Lee saw this and asked Zena to back off from the boy.

    Promptly, the boy ran up the steps and neared his father. Exen took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and asked the maid to take him inside.

    Thr mound of flesh had disappeared into the thin air and the trio was observing the events with a tinge of amusement.

    "The boy has a spirit, but hecks stability and interaction."

    Lee Shen spoke as he walked up the stairs. He added that the boy has some skills of taming in him but they are too deep to exhibit.

 Chapter 323: Tubian Orc

    Chapter 323: Tubian Orc

    [I need time to dig up my memories. It would be great if we could stay nearby.]

    While observing the pondering faces of the father and son, Lee Shen acknowledged Hudson''s request.

    ''Though we have lost Map, we still have the Workshop.

    D, can you make hundreds of super small drones for surveince and supervision?''

    [On it.]

    Lee Shen stood there staring at the faces of Exen and Sai. Both of them had an uncertain expression regarding the child''s ability.

    [Done. You can release them from the System Storage.]

    Lee slowly brought his hands behind him and used his index finger to draw a line in mid-air.

    *buzz...*

    A faint buzzing could be heard as thousands of tiny drones rose into the air and scattered around the mansion. The current tension and the inaudible noise from a distance made their scattering sessful.

    [Hudson is controlling the drones.]

    About now, the old man raised his eyes and disyed his knitted brows. The next second he rxed his brows and thanked Lee.

    "I thank you for epting our invitation to evaluate my grandchild. As a symbol of gratitude, please ept our gift."

    When the old man tapped his cane slightly on the floor, the door behind him was opened and two servants came out holding something wrapped in beautiful red clothes.

    Even took the object from the hands of the servants and disyed the beautifully crafted ss shield.

    Before they could hand over the gift, Lee Shen raised his hand and spoke-

    "I don''t want to be rude, but my actions were simple and not worth mentioning. I came here epting the invitation and I have aplished what I could do.

    Thus, I shall not be epting your gift."

    Lee sounded unusually rude, and the patriarch furrowed his brows. Exen too found his words uneptable.

    Unbeknownst to them, it was Hudson''s sudden shouts to get out of there, that made him reply rudely.

    While walking to the Draconic Wyverns, Lee furiously arranged Hudson with his anger and queries.

    [If we had stayed there, we would have been in a lot of trouble.]

    Lee was confused by his words.

    [I felt the presence of a Tubian in the mansion''s basement.]

    Lee froze like a statue upon hearing the term ''Tubian''. His heart skipped a beat and his eyes were opened wide.

    Unconsciously, he raised his hand and calmed his troubled heart. Quickly climbing on the back of Cryo, he asked to fly towards the maind of Intellus as fast as possible.

    Zena too felt the change in Lee and she followed Cryo''s figure rising into the air. Though she could not figure out what it was, Lee Shen''s fluctuating mental graph was felt by Zena.

    The departure was too quick to be a normal take-off and this scene sowed seeds of doubts in the hearts of Sai. As he saw the wyverns flying away into the horizon heading towards the maind, an orc came out of the mansion after kicking the grandiose front door to smithereens.

    "Grrr!"

    The blood-red eyes reflected anger as the unusuallyrge orc clenched its fists. This sight made Sai and Exen tremble in fear.

    "What is it, oh great and powerful?"

    At once, the orc Tubian raised his hand and pointed at the figures of the three wyverns disappearing in distance.

    "Enemy!"

    The rough voice shook the foundation of the mansion and the roar that followed it produced shockwaves. The force pushed the patriarch and the eldest son backwards.

    "But your injuries?"

    Sai Triad tried to restrict him from unleashing his powers by pointing out that he is injured. But the orc was too angry to notice the words he spoke.

    Like swatting a fly, the orc swung his hand and hit the old man. With the sound of bones cracking, the old man fell afar from where he stood motionless.

    What happened next made the walls of the mansion crack like a spider web.

    The orcunched itself into the atmosphere with so much force that the floor crumbled!

    Boom!!!

    The shockwaves reached Aero and he twisted his body to take a nce at the projectile. But what awaited his face was a supernatural punch powered by the Tubian of Anger!

    BAM!

    Aero was thrown away like a ragdoll from the impact. Still, he retained his consciousness and regretted his action.

    Before he could realise what was happening, a pair of foot pressed on his back which pummeled him to the ground.

    And using this force, the orc jumped high into the air to perform a magnificent m dunk!

    "200,000 Essence to Mana and Qi!"

    An absurdly high amount of Essence was converted into Mana and Qi, and the entire reserve was depleted to cover his entire body and to boost all of his existing stats.

    A nce at what happened to Aero made him realise how strong the enemy is. Thus, anger welled up in Lee which urged him to confront the enemy.

    Also, Dmented on the bad luck Lee had been bestowed with.

    "Save Aero."

    At hismand, Pyro and Cryo turned around and flew towards Aero. The wyvern was reduced to a pathetic condition and his spine had fractured. Aero''s skull had been damaged deeply and D quickly materialised a spatial tear to take him inside the System Space.

    The orc was descending on Cryo when Lee Shen shot up with phenomenal attributes. The Qi running through his body was so overwhelming that itunched his attributes to a whole new level. The Mana that clouded his being was so dense that Lee was the manifestation of power itself.

    But this did not deter the orc. Instead, it made him grin viciously.

    "Good, a strong enemy!"

    Shouting out loud, the orc disclosed his affinity which changed its skin colour to deep red. This change was quite unanticipated and D was stunned.

    [Tubian of Anger.]

    Lee did not concern himself with thement as he rose straight ahead to the orc. The orc, grinning wildly, was too happy to unleash the full extent of his powers after a while.

    And the fists collided!

 Chapter 324: Hanging By A Thread!

    Chapter 324: Hanging By A Thread!

    And the fists collided!

    .

    .

    .

    A blinding light!

    All the residents of the ind saw the blinding light at the southern tip of thendmass. It was too powerful to look at as many a toasted their eyes by ncing at it.

    When the city dwellers saw the light fading away, the next second, the buildings were rampaged by a brief period of violent shockwaves that threatened to weaken the very foundation of the ind!

    And that was just the beginning.

    The ind began to tremble and the intensity increased gradually. At a point when the ind was sure to fall apart, the tremors stopped.

    What was disclosed after the rampage was a beautiful city greatly reduced to dust!

    Thend had cracked and lives were lost. The loss of material elements was inferior to the ount of the deaths that day.

    When the ind was curtailed to the status of a continuously raped woman, there was one being standing at the southern end of the ind.

    "Fool! We, the Tubians, are always greater beings."

    Under the orc''s feet was Lee Shen''s bloodied chest with the drumming heart inside.

    "You, you think so?"

    Grinding his blood-red teeth, Lee Shen had a smirk on his face that confused the orc for a moment. But when the orc reevaluated the situation, the Tubian dismissed his expression as a useless bluff.

    Well, Tubian''s analysis was not wed or clouded. It was just that Lee was barely alive by a thread.

    With both arms forcefully torn apart from the elbow, Lee was lying on his back, in a puddle of his own blood. The blood that he frequently coughed out clouded his sight.

    It was with a shock that Lee realised that he no longer has both legs. When a sting arose from his waist, his face went pale with the revtion.

    But what smeared despair in his mind was the fact that he had lost connection with the System Space, again.

    The orc looked around in confusion for a few minutes. And then it looked at Lee with a smug.

    "I saw your beasts escaping a few moments ago. But I give you my word, we will find them and you will hear their screams of agony."

    When the orc conveyed that he saw the spatial tear, Lee Shen''s heart became unsettling. The System Space was his ultimate resort for hiding and his only ce to call home.

    With the subspace unavable, Lee was unable to establish a line ofmunication with his friends. But when he uttered ''status'', the panel that appeared disyed a steady decrease in the Essence reserve.

    In front of his eyes, the millions became thousands and the hundreds became tens. The depletion went on until the system was stripped off of thest drop of Essence.

    <strong>/=+=+=+=+=</strong>

    <strong>PERSONAL INFO:</strong>

    <strong>Name: Lee Shen</strong>

    <strong>Essence: 0</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>Days psed: 36</strong>

    <strong>Time: 12 Midday</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>ATTRIBUTES:</strong>

    <strong>Health: 336</strong>

    <strong>Power: 24</strong>

    <strong>Dexterity: 2</strong>

    <strong>Intelligence: 120</strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>PROGRESS:</strong>

    <strong>Cultivation: Peak Soul Manifestation</strong>

    <strong>Qi: 0</strong>

    <strong>Mastery: Lord Level Mastery</strong>

    <strong>Mana: 0</strong>

    <strong>=+=+=+=+=/</strong>

    The orc grabbed Lee Shen by his tattered outfit''s cor and lifted. Like a lightweight ragdoll, the Tubian raised Lee into the air and stared into his eyes.

    "You are really infamous. Yava will surely be happy with me."

    Again, the name ''Yava'' was heard. This was a term he was familiar with when he killed the parasite Tubian he encountered at the Troll event.

    From the memories since then, Lee Shen was enlightened by the magnanimous power of the first Tubian ever to have walked on Utopia.

    "Wh-, who is this Yava?"

    Since blood was filling his throat from the internal wounds, he had to struggle to speak while pressing down the pain.

    Hearing this, the orc began tough. Hisughter was untamed and vicious. The voice of the cold-hearted monster resonated throughout the air and instilled fear and shade of death in the hearts of many.

    "You will know soon."

    Saying this, the orc leapt high into the sky. Like aet zooming past the at night, his speed was beyond the scope of a naked eye.

    As he rose further upward, Lee Shen was feeling more and more suffocating. The orc sensed this and twisted his body and kicked the air which propelled him forward with supernatural speed.

    A few secondster, Lee fell unconscious.

    ---------------

    (A.N. The story is about to have some new developments. Stay tuned.)

    An uncertain amount has passed.

    "Ugh...where-?"

    Lee had barely opened his eyes when a pain embraced him wholeheartedly. The sensation urged him to wince and twist but Lee found himself impossible to move an inch.

    The bleeding had stopped and the wounds continuously transmitted a sensation ofcking. With both forelimbs torn apart, Lee looked around while biting down the pain.

    What he saw made him open his eyes wide and about flee the body!

    Inside the room made of stone, blocks were the stench of death and blood. Under the dull lighting of the wall-mounted torches, Lee Shen saw a blood-curdling sight.

    In front of his eyes were countless chains hanging from the ceiling. On every strand of the chain was two or three people hanging motionless. Regardless of race and gender, these unfortunate males and female elves, dwarves, humans, demons, goblins and beastfolks were kept alive to harvest Essence from them.

    Maybe it was theck of blood that made Lee pale as death. But this sight made his blood stiffen with unspeakable fear. Lee could tell that he was not able to feel his heart thumping for a few seconds.

    Lee Shen''s remaining body, his armless upper torso, was ced leaning its back onto a wall. He suspected that it might be the orc that did so, but he also had reasons to believe that it might not be him.

    The reasons, it''s obvious.

    Like a roughly handled upper part of the mannequin, Lee Shen stood erect on his from away waist. The sensation that presented him with bone-chilling pain was keeping him alive.

    Looking around, he saw no one. The dull torches were the only means of illumination and Lee Shen felt that the room has unending width and length.

 Chapter 325: Impaled, Imprisoned

    Chapter 325: Impaled, Imprisoned

    A few secondster, Lee Shen remembered the ount of memories D and Hudson had extracted from the Tubian.

    "So this is the underground chamber, huh?"

    Leaning his head on the wall behind his back, Lee Shen mumbled to himself. At the very moment, the being hung on the nearest chain twitched its head. With struggle, the person lifted the head and saw the living remnants of a human. The eyelids slowly opening and closing jolted its consciousness.

    The elf''s eyes went wide after seeing Lee Shen alive and in a peculiar condition. The woman''s eyes disyed wonder and fright with horror smeared on her face.

    She tried to cry, but her throat was dry. She wanted to move, but her body was numb.

    Hearing the rustling of the chains highlighted in the silence, Lee opened his eyes and saw the woman hanging on the nearest chain staring at him with open wide eyes. He saw fear and horror shadowing over her face.

    "Hi."

    Lee Shen initiated the conversation with a word and the female elf was thunderstruck. She scanned the partial torso eagerly through her hair blocking the view.

    Then, Lee saw the woman''s lips moving. But no voice came. This made him frown and he concentrated on her lips.

    "Who...are...you. Who am I? I-"

    Before Lee could finish his sentence, a sting originated in his neck and his mouth was filled with the taste of blood. With pain and difort crawling over him, Lee struggled to swallow down his saliva coupled with blood.

    Soon, the pain of swallowing became unbearable and he coughed while spitting the blood in the process.

    *coughs*

    Blood and saliva excited his mouth as a single solution. When the overflowing mixture subsided, Lee sighed and chuckled upon remembering something. He leaned his head on the walls and his eyes were about to close when he heard the rustling of the chain again.

    The elf woman turned her head to her right lifelessly. The resident who woke up after hearing Lee Shen''s coughs was a demon. The man with small deep red coloured horns on his forehead was in a much pathetic state than the elf woman.

    Apparently, one of the Tubian chopped his legs for an escape attempt.

    The demon turned his head and saw the figure of Lee Shen. His reaction was identical to the woman, tainted with fright and confusion.

    But he did not panic. That was an innate ability of the demon race.

    "Fresh meat, eh?"

    The humour sense of the demon even at the doorstep of death made Lee Shenugh, but the resultant pain was overwhelming. The wound in the inside of his neck was opened and the circle of sufferings was initiated.

    "That tattoo..."

    The demon''s hoarse voice could be heard and Lee Shen raised his head to see the demon staring at him. This time, it had a tinge of curiosity in it.

    "That tattoo..."

    The demon uttered again and Lee was confused. He could swear that he did not have a tattoo on his body.

    "I dont have...a tattoo."

    Lee spoke hushedly but was loud enough to transmit the voice in the silent room. Hearing this the demon shook his head.

    "That tattoo...on your throat."

    *cough cough*

    The demon conveyed his message and then began to cough. His uneasiness was due to exertion and he quickly went silent.

    The demon''s words confused Lee and he nced at the elf. She, who understood that Lee was unaware of the presence of the tattoo, moved her lips and transmitted the message.

    ''What?''

    Upon decoding the lip movements, Lee was disclosed the fact that he has a peculiar tattoo in the front of his throat.

    When Lee Shen asked her to describe the tattoo, he consistently failed to decode her reply.

    A few secondster, the elf fell unconscious. Taking this moment, he remembered the magic word.

    ''System.''

    Lee summoned the panel but there was no reaction. He was left with a rude reply of silence. Nothing appeared. Yet the seeds of despair had a long way to root deep into Lee Shen''s soul.

    Without attempting a second try, the reason came popping up in his mind.

    ''D and Hudson have rescued Aero, I can tell. But how are they doing?''

    With no means ofmunication, let alone escape, Lee began topile meaningful data from the limited amount of information.

    But what surprised him most was he himself!

    Lee Shen had lost an awful lot of blood after the battle had concluded. He is still bleeding internally and the pain was rolling over him without rest.

    He lost both of his arms. He did not have his lower torso. He does not know how many of his bones are broken. He had no idea what the Tubians had done to him to keep him alive.

    When he waspiling information, the faces of An, Mia, Tera and Gauthama shed in front of his eyes. His eyes attained a bright sparkle as he whistled hushedly.

    After a dozen attempts, his actions bore no fruit. The elf and the demon were not awake. Even if they were awake, responding to his calls would only quicken their loss.

    "Hey there."

    A fairly deep voice came out of a green figure smeared in red colour. When Lee squinted his eyes, he saw that that was an orc.

    Lee took a second to scan the orc from head to toe. He seemed alright and healthy. Whenparing with others, he was stout and his eyes glowed a leashed wild beast.

    With no injury or wound, the orc was standing on the ground with his feet firmly nted on the floor. Unlike other prisoners, this man was tall and big and that enabled him not to hang lifelessly and endure pain.

    "Oh hi."

    "New here?"

    Lee nodded as a reply and the orc nodded in acknowledgement. The orc then decided to turn around and mind his own business.

    "Excuse me."

    (A.N. Like I said, the story is taking quite a turn.)

 Chapter 326: Finding The Lost Sheep

    Chapter 326: Finding The Lost Sheep

    The feebleness of the voice proimed Lee Shen''s ruined condition. Hearing it, the orc turned back to nce at the source of this frail tone.

    "How long have you been here?"

    The orc was burdened with the most unexpected question ever. Thus, therge frame frowned at Lee''s bizarre query.

    "Umm...It''s hard to say. Maybe a month or two."

    Lee Shen''s next question followed the reply.

    "Have you seen any human cultivators here? Any female ones?"

    The orc was puzzled by the enquiry but decided to answer.

    "Cultivators, huh? I don''t remember seeing anyone."

    Throwing a tilted head, the orc continued-

    "You searching for someone?"

    Lee Shen nodded as a reply and the orc chuckled.

    "You have the whole world and you decided to search for people here."

    Initially, the orc felt amused. But upon seeing Lee Shen''s unchanged expression, he calmed down.

    "I am looking...for someone. They were...taken here."

    The pain rolled over him again and the words were barely connected. As the orc watched, Lee bit his lips and his nose bled.

    Raising his head, the orc saw Lee Shen''s bloodshot eyes. The surprise and perplexity that reflected on the orc''s face conveyed to Lee that he is slipping down the thread of life.

    "Her name is An Fenfang, a female human cultivator."

    With these words, Lee Shen''s consciousness faded again.

    -----

    Inside a subspace.

    "We have lost all contact with Lee."

    Rue said while wiping away the sweat from her forehead. In front of her was Aero lying almostpletely restored to perfection.

    "Ugh...the Tubian was unlike anything."

    Hudson was salvaging everything to squeeze out as much Essence as he could. He reduced all the living beings inside the EsGen and the subspace into nothing, to generate a hefty amount of Essence.

    D was sitting silently on the ground. On the outside, he was calm and collect. But the amorphous entity was trying its best to stabilize a connection with Lee Shen.

    "What do you expect from the Tubian of Anger?! Stop shouting and do something useful!!"

    The Dimension Sovereign was engaged by the loud exims and screams produced by Hudson. He was also frequently distracted by Rue''sining.

    There were asions before when the System Storage had lost contact with Lee. But this time, it was a whole different story.

    Ever since they lostmunication with Lee Shen, his stats have gone nk. The integer values of Health, Power, Dexterity and Intelligence have vanished to thin air.

    If it was the attributes tab alone, the unrest would have been little. But when the panel of Qi cultivation and Mana mastery began to glitch and eventually disappear, D felt an unspeakable uneasiness crawling over his being.

    At first, the system panel was responding to D''s summoning. After a few minutes, Hudson found dys in the panel appearance. This revtion sparked the fire of panic.

    What sealed the air inside the subspace with despair was when D found out that the subspace has been somehow secured withoutpromise!

    Thus, every intelligent being in the System Space was forced to put their maximum in re-establishing themunication with the system host, Lee Shen.

    Except for the Draconic Wyverns and Zena, the only remaining living beings were Rue, D and Hudson. And these three were sweating in their own ways while attempting to make a contact with the outside world.

    "Uh oh!"

    Hudson cried out as the system panel glitching madly disyed a new development. The name of the elements was beginning to blink without any warning.

    The amorphous body of D rushed to Hudson to see the development. By the time he came near, the Fire element name had vanished!

    And the next was the Water element.

    ---

    About an hourter.

    The system space had lost its lustre and vibrancy. The system had been reduced to a worthless bunch of data and information. The elements tab had beenpletely wiped out in an hour.

    "Is he alive?"

    Rue was weak when she raised a question. Without turning back, D nodded and gestured to give some silence.

    Zena tiptoed to Ru and rubbed her head to the True Druid''s torso. The feline face exhibited her concern to her master. The Perrafin could tell that Lee is still alive but she could not evaluate his current condition. Zena conveyed that something is blocking her perceptions to an extent.

    The same was the situation with the Draconic Wyverns. They could tell that Lee Shen is still breathing but they have been consistently failing toprehend his state.

    -----

    About an hourter.

    D jumped up and shouted-

    "Lee is in danger and is critically injured. He is in the Tubian''s hideout deep in the Intellus!"

    Hearing this, Hudson lost his cool. Beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead as he asked-

    "Can we reach him?"

    The reply came negatively as D shook his head helplessly.

    "That ce is the turf of the most powerful beings on the. Even if we could open a portal next to Lee Shen, we will only be disclosing the existence of the System Space.

    Also, he is kept inside a subspace. That means there is a Tubian with the power of Space."

    Tides have turned against them on a grand scale. The rescue of Lee Shen from the home ground of Tubians was basically a suicide mission with unknown consequences.

    The silence that enveloped the subspace was suffocating. Rue and Hudson felt the magnitude of the threat that loomed over Lee Shen but they were unable to take action. Any initiative would only give away their existence and the possiblity of disclosing the presence of the System.

    Roar!!

    Cryo roared after standing erect on his hindlimbs. His roar resonated throughout the subspace and stunned Rue and Hudson. D turned around with a deep frown etched on the amorphous face.

    Following Cryo''s lead, Pyro and Aero stood up vigorously and stretched their wings in a disy of power and pride.

    Somehow, this made Zena to stand up on her hindlimbs and growl like a hungry predator!

 Chapter 327: The Weapon Of Ultimate Destruction

    Chapter 327: The Weapon Of Ultimate Destruction

    Showing her fangs and ws, Zena attained a predator stance that could threaten animals at a nce.

    The development caught Rue by surprise and she stood there stunned. Neither she nor Hudson could interpret the intentions behind this aggression.

    Then D chuckled and said-

    "Okay. If that is how you all want, then who am I to disagree?"

    Rue''s brows knitted with puzzlement and she was clueless. Hudson sighed after he took a nce at her face and saw that she was as stunned as he was.

    Turning around, D sounded extremely courageous when he said-

    "They have decided.

    We are going to attempt a rescue mission."

    Growl!

    Aero conveyed his discontent with D''s words and D was forced to rearrange his words.

    "We all are going to rescue Lee Shen!"

    The idea was purely based on gut instincts, Rue could tell.

    The beasts had their pride as individual beings and their conscience did not let Lee perish without hope. Thus, their subconscious mind took control of their actions.

    "Are you sure that is what they are saying?"

    Hudson was not believing D''s words. Not that he did not want to, but the deration was a prelude to suicide!

    D nodded in return and spoke-

    "We almost decided to let Lee rot in the hands of the Tubians. We, for a second, thought of our safety alone while confirming whether he is okay of not.

    But the fact that the system is embedded into Lee Shen''s soul and all this, the System Space, our lives and all that we enjoy now, are the fruits of his efforts, is a reason enough to save him even if he was imprisoned in hell."

    Hudson and Rue had their lives shing in front of their eyes. For a second they froze like stone immersing themselves in the memories.

    Using this moment, D walked to an open area in the System Space. Near to that spot was Fero sleeping like a humongous lion.

    When he heard the rustling of grass, he saw the amorphous being walking near him.

    "Hey Fero, can I have this spot? Its an emergency."

    Without saying a word, Fero stood up and shook his entire body and ran towards Zena to y. Upon seeing this, Rue walked to D but she was stopped by him.

    "Stay away. I am going to take out something that would help us to rescue him. I cannot guarantee your safety, so please stand back."

    Saying this, D raised both of his hands into the sky. A secondter, a pitch-ck portal appeared in front of him.

    "Why are you opening EsGen?"

    Hudson raised the question after seeing the familiar portal.

    There was no reply as D inserted his hands into it. With some effort, he pulled out somethingrge.

    "What is he doing?"

    Hudson nudged Rue whose eyes were fixated on the coffin that D just pulled out. She shrugged and her eyes were filled with puzzlement.

    The coffin was intact as it came out of the portal and the pitch-ck circle disappeared. The moment it touched the ground, a vibration travelled through Rue''s body.

    "This was a secret I wanted to disclose once we reach my personal subspace in Intellus. But fate thought otherwise."

    As Rue and Hudson witnessed, D pushed open the lid of the coffin and the wooden cover fell on the ground with a firm thud.

    The next second, a blinding light upied the entire subspace!!

    "What the-"

    Rue could notplete her words as the light was too bright to defend. It simultaneously gave off a scorching and freezing sensation on her body.

    The blinding illumination stayed the same for more than ten minutes. Hudson and D fell on the ground upside down and buried their eyes to protect themselves from this overwhelming presence.

    Unbeknownst to Rue, these wisps of souls were going through a cycle of pain and bliss indefinitely!

    The Draconic Wyverns'' thunderous roar and growls of agony were filling the air with disturbance as they moved around in the System Space to evade the blinding light that irritated them to their core.

    Soon the light subsided.

    When Rue deactivated her energy shield, the entire System Space had be a wastnd!

    No greenery was left on the ground and the cafeteria and the cabin had disappeared. When she realised that the blinding light was capable of doing this much destruction, a shiver went up to her spine upon imagining what could possibly be inside the coffin.

    The beasts were okay but extremely annoyed. Their anger was brimming in their hearts as they had an urge to pounce on the coffin to shred it to pieces.

    D struggled to stand up as he grabbed the sides of the coffin to stand up. His amorphous body was showing signs of instability and he was dissolving. A steady stream of steam rose from his body but was too thin to even notice.

    "Inside...this coffin...lies...the...Sceptre of...Doom."

    The pain and struggle were evident in his words as Dpleted his words while biting down the pain. As a spiritual being, the pain was many times powerful and harsh.

    Hudson gasped as he stumbled forward. He fell on his knees but stood up quickly.

    "Wa-"

    It was real. The Sceptre of Doom was real!

    As Rue''s eyes fell on four pieces of a sceptre dismantled and kept away from each other, her mind was flooded by questions.

    "You knew all along?"

    D nodded as he squatted on the ground with rough breathing.

    "Ever since we took the casket, I continuously tried to unravel the mystery behind the coffin. It took me some time, but I finally was disclosed to the secret in it."

    The atmosphere became clouded with the pressure emitting from the coffin and the beasts cautiously neared it. Upon taking a nce at the four pieces of the entire weapon, the Draconic Wyverns stepped back in fear.

    After a pause to catch his breath, he added-

    "This was the weapon used by the Great Devil to inflict damage on the Forgotten Trinity."

 Chapter 328: Coffin & Sceptre

    Chapter 328: Coffin & Sceptre

    Zena and Fero were no stranger to threat. But the sight of the dismantled weapon made them retreat over ten metres.

    "Why didn''t you tell Lee about this?"

    Hudson raised his query after confirming the weapon with his own eyes.

    "The Sceptre of Doom has copsed. It was dismantled after the disappearance of continents. Since the world thought that it was the end of the notorious continents'' legacy, they dismantled it into four pieces and gave it to a bunch of faithful travellers who were assigned to bury them in a distantnd, beyond anyone''s reach.

    But the earthquakes and the followed events probably awoke a bit of this weapon''s power and the Trolls, mainly known for their thirst for power, came seeking its origin.

    Since they failed to traverse the clogged waterlines, they did not reach the coffin.

    I can only name it serendipity that it reached our hands."

    D copsed on the floor on all four and Rue rushed to support him. But as she extended her hands to reach him, D gestured not to.

    "It''s okay. I am the Dimension Sovereign after all. My soul is many times stronger than any cultivator could be."

    Saying this, he pushed his torso up and stood up after a few attempts.

    As he rose, his eyes briefly nced over the four pieces of the sceptre.

    "But how do we bring back the original Sceptre?"

    This question riddled Dnekewy''s mind and he asked himself as he regained his breath.

    "You don''t know?"

    Rue asked with concern brimming her voice.

    "Not that I don''t know, but we don''t have a necessary vessel to begin the process."

    "A vessel?"

    Rue''s question made the beasts who ran to a distancee back with curiosity. Fero was cautious when he stepped towards the coffin.

    "The Sceptre of Doom was created from the sentient metal of Exiriado. Its powers overshadow a pinnacle Deity grade weapon without any enchantments.

    Just like how powerful it is, it needs an equivalent vessel that could withstand its power.

    An example is the Great Devil herself. She sacrificed her remaining lifeforce and her entire being to revive the Sceptre back to its peak and to deal a powerful blow. The damage inflicted by that single attack turned the tides like heaven and hell.

    Unless we have such a powerful presence to kick-start the reforging process, we are helpless."

    D stared at the four identical pieces lying peacefully in the coffin. It exuded enormous pressure and that conveyed that it was still worthy of breaking the continents in half at peak force.

    A series of light tremors were felt by D as he saw Aero walking to the coffin with anger and frustration in his eyes.

    Growl.

    Aero growled while staring at the inside of the coffin. His eyes were fixated on the broken pieces of the Sceptre of Doom.

    But what happened next was beyond anyone''s expectations!

    Like a chameleon''s tongue, Aero''s neck stretched in a sh and came back in an instant. When D was surprised by this action, he was stunned to see that a piece was now missing.

    The eyes were open wide as D raised his head to see the missing piece in between the jaws of the wyvern.

    "Spit it-"

    Dnekewy shouted but was cut off as he witnessed a wave of dense energy flowing from the piece of Sceptre. It was so dense that he could see its presence moving through the air.

    Rue also witnessed this visible manifestation of power. But her eyes then caught the sight of Pyro and Cryo walking towards the coffin.

    D had frozen solid as he had no idea what to do when he saw the other two grabbing two more pieces of the Sceptre with their jaws. His mind was basically nk.

    "Happy?"

    D asked as his hands rested on his hips. He looked like a disappointed mother looking at her naughty triplets.

    Looking down, there was only one piece in the coffin. With a curve at its one end, D deduced that it was the piece that decorated the top-most portion of the Sceptre.

    After turning his head right and left, D caught the sigh of Fero and Zena in a distance.

    "There is one more remaining. You want it?"

    The question was an indirect mocking to the trio who understood the underlying meaning. D pointed at the remaining piece and asked with a frown.

    Hudson walked to the coffin from his behind and peeked into the coffin to see thest piece. At a nce, he felt an attraction to the in greyish-silver textured piece of metal.

    Instinctively, he stretched his hand and reached to touch the Sceptre''s head.

    "Don''t."

    D stopped Hudson from touching the Sceptre''s piece at the nick of the time with a swat. The action pulled Hudson from a trance-like state and it was then he realised what he had almost done.

    "You and I are only wisps of ourplete souls. I, the Dimension Sovereign could withstand the pressure. But you will surely fail to tolerate the pressure.

    I am afraid that you would probably disintegrate your soul at the slightest contact."

    Hudson took a step back with fear as D''s words fell in his ears. The True Druid was frightened by the dismantled piece''s destructive capability.

    "Just because we don''t know how to activate the weapon, we don''t have the luxury of sitting back. Lee might be in deep trouble."

    Rue paced forward and walked to the coffin as she spoke. With determination sparkling in her eyes, she extended her arms and took the headpiece of the Sceptre.

    Just as she took it in her hand, it began to vibrate intensely and produced a humming noise. The Draconic Wyverns initially found this humming mildly irritating but then found it as a luby to ears.

    But then, Hudson found something interesting. Every step the trio took forward, the headpiece was humming in resonance with it. He also found that the distance decreasing between Rue and the trio caused the vibrations to intensify exponentially.

 Chapter 329: Sceptre Of Doom

    Chapter 329: Sceptre Of Doom

    "Stop right there!"

    D jumped in between them and extended his hand to the Draconic Wyverns. The gesture and the action surprised the beasts and Zena and Fero unconsciously bore fangs at D.

    "If that is the way to revive the Sceptre, if we have a chance of reviving the Sceptre, then this subspace won''t withstand the pressure. We will all be thrown into the abyss of the darkness."

    D continuously gestured at the trio to move backwards until the headpiece was devoid of any humming. It became a normal metal piece with a greyish-silver texture.

    "Do you have a n? Every attempt of mine to open a portal to the main dimension had failed consistently."

    D turned to look at Hudson''s face over his shoulder and spoke like a badass viin-

    "You are not me."

    The words had a tonne of arrogance in it, though Hudson understood that it was just for mocking him. With a tinge of disappointment, Hudson crossed his arms in front of him while keenly observing the Dimension Sovereign.

    D walked a little away from them and halted his steps. Turning his head to peek at those behind him through the corner of his eyes, he said-

    "This is the power os a Dimension Sovereign!"

    His words were thunderous and were followed by a snap of his finger. At the very moment, an enormous pitch-ck portal appeared in front of him and sucked him like a V8 vacuum cleaner!

    All these happened within a second and the entire party was stunned. When Zena pounced to pull D back into the subspace, she could only hear his cry fading out into the portal.

    A state of emergency was dered by the Draconic Wyverns as they cautiously rounded the portal. Though they did not see anyone or anything originating from the portal, they were abnormally cautious.

    Then...

    "I''m okay. It''s just that the sudden opening created a vacuum that pulled me ferociously."

    D''s head and arms came protruding through the portal and the tension in the subspace subsided. But they became concerned by the peculiar worried countenance D had.

    "You all shoulde and see this for yourselves."

    Saying this, D disappeared and Rue knit her brows unconsciously. She quickly walked to the portal and exited. following her came Zena, Fero, the trio and Hudson''s soul.

    *GASP!*

    "What in the world happened here?!"

    Hudson had an urge to curse out loud but restrained his instinct. Instead, he hushedly eximed, audible to them alone.

    His words were not hollow. People wouldn''t wonder what had happened here if they decided to ignore the changes that hade over thendscape which turned it into a barren battlefield.

    Yes, barren! The entire southern part of the ind is now barren and deste. The ces were trees and nts once lushly grew had been reduced to a wastnd with brown soil under the feet.

    Rue was struggling toprehend what kind of cmity had taken ce here. She tried her best to keep her mind sane, but the after-effects of vicious one-sided torture were haunting her.

    "Lee...was here."

    Supporting her torso over Zena, Rue walked all over thend in search of something. Her eyes thoroughly scanned the ground below her and she pushed the Draconic Wyverns ferociously to make way.

    Then at some point, she stopped. After a moment''s pause, she squatted down and her fingers touched the ground.

    "This is his blood."

    Hudson walked to her with disbelief. He was uncertain of what he had heard, which made him ask-

    "Come again?"

    She jumped up and stood like a released spring and her eyes were brimming with fear.

    "Lee Shen''s blood is all over this ce. Something had happened to him."

    Growl!

    Pyro growled as he stared at them for a second, and then turned his head to point at something on the ground. D ran to the beast and saw a shiny object stuck in a solid mixture of mud and blood.

    "This is his spatial ring!"

    D tried to pick it up, but the amorphous body failed to interact with a solid object. He was not disheartened and manipted the sword to pierce and break the solidified ground.

    Hudson was the most helpless one. As a wisp of soul and with no tangible object connected, he could only witness the turmoil settling down.

    "Then these pieces of flesh and blood are his."

    Though devoid of any interactions, Hudson''s analytical capabilities surpassed Rue and Lee. He was the main advisor of our protagonist in numerous situations.

    Rue then caught the sight of the web-like cracking running through the ground. She did not take more than a second to scientifically prove that the solidified puddle of blood through the centre of the cracks belonged to Lee Shen.

    "But he is alive, I can tell."

    Despite the presence of blood and shattered flesh, Zena and Fero confirmed that Lee is well alive. Even though the shreds of evidence around them narrate about a lopsided battle, D could feel his breath in his heart.

    "Grrr..."

    It was Aero who sensed something and produced a fearsome noise. Attracted by the sound, all heads turned to look at Aero who was staring in the southern direction with a reservoir of anger.

    "Obviously, the Tubian took him."

    Rue walked to Aero with her eyes nted on the horizon.

    Unfortunately, every one of them forgot about the most dangerous probability here!

    *humming*

    As soon as Rue came near the Draconic Wyvern, the headpiece in her hand began to hum like an angry bee. Within seconds, the headpiece began to move towards the beasts, neglecting the resistance provided by the True Druid.

    "D, help!"

    Zena and Fero were taking steps backwards upon sensing an indescribable sensation of danger. This caught in D''s sight and he pounced to pull her away from the beasts.

    Rue was not the only victim. The Draconic Wyverns realised that the piece between their jaws had been stuck there, with a pale countenance. With panic and unrest, the beasts tried to distant themselves but failed.

 Chapter 330: The Unpredicted Sacrifice

    Chapter 330: The Unpredicted Sacrifice

    The stone-cold unwavering hearts of the Draconic Wyverns became soft and full fright for the first time in their lives. Their muscr limbs failed to maintain the distance with Rue who was giving her all to pull away from the suction.

    Hudson could only helplessly watch how things turn south. He bore witness to the events with clenched fists, realising that he is useless at the moment.

    But his conscience took control of his soul and he dashed at Rue. His heart was filled with determination and he reached and barely touched the headpiece of the Sceptre when something unanticipated took ce!

    Hudson disappeared!

    And the very moment, the powerful pull vanished!

    D and Rue fell on their rear with the amount of force they had exerted. The trio distanced themselves from Rue upon liberation.

    *sigh*

    D, for a second, could not figure out what had happened. But when he took a nce at the headpiece in Rue''s hand, things became clear.

    With a frown, D tilted his head while raising his query-

    "How did he end up inside that?"

    Rue, resting on her rear, was rubbing her forehead when she heard his voice. She shuttled her focus onto D''s face when she saw that D was looking at the piece of Sceptre.

    Rue jolted up as she saw Hudson''s soul-moving inside the piece of Sceptre. Most importantly, the piece of metal with a greyish-silver colour was now transparent and resembled a long thin cylindrical rod made out of ss.

    D directed the sword to cut it in half. But the sword failed to put a single scratch on the ss rod. The result made D scratch his head with puzzlement and his heart was feeling ufortable.

    The next second, his gut instincts became a reality. The rod slipped and flew away from his grip.

    The direction to which it flew panicked the Draconic Wyverns. They quickly took off but the rod was faster. Sensing that the pieces in their mouths havee loose, they spat them at the very second.

    Swish!

    The ss rod missed the beasts by a small margin as it homed in on the remaining pieces. Pyro was injured as the ss rod ruthlessly pierced his right wing. Cryo barely escaped with a scratch on his neck. Aero was able to manoeuvre and evade the oing projectile.

    As soon as thest piece was connected, the flight ended and the final product fell on the ground. D and Rue witnessed the seemingly simple object slowly kissing the ground.

    But what urred next was not a mere touch down.

    The ground was cracked like a spiderweb!

    The impact was visibly nothing noteworthy, but the amount of force it dispersed to the sides threw the entire ind into chaos.

    When Rue was stunned by how things turned unpredictable, D noticed something rming!

    "The ind is sinking!!"

    Shouting out at the maximum, Dnekewy ran to the Sceptre embedded in the ground halfway. He tried to pull it out but failed miserably. Upon calling Rue for help, she proved herself as a worthy ally.

    Without wasting a moment, the Draconic Wyverns came flying at them and scooped them from the ground. Fero was taken into the air by Aero while Cryo and Pyro rescued D and Rue respectively.

    A secondter, the ground where they stood was crumbled and began to sink. Through the crevices, the ocean rushed and devoured thend. The fissures began to grow in length and breadth and split the ind most horribly.

    "Arghh...!!"

    Rue was holding the Sceptre and she began to scream with pain. Sitting on Pyro, she was holding her right hand''s wrist with all of her strength. It took a second for D to find the reason.

    "Rue, just hang on. Don''t let it go. It needs your energy so let it take some!"

    Rue nodded while biting down the pain. The extent of pain was visible on her face. She was twitching while holding onto her sanity.

    Rue released her energy and it outpoured like an avnche. But it did not leave her body as the Sceptre greedily drank every drop of her energy.

    As the demand for energy prolonged, Rue was losing consciousness. She held onto the Sceptre as she leaned forward on Pyro''s back.

    A few momentster, an enormous thundercloud materialised on the Draconic Wyverns. The appearance of the deep grey cloud was quick and this signalled the prelude of something serious.

    Nobody saw the iing strike. Even Zena was able to sense the deadly shes of lightning after it reached proximity. But before she could intercept it, Rue was soaked by the lightning!

    But it miraculously did not hurt or injure Pyro. The thunder strikes and lightning shes instilled fear in his heart but it soon faded away.

    While Pyro was not harmed, Rue was being bombarded with countless lightning strikes.

    Zena redirected herself and attempted to intercept the lightning strikes, but D restricted her.

    "The lightning is not harming her. The Sceptre is absorbing every ounce of the energy spilt by the lightning.

    It is as if the Sceptre is summoning the lightning."

    Upon hearing D''s conclusion, the trio and Zena calmed down and let what is happening, to finish.

    Looking forward, D judged that they are nearing the maind. Thus he asked the trio to fly higher to vanish from the eyes of the observers.

    The Draconic Wyverns shot upward and disappeared in the dark clouds. Now they were invisible to anyone on the ground.

    But those on the ground did notice a series of lightning strikes continuously urring in a linear fashion. Though most ignored it, some found it interesting.

    The rampage of the lightning continued for another half an hour. Surprisingly, the trio did not have any symptoms of fatigue.

    About 40 minutester...

    "Hudson has gone. HUDSON HAS GONE!!"

    Rue woke up a few minutes after the lightning rampage had extinguished. She raised the weapon to check and saw that Hudson''s presence had vanished.

 Chapter 331: No Time To Lose

    Chapter 331: No Time To Lose

    Rue was right. Hudson''s every trace of existence had disappeared from the Sceptre.

    But...

    "It''s weird. I sure can''t sense him. But I am feeling an awful familiarity from the Sceptre."

    Rue''s curiosity probed-

    "Like?"

    "Like the Sceptre is him but he is not the Sceptre."

    D replied afterprehending and analysing the sensation. Then the Sceptre briefly hummed!

    The 4-metre long Sceptre of Doom looked like a royal trinket symbolising power. But its peculiar colour made it irrecognisable.

    When the atmosphere became silent for a second, D and Rue heard Hudson''s voice in their heads.

    {I cannot escape. This Sceptre had taken me as a prisoner. It is slowly consuming my soul to use as a stabilizing agent and keep it together. I can only be freed after this thing breaks.

    To break this damn thing, you need to deplete its gigantic energy reserve. Do it as quickly as possible. Find those Tubians and exhaust the weapon''s reserve.}

    Rue was wonderstruck when the voice was heard in her head. She peeked at D who was sitting on Pyro devoid of expressions.

    "We don''t have time!"

    The Draconic Wyverns elerated and their increase in speed was significant. Elemental traits enveloped their body and Zena was left behind.

    It caught her confused for a second before she dashed forward with all her strength. She too was spewing lightning as she sliced the air vigorously.

    Rue had a hard time sittingfortably on Cryo''s back due to the speed. Gliding at 250 miles per hour, she struggled to not fall over.

    Fero was abnormally cool. He raised his head and saw Rue resisting the turbulence.

    The next second, Cryo used his elemental affinity to create an inclined ice wall in front of Rue to keep her safe.

    Due to Aero''s air affinity, he had created an air pocket around him. Fero, inside this pocket, was peaceful and undisturbed.

    As D observed, they were travelling at supernatural speed. The kingdoms and cities below on the ground were like fleeting clouds disappearing in a distance without remorse.

    Though this was his home continent, his eyes did not turn to them. Though he just flew past his home country, he did not mind its current situation.

    Because he had something more important at hand!

    ------------

    About 2 hourster.

    The twin stars in the sky were about to begin their descend. Skimming amidst the clouds, the heat rays did not give them fatigue as they could experience on the ground.

    D turned his head and scanned the area. Its been over 10 minutes since he saw thest kingdom. It was Erithrium, where the Samaya sect had been initially established.

    The dense deluge of greenery on the ground indicated to him that they are flying over some jungle. Constantly scanning the surroundings, D was looking for the peculiar stone structure that pierced the clouds.

    Lady luck smiled upon them as D spotted the structure right ahead.

    "My intuition was not wrong."

    As the Dimension Sovereign, he was the chosen one to decorate the highest position on the. This gave him a superior intuition while taking decisions.

    "Rue, you are the only one capable of using a tool. Use both the sword and the Sceptre. All you need to do is to get the sword near Lee.

    Unleash hell, in the meanwhile."

    Saying this, D went back into the sword and the weapon began to tremble intensely. A powerful wave of energy began to flow out of it and it made the beasts uneasy.

    The sword slowly floated up and then moved towards Rue. She quickly grabbed the sheath and tightly gripped it.

    At once, the weapons began to hum in unison.

    Nearing the natural formation with every second, Rue was stunned by the periodic, humming in unison. Every time the weapons vibrated, She could feel some kind of energy invading her body. It was more like bing one with her.

    Rue could only sense the magnanimous energy overshadowing her as she felt her hands going numb. It took a few seconds before she realised what was happening, and it brought a smirk to her face.

    "Yes, unleash hell."

    Hushedly, she asked the Draconic Wyverns to climb the structure. Heeding the request, the trio and Zena began to p their wings and each wingbeat took them higher than previous.

    But things were unpredictable!

    Pyro''s underbelly got rubbed to an invisible wall and he had to bite down the pain. The incident caused sparks to appear in mid-air and this alerted Rue.

    ''They have a barrier.''

    Intelligently constructing her energy, she found that the sky-kissing natural formation has an energy shield around it. She also concluded that the shield is imprable from the outside.

    Upon circling the circr mountain range a couple of times, Rue came to find that the barrier is extending indefinitely and she has no chance of getting in no matter how high she flew or how deep she dug.

    Then, the Sceptre hummed as if Hudson could read her mind.

    ''Ah, yes!''

    Rue scolded herself for forgetting the sky-shattering presence in her hands. A grin crept up her face as she asked the beasts to take a huge U-turn.

    The beastsprehended her idea and acted ordingly. Taking arge curvature arc gliding, Rue waited for the exact moment and leapt!

    -----------------

    Inside the underground prison chamber.

    Lee was woken up from his energy-saving mode by tremors and trembling ground. Fortunately, he did not fall over and was somehow kept alive.

    The disturbances caused the chains to rattle and many moaned in pain. The feeble cries to save them from this dim-lighted hell signified that many still had hopes of escaping alive.

    The entire room whose boundaries are beyond Lee''sprehension began to shake. The silence inside the room was quickly transformed into the undying wailings for survival.

    The orc turned its head to stare at the neighbouring chains and his eyes fell on the bound being. His eyes conveyed discontent and his expression was unfitting to the situation.

    "Why are you chuckling?"

 Chapter 332: Visitors, Rescuers

    Chapter 332: Visitors, Rescuers

    Lee is now well aware of his situation and his physical condition. Thus he had found the optimum amount of pressure that he is to give on his throat to not to start coughing blood.

    Plus, the orc also said that Lee is healing at a slightly abnormal rate for a human.

    "Why are you not crying for help?"

    Lee asked again in a hushed voice. His question was only loud enough for the orc to hear.

    "Help? For what, to escape?

    Take a moment to look around you."

    Lee Shen was pale and devoid of expressions. The loss of blood was visible on his skin. The eyelids were slow when opening and closing as if he was taking hisst moments slow.

    Upon hearing the query, Lee sluggishly shuttled his lifeless eyes right and left and saw the multitude of chains. They hung from the ceiling while restricting a living being to itself.

    To summarise, these chains were crucifixes!

    Without finding anything valuable, Lee Shen brought his eyes back to the orc. The stare alone conveyed his cluelessness and the orc spoke-

    "Most of them were chained even before I was added. And I have not seen anyone going out of the doors, only entering unconscious.

    For prisoners, freedom is a forbidden imagination."

    The orc then used his toes that touched the ground to turn his body around. Therge green frame turned slowly and his back was revealed.

    Scars and marks have riddled the orc''s wide back like a canvas exclusive for graffiti. Lee could see some tattoos and symbols burnt onto the back. Some looked insulting, some gave off a heroic air.

    "These, I got them in battles. I fought. I win. I lose. I get the result. I bear the fruit.

    But never have I been defeated every single day of my life. And that is the sensation these chains present me every hour."

    It was then Lee Shen remembered something. He raised his eyes and looked at the chains.

    "Tell me, do you feel anything when being bound by those chains?"

    Lee Shen spoke hushedly and his eyelids were periodically closing and opening as if he was on the verge of falling asleep.

    Hearing the query, the orc couldn''t help but tilt his head in puzzlement.

    "Yes. Every now and then, I could feel my stamina giving away. It initially urred so frequently that I almost nodded off when it happened. Now I am ustomed to it.

    But...how do you know that?"

    Lee Shen had a smile on his face and was about to answer when a door was opened. The sudden illumination that shone on Lee''s face blinded his eyes and enveloped him in pain.

    "Urgh..."

    Lee gruntled in pain and tried to turn his head away. But the barely alive upper-torso had little left to do while hanging down thest thread of life.

    Then a silhouette appeared at the door and blocked the blinding light. Lee Shen sensed this change and peeked at the figure.

    His eyes became ice-cold as he saw the orc Tubian grinning barbariously. With an audible thud, each step that the Tubian took shook the ground while sending a wave of vibrations to the surroundings.

    Slowly pushing the chains blocking his vision, the orc walked to Lee. Then, as if picking a piece of paper, the Tubian picked him up and stared into his eyes with a cruel grin.

    "You''ve got visitors."

    When the words fell in his ears, Lee forgot to breathe. His eyes lifeless and unchanging fluctuated with a deluge of thoughts that shed in his mind.

    The orc captured the expressions that flickered over his face and were ecstatic. The orc let out a peal ofughter but it felt like a viinous chuckle brimming with evilness.

    The orc turned around and walked to the source of blinding light and the door was closed behind his back. The underground prison chamber became silent and dull and permeated the shadows of death again.

    The orc witnessed what just happened without blinking. He was dumbfounded by how events turned out to be. Beads of sweat umted on his forehead and rolled down his cheek.

    Undescernable was his thoughts. Even the orc could not think it through and conclude. The experiences of the past two months and everything he saw and heard gave him a hint that that man still alive after being ripped in half had done something so courageous that his mates havee to find and release him.

    Turning to his left quickly, he whistled to wake up the elf woman.

    Though it took some effort, she eventually woke up.

    "Wake up everyone. Every single one of them and ask them all to find the female human cultivator named An Fenfang."

    The orc was aggressive when he shouted while suppressing the screams. The elf woman could only look at the orc in confusion.

    "Also tell her that a man hade here searching for her."

    ---------------------------

    The council hall of Tubians.

    When D conveyed that Tubians had created settlements inside the mountain range, Lee never expected them to be grand as colosseums and fortresses. Even their meeting hall was at least six timesrger than the temple of Zeus.

    The colour of sandstone was everywhere, from pirs to walls, from the throne on the highest tform and to the solid ground.

    The floor, the ceiling and the walls of the council hall was filled with murals and paintings. They looked so real and alive that the presence of a Tubian of Painting and Art had a cent-per cent chance.

    To the left and right of the gorgeous red carpet that extended from the door to the foot of the tform were thrones decorated with carvings. Each one stood shoulder-to-shoulder in beauty and charm with another.

    These countless chairs were ced in a way that both sides face each other. And on these seats were power-exuding figures. Physically, they looked human, beastfolk, elf, vampire, demon, devil, dwarf, elf, druid and non-sentient constructs. But racially, they were all one - Tubians!

 Chapter 333: Failed, Not Defeated

    Chapter 333: Failed, Not Defeated

    The atmosphere was silent. Even though the hall was well-illuminated, there was a palpable tension in the room.

    Then, a series of footsteps could be heard from the direction of the door and few heads turned to look who it was. Finding the orc walking in leisurely, a few of them turned back.

    "Mighty Yava, I have bought the man."

    Before the orc finished, Lee Shen''s upper torso wasunched into the air. The helpless torso of the alive ragdoll skimmed through the air silently. The force with which the orc threw him was enough to make him reach the centre of the hall.

    Slowly descending, Lee Shen was expecting to touch down on the floor with a thud. He mentally prepared for the possible avnche of pain. He shut his eyes in expectation.

    But...

    There was no pain. To be precise, Lee was not feeling anything. For a second he thought that he had died from the throw.

    Opening his eyes, Lee saw the floor tiles in front of him. His face was only inches away from the floor as he was suspended in midair.

    Lee had his senses scrambled and could not figure what was happening. That is because there was a superior being inside the council who was powerful enough to lead the Tubian race unanimously.

    The Mighty Yava, or Yava for short, was that person. He had the appearance of a male but was neither man nor woman. That was because he had discarded his physical shell to embrace the affinity.

    But he became the fluke among Fallen Tubians and retained his sanity. His affinity ''Sentience'' was literally the most powerful attribute one could have.

    If we think about ''Sentience'' as an affinity, we would be disappointed by the limits of implementations. But Yava continuously pushed his limits to new heights and became a self-invented entity after discarding his shell.

    This gave him the power of the final say. Whether it is despite or debate, he can singlehandedly beat all the Tubians to submission.

    It is most important to know that he gained the power to control every sentient being on the, including the sleeping legends!

    Using his ability, Yava levitated Lee and raised him up. Bringing his body upright, Lee saw the unusual figure of the mighty from the memories.

    The male outline was evident. But the wless pitch-ckplexion of his skin that enabled Yava to be one with the darkness creeped out Lee. He felt his heart''s rhythm wavering beyond his control.

    Lee was raised to a height of 10 metres and then he was suspended there. With no way to move or escape, Lee, scanned the surroundings.

    And when he was surveying, he came across a familiar face.

    Correction, an unforgettable face!

    How could Lee Shen forget the dark elf''s face? How could he forget the name ''Hegerus''?

    The anger began to well up Lee''s heart but it was then he felt pressure squeezing him from all sides.

    "AARGGHHH....!!"

    The pain was too much to handle and Lee failed in sessfully tolerating it. He screamed out at the top of his lungs and the cry resonated inside the walls of the council hall.

    The pressure then began to subside and Lee felt the levitation disappearing. The next second, he fell on the floor.

    Falling headfirst, his lower jaw was dislocated. This disabled him from opening his mouth as that would give him more agony to suffer.

    "You are like us, but not like us."

    The Mighty Yava spoke, but his voice was gentle. There was a heart-soothing sensation brimming in it. But Lee Shen felt his heartbeat quickening.

    "I saw your memories. I read them all. You have nothing to hide anymore."

    Struck by the disclosure of his deepest secret, Lee Shen stared at the pitch-ck face devoid of facial features. At a nce, he looked like D, but more cruel and powerful and overwhelming.

    Yava turned his head to look at one of the Tubians seated on the chairs and gave a nod. The Dwarf Tubian stood up and raised his hand and gave a gentle snap!

    A circr portal appeared in the air horizontally and something fell from it.

    The sight of a lifeless body with a familiar face crumbled his heart.

    "Ru...e...?"

    The empty pair of eyes were staring at the ceiling. The cold body of the True Druid oozed out red blood that slowly spread around her. Her clothes and skin were smeared with blood.

    The long metal rod that pierced her heart caught his sight. Apart from that rod, there were multiple pierce wounds on her chest and her stomach, each one crueller than the previous.

    When Lee saw his sword broken in half and damaged beyond repair, the face of an old man came rushing into his mind. The weapon he treasured was lying next to her with no presence of D emitting from it.

    Then he noticed her finger twitching ever so slightly. It was faint and Lee almost missed it.

    "Rue!!"

    Screaming out loud, Lee Shen opened the wound in his throat. This made a mouthful of blood to block the inside of his neck. Lee tried to cough the blood but it instead gifted him crushing pain!

    Rue''s pupils slowly moved and her head barely turned. She was now looking at Lee Shen while witnessing death right before her. Her eyes did not disy surprise or wonder, as if she was expecting it.

    Even though it was faint, a smile bloomed on her face. Two drops of tears rolled down from her cheeks as she mumbled-

    "I''m d that you are alive."

    Slowly, her hand began to move toward the sword lying next to her. With visible struggle, she slid it towards him. A trail of blood originated from her mouth and signalled her nearing her end.

    "D would be happy to see you alive. He always wanted to tell you something."

    When Lee was wondering what she implied, Rue spoke herst words-

    "We might have failed. But we were not defeated."

 Chapter 334: Final Words Of Dimension Sovereign

    Chapter 334: Final Words Of Dimension Sovereign

    The words faded into eternity as the True Druid''s body lost its lustre. Slowly, it became colourless and began to wither. A wind coincidentally passed by to disperse the ashes into the world.

    ....

    The acknowledgement of what just happened was difficult for Lee. Like a baby elephant weighing on him, Lee felt his innards pressurised and oppressed by an unknown force. The silence was so powerful that he could not produce tears.

    But...

    Something sparked in Lee''s mind which caused his inner wail to subside. His eyes squinted and brows knit when he revised Rue''s words.

    ''We might have failed. But we were not defeated.''

    It took him a moment to wrap around the words she said before her being disintegrated. Lying face down, he raised his head and took a nce at the broken half of the sword.

    It was then his eyes caught something!

    ''The sword is not broken. D detached it intentionally.''

    When he could not find any marks of abrasion and scrape over the lower half of the sword, it felt like he still had a chance to fight the Tubians.

    ''D, if you can hear me, I am alive.''

    Staring at the sword with determination, Lee sensed the ground trembling slightly. Turning his head around, he concluded that the source was not inside the room.

    It was a momentary distraction but Lee twirled his head around in a way that he could use the force to move his body. His action bore fruit as he rolled to the sword and finally rested next to ck.

    Including Mighty Yava, every Tubian was distracted by the disturbance. By the time the orc Tubian saw that Lee had utilised this window, Lee had neared the sword''s hilt!

    BOOM!!

    When a mighty and deafening boom went off, the sight that unveiled in front of Lee was nostalgic. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he saw the ck and whiteplexion snatching away the colours and movements off of the Tubians.

    [This would onlyst a few seconds because the Tubian of Time is rushing here. She is surprisingly immune to Time-Break.

    Lee, I foresaw a beautiful future for you. It was glorious and free. Then we came across An Fenfang. It was serendipitous to meet her as she was to be the source of your happiness. I saw that both of you could ascend the stairs of power together. She had the potential to be your most powerful ally in the future.

    That is why I asked you to propose to her. That is why I asked you to bring her along your journey.

    But I never expected to face the result of my karma in this way.

    When I changed your fate by bringing An together, the new fate that you both produced were powerful enough to alter the course of the future. But the unwritten intangiblew of the dimension decided to put us back in our ces.

    All that happened since then, was my mistake. I tried to hide it and forget it, but the guilt is weighing on me. Since then, I have been clouded from the future that I always could foresee.

    Now it alles to an end.

    Because of my stupidity, you and she have be the sacrifices. My reckless actions have made the bill due.

    Thus fate brought us to powerful opponents - Tubians. To stop our advancement, serendipity utilised the existence of these unnatural people.

    The final fruit of my actions will be theplete deterioration of our souls. An Fenfang, Mia, Tera, Gauthama, Hudson, Rue, I and you will have to die. Everyone rted to our lives would forget our existences. We would be removed from the memories of many.

    That is fine with me. But this would let Tubians fulfil their promise to Amortals.

    I cannot allow it. If Tubians be sessful in their mission, then Utopia would plunge into dystopia. Serenity would be reced by chaos.

    So you must live!

    I have been chanting the ''Punarjiva'' spell this whole time. It takes both time and power but I can make your soul reincarnate.

    I tried but I have found that the spell could only make one person reborn. Or I should say, I only have the power left in me to make one person reborn.

    You might be born a yearter, or maybe after a million years. But I assure you, you will live again.

    Our journey parts ways here. So live your next life the way you like. Never takemands from others. Follow your gut. Follow your grandfather''s words.

    I have on final request, please protect my home from destruction. I rest my people in your hands, because->

    THWACK!!

    A powerful kick shattered Lee Shen''s skull into smithereens. Followed by it, the frail figure swung her hand and shredded Lee''s remaining living body.

    The temporal obstruction that robbed the entire off of its motion was released and the reality was back to normal. Mighty Yava sat on his throne with a pondering expression emitting from his being.

    "A Time-Stop ability?"

    His voice rose as the entire court witnessed the sudden appearance of the feminine figure out of the blue. Unbeknownst to them, she was rushing to Lee when the temporal disturbance was active.

    When she killed Lee Shen, D''s final resort was torn apart. This disabled the effect and all saw the bloody mess lying at the centre of the court.

    "I rushed here as quickly as I could when I sensed someone invoking a Time affinity spell. Since there is no other Tubian with Time affinity, I sensed danger. But to rush here, I had to break the barrier forcefully.

    And this man used that window to activate the chant."

    A second of pondering and the truth was revealed. The Tubians seated on the chairs could not help but gasp at the revtion.

    "But why am I not sensing the presence of the soul?"

    The voice befitting an athletic, work-out obsessed woman rose from the metal golem standing next to one of the chairs. He added that she is not sensing the presence of the prisoner''s soul in the vicinity and this triggered a wide-range inspection.

 Chapter 335: Reborn

    Chapter 335: Reborn

    ------------

    Inside a pitch-ck space, a white formless goo was floating aimlessly. It was the only thing in the space and its colour was highlighted by the dark background.

    The amount of time that had gone past since that day is beyond measure. It must have been billions of years, that lonely soul thought.

    With nothing to do since the time it could remember, the helpless amorphous soul drifted away with no purpose. The space around it was mysteriouslyforting and the soul made its best to utilise the time at hand.

    It knew not its name. It knew not what or who it was. With the only awareness it had, the soul deduced that it is in fact sentient and can think and think and think limitlessly. The mundane emotions of life were non-existent to it.

    Ever since the white goo could remember, incoherent words and indecipherable images were the only pieces of information it had. These memories served no use in deducing its origin and other details.

    The images were too fragmented that they could be considered as worthless info fed into a machine. Eventually, the images faded from the memory, leaving the words behind alone.

    Most of the voices were disconnected and muddled. This caused the extraction of information impossible. Not only that, the disordered words made the meaning of the entire sentences invalid.

    However...

    There was one particr sentence that was as clear as daylight.

    "We might have failed, but we were not defeated."

    This sentence was one of the only two sentences that could beprehended. The other was one with severely jumbled and thoroughly disoriented words that when the soul reconstructed, made no sense!

    After a lot of contemtion, the soul had to dump the sentence that made no sense.

    Ever since then, the soul was left with one tiny info that led it nowhere. Day and night, the soul repeated the sentence inside it. The nine words were chanted, again and again, giving a sensation of an unfulfilled promise. Somehow, the words assured the soul of a certain victory that it was not able to have before.

    This colourless routine went on for an inestimable amount of time until a bright light appeared in a distance. Slowly, the illumination came near the soul which floated with no intention.

    Every second, the darkness of the space was being reced by the blinding source of light. Since there was nothing to do, the soul decided to spectate what was happening.

    Finally... the light engulfed the soul. The white amorphous spirit one with the light and all was then bright and one.

    ------

    It was not afortable sensation to have locked in a cage. Especially if the cage was tailored precisely to fit your dimensions, then your mobility would decrease substantially.

    This was the exact condition for that soul. Within the human body, it tried to feel home but couldn''t. The boundaries of the vessel and the limitations of being in flesh after a long period of liberation felt suffocating for it.

    <em>What is happening? Why am I feeling unrest?</em>

    <em></em>The soul screamed out loud but there was no voice. No sound was produced from its throat. The attempt shrivelled in despair and agony.

    Then...

    The surroundings began to change. The whiteness began to fade and the soul was looking at something other than ck and white after a long time!

    <em>What is that?</em>

    Staring straight ahead, the person lying on the ground was staring at the ceiling. Lying on the back, the person could clearly see the picture painted on the ceiling.

    <em>Beautiful.</em>

    <em></em>Taking a few minutes to lie still, the person admired the detailed artwork. It was as if the God of painting hade down to produce this marvellous creation.

    On the floor filled with dust and sand was a child lying down with admiration in his eyes. The sparkling in his eyes was beautiful and cute.

    Almost 60 inches tall was the boy and he waspletely naked. There was ayer of dust on him that umted over time. That indicated that this kid had been lying there for a while.

    Lee Shen, now reborn, was devoid of all the memories he had held close to his heart. Every information about him and others he once knew had been struck off by an unknown force. His brain was figuratively empty.

    <em>How long am I expecting to lie like this?</em>

    <em></em>The 12-year old boy jumped up and his naked body shook off the dust. The action threw a cloud of particles around him and it settled down without his concern.

    With no idea of who he is, the boy shook his body vigorously as an act of dusting. With no idea of where he is, the boy stared at his surroundings cautiously.

    <em>Why does this ce feel nostalgic?</em>

    <em></em>Though devoid of memories, the soul had preserved Lee Shen''s impulses and instincts. Unbeknownst to the kid, his previous self was sliced to death right where he was standing now.

    Looking around, the sight of a ruined pce was unveiled in front of his sight. The walls had numerous cracks and vines have invaded the structure. The crumbled pieces of pirs and severely cracked floortiles signified that this ce has been abandoned for many years.

    Sharpening his senses, the silence looming in the atmosphere was weed by his awareness. The absence of wind enabled the silence to be creepy.

    <em>Where on earth-</em>

    As the boy was about to burden himself with questions, he invoked a particr word that froze his body like a statue. The surprise quadrupled as the boy realised that he just uttered a word that was not in his dictionary.

    At the very moment, numerous images shed in his mind. The images were that of a boy who was crying upon the loss of his parents. Following the images of funeral and agony was a series of frames conveying the impulsive and dynamic mood swings the boy suffered.

    The hurtling images began to well up the eyes of the naked boy.

 Chapter 336: Not A Good Beginning

    Chapter 336: Not A Good Beginning

    The pictures flew in front of his eyes and the boy began to tremble with sadness. Finally, the boy copsed on his knees from the pressure the sceneries gifted.

    *sniffs*

    The tears flowed down his cheeks like a stream and his eyes were red. Biting his lips, the boy suppressed his wailing heart.

    What the boy saw was the past of Lee Shen, his former self. The images were deeply embedded information regarding Lee Shen''s childhood on Earth. But the current Lee Shen was not as intelligent as the previous one to discern it.

    He would have cried the whole day, but the warmth of the daylight urged his troubled heart to calm down. At the very second, his sadness had disappeared beyond the horizon.

    The twin stars had only risen above the horizon. The daylight with all its warmth and beauty avoided collision with vines and fell on the boy''s face.

    A blissful sensation filled the atmosphere and his mind as he picked himself up and walked out of the ruins. Along the way, he could only see broken pieces of stone and aged and cracked walls.

    The vines that had taken the ce over attributed an unnatural beauty to the ruin. The tender and thick vines invading the cracks and crevices of the stones were beautiful as a clever piece of artwork.

    It took almost 10 minutes for that boy to find the exit of the pce. The entire structure was in ruins yet it was difficult to find the way out even after jumping over rocks and taking shortcuts.

    <em>A jungle?</em>

    <em></em>The moment the boy''s eyes fell on the lush vegetation that had taken over thendscape without sparing a tiny space, confusion and alertness bloomed in his heart. He quickly hid behind a thick cluster of vines and surveyed the area in his sight.

    Silence.

    The unbearable silence made his heart to beat quicker. Somehow he felt uneasiness in his mind.

    Hiding motionless while hunching behind the thick packet of vines, the boy''s instinct proved correct as a Three-eyed Giant Moose entered the scene.

    <em>Trouble!</em>

    <em></em>The Three-eyed Giant Moose is an aberrant version of the actual Giant Horn Moose. The third eye on its forehead had the function of a highway camera, capturing the frames in a precise and super-fast manner. The third eye coupled with itsrge brain could produce detailed info from nces of objects.

    Though the visual senses are top-notch, the Three-eyed Giant Moose had poor olfactory and auditory reception. Topensate for this, it''s dense fur is extra sensitive to the faintest breeze.

    The beast is rtively calm-looking, but the presence of fear-instilling horns gave it a horrible demeanour. The symmetric branches of horns rivalling the hardness of steel could easily puncture through a human body.

    SIlently swallowing the saliva, the boy''s eyes were fixed firmly on the body of the beast. the eyelids disagreed to close and the pupils hesitated to move.

    The solo beast that walked into the scenario was omnivorous. Though it was chewing down the grass on the ground, its horns and lips were smeared with blood. This gave the boy an approximation of the beast''s appetite.

    <em>If I move, I die. If I run, I die.</em>

    With the hatches of escape shut tight, the boy''s only option was to stand down as long as for the beast to disappear into the woods.

    Fortunately, his pleadings were answered. The Three-eyed Giant Moose stared into the distance before turning around and hopping into the nearby bush.

    <em>Huh...</em>

    The boy felt relieved as the beast retreated quickly. He was about to step out of the hiding spot when his ears detected something peculiar.

    <em>People!</em>

    <em></em>His happiness was boundless upon hearing the whispers and murmurs. As far as his mysterious memories and instincts know, only mainstream races could speak coherently.

    And the fact that the boy could discern the voices were the proof!

    By each passing second, the voices began to intensify and there was an unspeakable emotion that was attributing joy to the boy''s heart. Hiding behind the cluster of vines, he was trembling with delight.

    And finally, the voices became coherent and the boy frowned lightly. It was because most of the words spoken by the source were iprehensible by the boy.

    *rustle*

    Moving aside the foliage, a group of people walked in. The male-only group had 7 members and were armed well. The sight of worn swords and sabres in their hands and on their waist symbolised that they were familiar withbat.

    The delighted eyes of the boy faded away as he saw the shaggy appearances of the men. With uneven hair and inadequate armour, they had animal hides topensate for theck. The boy assumed them to be a bunch of wandering unaffiliated swordsmen.

    But...

    When the tender eyes finally fell on the group of chained people that were dragged by the 7 men, the true identity of these men was discerned.

    <em>Bandits!!</em>

    With an internal scream, the fact was revealed to the boy and his breath halted for a few seconds. The transition of trembling of delight to shiver from fear was quick and subconscious.

    "Drag the kids here. Tie them to that tree."

    "What about these helpless women?"

    The mockery-filled question was apanied by a vicious grin. There a pause of a few seconds. Then a bone-chilling voice came and answered the query-

    "We give them our love."

    The background became filled with screams of agony. The women bound by chains cried for help but to no avail.

    One of the men walked to the nearest woman with the eyes of a predator. The woman shrieked and the boy jolted up from his hiding ce, causing the vines to rustle.

    "Huh?"

    The eyes of the small boy were overwhelmed by fear. It was not fear of death but the fear of something more horrible than death.

    One of the bandits pulled out his sword and walked near the vines. With a single sh, the curtain was chopped down and the boy was revealed.

 Chapter 337: Wait! Im A What?!

    Chapter 337: Wait! I''m A What?!

    The sword went into the sheath as the man grinned while looking over his shoulder.

    "Hey, look what we have here!"

    The man turned towards the boy and lifted him like a dead rabbit. The boy could not resist the grown man''s strength.

    The bandits disyed their curiosity as they had just found a naked boy hiding behind a bunch of vines.

    "We''re so lucky today. We''ve got ourselves an elf boy!"

    Two of the bandits licked their lips while running their eyes over the naked body of the boy. Their piercing stares made the boy ufortable and he squirmed helplessly.

    Dragging him along, the bandit disyed his barbaric smile before devouring his prey. After throwing the boy into the hands of a fellow bandit, the man said-

    "Tie him down."

    The man who caught the boy used an empty pair of shackles to bind the boy''s hands and legs and he was added to their hostage collection.

    The sound of a sword being unsheathed attracted the attention of the other 6 men.

    "This is an elf boy. So there should be an elf settlement nearby.

    You know what that means, right?"

    As he grinned at his fellow bandits, his eyes squinted and the face scared the souls out of the women and children.

    "That means more ves to sell!!"

    The manughed and the whole bandughed. Their disy of pleasure overwhelmed the cries of the shackled.

    "Hey you, don''t let them escape!"

    Commanding at one of the bandits, the bandit leader drew his second sword and charged into the ruins. His fellow bandits scattered into the surrounding and they moved towards the ruin''s direction.

    The man left behind to watch over the hostages turned around with his hands ced over the twin daggers resting on either side of his waist. His eyes scanned the surroundings like a hawk watching for any potential prey.

    Sensing the silence in the air as a positive sign, the man decided to take a rest after fatigue from the previous work took over his body. He found a suitable ce to lie down under a tree. Before that, he did not forget to double-check the durability of the shackles.

    ...

    A few minutester.

    The bandit had fallen asleep in the absence of any significant noises. The chirping of birds was a luby to his ears and he slumbered peacefully.

    "Hey..."

    A hushed voice made the boy turn his head and a teenage girl was looking at him eagerly. There were a few more females near her, ranging from little children to a granny.

    "Who are you?"

    The girl of almost 19 years old voiced out her curiosity. She was cautious to not awake the bandit and was frequently ncing at him.

    The boy could only stare at the girl with a frown. Not that he wanted to, but the girl''s eyes were checking out his naked elven physique.

    The boy was sitting in a way that he hid his nakedness. But the stares from the opposite sex made him uneasy.

    "I don''t-"

    "AAAHHHHH!!!"

    When the boy had just begun his reply, a scream rose from a distance. The sudden cry brimming with pain and fear jolted the shackled and the bandit jumped up with sluggishness covering his eyes.

    It took him a moment to recognise the source of the voice and he pulled his twin daggers before charging ferociously into the ruins.

    *rustle*

    The masculine tone in the screams faded into the air and the figure of the bandit left to guard vanished from sight. Everyone including the boy was sitting motionless while breathing as shallow as possible. The silence that now existed in the atmosphere had the scent of blood.

    Cowering in fear, incoherent voices could be heard from a distance. It was as if a troop was storming the area. The sound of metal shing each other could be heard and the shouts and screams filled the air.

    The next second, the bandit who just ran into the ruins came back charging at the hostages. His eyes disyed fear and the need to survive. Stumbling and stabilising, he leapt forward with the hope of reaching the shackled women and children.

    But...

    *swish*

    An arrow prated the air and the bandit from his behind that the tip of the arrow came out of his front. With the force of impact and the running momentum coupled, the man copsed on the ground and slid towards the feet of the hostages.

    A moment of silence and the screams were released. The women and children cried out loud as they saw a man dying with his eyes open wide in disbelief. When the lifeless body slid and finally rolled over with the momentum, the expressions on the dead man''s face was horrifying.

    The revtion that the bandit is dead, enveloped the women with an unspeakablefort. Their eyes produced tears like a small stream that flowed down their cheeks and onto their tattered clothes.

    The teary eyes rose and saw a group of soldiers in silver-d armours walking out of the ruins. Their faces were smeared with blood and the swords in their hands were cleaned in the screams of the bandits.

    Seeing this unexpected appearance, the boy turned to look at the women and he saw tears of joy in their eyes. There was a certain expression of calmness in those muffled sniffs.

    "Huff...huff..."

    The man leading the group of soldiers took off his headwear and his face ofte-thirties were revealed. When he took off his helmet, his face full of sweat drops was visible.

    Following their leader, the soldiers took off their helmets and the boy was surprised to see women in the troop. The female soldiers quickly neared the women and consoled them that all the bandits were dead.

    While checking whether they were okay or not, one female soldier caught the sight of the odd one.

    She jumped up and looked over to call for her superior.

    "Miss Aleria, we have an elf here."

 Chapter 338: The Guardian Soldiers

    Chapter 338: The Guardian Soldiers

    The soldiers were busy with their tasks.

    An archer walked to the dead bandit''s body to pluck out the two arrows he had shot. A few of them walked back to retrieve the bodies of the other 6 bandits. And the remaining was resting on the rocks and grass when one of the female soldiers cried out-

    "Miss Aleria, we have an elf here."

    There was not a single soldier who''s brows did not frown. The words that fell in their ears were that difficult to believe.

    Except for those who already had an assigned task, all others ran to the soldier who cried out loud. When the saw that the boy among the chained ones was indeed an elf, inaudible murmurs began to rise.

    "Soldiers, stand back!"

    A thunderous shout caused the soldiers to retreat. It was the recognition of the voice that made them fall back, not the sudden shout. The retreated soldiers formed a line on either side and a figure walked towards the child cowering in fear.

    The blond hair was dancing in the air as the wind blew gently. The armour-d physique graciously walked to the elf boy with silent steps.

    Looking up, a faintly smiling face was revealed to the boy''s eyes. It had a peculiar charisma that made him be entranced by the beauty of the face.

    Miss Aleria was the leader of the quick response squad consisting of 25 members. Due to her talent and skill, she was able to secure the position of squad leader at an early age.

    The skinplexion of all the humans on the Utopia ranged from a slightly lighter to a slightly darker shade of milk-chocte colour. So basically, all humans were the same.

    This, the boy learnt after observing themonplexion of all soldiers and the chained women and children, and the squad leader. It was a subconscious assumption and it turned out to be correct.

    Miss Aleria was a rtively fair woman. Due to her dedication to the military, she stayed single and unmarried even at the age of 27. She was known to turn down even the proposals from nobles and officials since they were after her beauty. Her tall and petite physique was attractive to men, but her position as a squad leader made them wary of her.

    She lowered her head to look at the naked boy and tilted her head to look at the peculiar ears. When she raised her hand to touch them, the body became scared and cringed.

    Thedy''s subconscious act to quench her curiosity ced her in an awkward position. Thus, she quickly retracted her hands and wore a serious countenance. Yet a smile was visible on her lips.

    "Do you have a name?"

    The concerned query was simple yet the boy did not answer it. He simply stared into her eyes with a mixed expression of fear and caution.

    It took him a while, but he finally answered-

    "I, I don''t know...who I am."

    The fluency of the words was apt for his age of 12. The soldiers also deduced that the boy is around 13 or 14 from his height as Miss Aleria asked him to stand up.

    The sense of nakedness was innate to all mainstream races of the Utopia. Thus, the boy tried to cover his nakedness with his hands.

    Observing this, a soldier stepped forward to use a sheet piece of fabric to cover his nakedness. The boy quickly took it from the soldier''s hand and wrapped it around him.

    "How did the bandits caught him?"

    Miss Aleria could not help but notice theck of wounds or any sort of marks on the pristine body of the elf. This hinted to her that the elf has a different origin from the rest of the chained people.

    The question she mumbled to herself was heard by a woman who answered as the soldiers broke their shackles.

    "The bandits got him front here. He was hiding over there."

    As she spoke, she pointed at the cluster of vines that were cut in half. Miss Aleria followed her indication and nodded as sheprehended the reason.

    The women and children were free from the chains by the time a few secondster. They rushed to hug their dear and near ones while tears flowed down their cheeks again.

    The boy alone stood there with a nket wrapped around him. As he saw them expressing their affections, he turned around to not view the event.

    Miss Aleria had walked back to her soldiers and were discussing something seriously. The tension in the air and their facial expressions conveyed to the boy that their topic of discussion was the real deal.

    Unbeknownst to him, they were talking about the elf boy.

    As he witnessed, Miss Aleria nodded at the soldiers as they dispersed the meeting. The squad leader walked to the boy while the others went in other directions.

    She came walking to him and stood before him and asked-

    "Do you have a name?"

    To which the boy shook his head in reply.

    "Do you know where you lived?"

    Again, the answer was the same.

    "How did you got here?"

    The squad leader probed one after the other. This went on while the soldiers used bandages and medicines to treat the wounds of the injured.

    After every query, the answer was a non-verbal ''No''. The boy did not utter anything and this ced Miss Aleria in a difficult situation.

    The questionnaire continued for about 6 minutes. Then the sound of horses and carriages were introduced to the atmosphere.

    Miss Aleria looked over her shoulder to find that few of the soldiers had brought their transportations with them. Following them, about 10 soldiers emerged from the woods from the opposite direction.

    *shaking their heads*

    The soldiers who came from their woods shook their heads helplessly. Miss Aleria nodded at them and turned back to the boy.

    "The forest is dangerous. You might get injured if you stay here.

    Would you like toe with us, to the town?"

 Chapter 339: In The Carriage, On The Road

    Chapter 339: In The Carriage, On The Road

    The invitation was unexpected. Yet the boy''s face barely changed its expression.

    After a second, the boy nodded hesitantly.

    Miss Aleria''s face brightened and her smile was evident. She straightened her back and walked with an air of pride around her. The smile she beamed around was noticed by the soldiers, but no one dared to probe.

    ***

    3 minutester.

    The two carriages that were used as transportation for the soldiers were now upied by the women and children. There was old age among them and those who were hurt had to lie down after a difficult day in their lives.

    Let me narrate what happened to these women and children.

    They belonged to a convoy who were migrating their country. They were travelling as one big family when the bandits ambushed the three carriages full of people with swords and weapons.

    The men of the convoy attempted to defend against the bandits. But the inexperienced fighters were proved to be a mismatch for the bandits as they dragged the women away over the blood of their men.

    The driver of one of those carriages escaped after loosening the leash of a horse tied to his carriage. He drove zigzag and quickly to evade the chasing attacks.

    Fortunately,dy luck smiled at the man and he quickly reached the city gates. In a hurry, the man jumped out of the horse which sprained his leg and disabled his movements.

    Shouting the news of ambush, the squad of soldiers who were familiar with that part of the forest were assigned to the extermination of the bandits. Their dedication and diligence resulted in theplete casualties of the bandits.

    Of course, the presence of the elf boy in the story acted as a catalyst to quicken the extermination and in decreasing the chances of the hostage casualty.

    When the soldiers crossed their swords with the bandits, one or two were injured. This made them difficult to travel on foot.

    Therefore, the squad leader and the vice-leader of the squad gave up their horses for the injured. Thus they sat on the horseback while their fellow soldiers walked at a slow pace.

    The boy, the reincarnation of Lee Shen, was in the second carriage. Externally, he was silent and calm. But on the inside, he was recalling the memories that he had been recently introduced to.

    As a child, he did not have the intellect to assume that the memories he saw were his own. ording to the little elf, he is a boy and so is the child in the memories. With the differences in circumstances and surroundings, the boy assumed that the child in the images was trying to convey something.

    Due to theck of information, he decided to believe so and never to share this revtion with anyone.

    While being immersed in the thoughts and shes of images recently uncovered, someone nudged his shoulder. Turning to his left, he saw a little girl with dark hair.

    He stared nkly at her, who had a certain sparkling in her eyes. When the elf saw that she is not responding even after half a minute, he turned back to mind his own business.

    "Can I...touch them?"

    The boy was surprised by the question that fell in his ears. He turned to the girl again without veiling the surprise in his eyes.

    The girl briefly pointed at his ears to which he frowned. His reaction was not a sign of being disturbed but more like, ''What?!''.

    The women in the carriage were tired and had nodded off. Thus, they did not hear what the girl had said.

    The boy did not bother to reply to her and just shook his head in disagreement. The girl''s face disyed a tinge of sadness which he had to ignore for reasons.

    The carriage went abnormally silent after that and the little elf was not aware of his surroundings since then.

    ***

    Almost an hour had passed.

    Back to the train of thoughts, the elf went through the parade of images several times and concluded that the person in the memory is named Lee Shen. The elf, unaware that that boy is he himself, began to dig up the memories Lee Shen had left for him.

    Unfortunately, when our little elf uttered the keyword out of the blue, he was only able to unlock the memories from his life on Earth. This ranged from his childhood, ever since he could remember, and to the times he was poisoned by his opponent at the match.

    Somehow, the memories regarding his stay at Kathmandu and the monastery have been removed.

    But that turned out to be a blessing as hisplete, undivided attention was on the training regime Lee Aiguo, Lee Shen''s grandfather, used for training him. The images and recordings of these moments created a wave of happiness in his heart and the little elf decided to etch it into his mind by revising it again and again, in case if he was to forgot everything about him.

    Though his mind was ted, the expressions on his face were nk and indifferent. This disabled anyone from reading his mind like an open book.

    <em>Thank you, Lei Shen.</em>

    <em></em>Feeling that it is necessary to thank this person for these unexpected gifts, the little elf extended his wholehearted thanks to this unknown person. As shown in the images, the elf brought his hands together and conveyed his gratitude.

    The elf boy was devoid of any information about himself, so he decided to take the manners and habits Lee Shen had disyed in the fleeting images. Thus, he inherited a sense of justice that consequentially brought forth the side-effect of short-temper, but with an unexpected advantage - immense patience!

    Though he had thoughts about taking Lee Shen''s identity, he finally decided that it would be too much to exploit someone. He already has taken his behavioural patterns and perspective of justice. To take the mantle of Lee Shen might also bring him unknown troubles, he deduced.

 Chapter 340: Emogus Town

    Chapter 340: Emogus Town

    The carriage stumbled upon a tiny rock and the little elf was thrown out of his train of thoughts. Looking around with curiosity, he found nothing unexpected or out of normal.

    The soldiers were casually talking to each other while constantly surveying their surroundings. Their helmets were off so the elf boy was able to see the trajectories of their eyes and the quickness with which they moved.

    Since he was huddling at the innermost part of the carriage, the soldiers missed his keen eyes observing their actions. They were too busy checking the perimeter.

    Swinging his eyes left and right, he could count about 11 soldiers in his sight. So he slowly raised his head to look ahead of the carriage.

    His eyes fell on the carriage going in front. It was a covered one and kept the warmth of the daylight from disturbing those sleeping peacefully while recovering.

    Walking on either side of that carriage was the soldiers with a keen sense of alertness. Many of them had their palms resting on the pommel of their sword. A few among them had unsheathed their sword in caution.

    Unlike those guarding the rear, they did not chat. They were standing in pairs yet their lips did not move. At a nce alone, the elf boy could tell that they are too cautious for a simple bunch of soldiers.

    At the very moment, Miss Aleria''s voice resonated in his ears.

    "Guards on. Something in the vicinity."

    Every soldier pulled out their weapons. Their stance was perfect with alertness. Weapons rose as sword and spears began to reverberate their courage and strength.

    Every soldier turned in a way that their backs are facing the carriages. Since they were on a mission to rescue the captured hostages, they are also supposed to bring them back harmless.

    When Miss Aleria shouted, she did it with control over her voice so that she does not wake up those inside the carriages. She also nodded at a soldier who unstrapped the reins that held the veil from falling over andpletely covering the carriage.

    The next second, the soldiers driving the carriages were given the gesture to speed up. Miss Aleria felt something amiss as she silentlymanded the soldiers to get on the carriages and to ride away.

    "Squad leader, that is..."

    Miss Aleria jumped onto the second carriage and she gently stood over the edge without falling off. A soldier who followed her lead could not suppress his exmation and almost shout out.

    One of the armour-d men who got on the carriage eximed hushedly. His finger trembled as he pointed at something that emerged from the woods next to where they stood a few seconds ago.

    "Yes, that is a Twin-headed Iron Hound."

    The name sounded terrifying and the little elf poked his head in hopes of getting a nce of the beast. But the carriages had elerated quickly and he lost sight of the beast.

    "Don''t slow down."

    Miss Aleria turned around and gave the order to not slow down under any circumstances. The soldier nodded and he made the horses dash like there is no tomorrow!

    And it was when she was turning around that she saw a pair of eyes looking at her. A smile was on her face when Miss Aleria saw the little elf staring at her.

    "Do you remember anything? Your name, age, parents?"

    The reply was not positive and her face lost the brightness. With a nod, she acknowledged the reality.

    ***

    Five minutester.

    The carriages began to slow down and were moving very slow. It was smooth whenpared to the rough ride the carriage provided.

    The absence of the carriage''s cover made it possible for the elf boy to scan the surroundings. He turned his head around and saw that they were nearing a town.

    The soldiers began to jump out of the carriages when the town was in sight. About a minute ago, they crossed the borders of the forest. Thus they won''t have to bother about beasts chasing them.

    "Emo...gus."

    The boy mumbled to himself and Miss Aleria overheard his voice. Her eyebrows rose upon hearing the little elf reading fluently.

    "Can you read them?"

    Miss Aleria pointed at therge wooden que with the town''s name on it. It hung from one of the town''s watchtower and was big enough to see it from a distance.

    Upon hearing her query, the elf nodded and turned his head to the board again.

    "Emogus."

    Repeating the name without stutter or stammer, the boy proved that he is an educated boy. Miss Aleria then began to think about something so deeply that she did not hear him calling her.

    It was only after nudging her shoulder that he caught her attention.

    "What is it, boy?"

    The pace of the carriage was well within the speed of normal human walking. This enabled the soldiers to walk peacefully and calmly while recollecting their breath.

    The elf boy pointed at the town walls and asked-

    "What is that?"

    His eyes emitted curiosity when he asked about the stone structure standing erect and pride in his view. The wall was more than 30 metres tall and there were soldiers stationed on top of each observing spots.

    "That is the protective wall of Emogus."

    The boy turned to Miss Aleria and asked-

    "What is this Emogus?"

    The memories of Lee Shen about his childhood and school days are the only things in the elf''s mind. The awareness ofnguage was primarily embedded into Lee Shen''s soul by D when he arrived in Utopia. So, the knowledge about words and letters of the alphabet were basic information coded into his being.

    "Emogus is a town. It is where people live as one bigmunity. And to protect these people, the government of the town built a wall around the city to protect it from invasion.

    You are looking at the defence stonewall of Emogus town."

    The meaning of words was borrowed from Lee Shen''s memories. As the Earth was a technologically advanced, the elf boy was left with many words unknown to the Utopians.

 Chapter 341: Home Sweet Home

    Chapter 341: Home Sweet Home

    The little elf nodded after assimting the basic information into his brain.

    And when she looked at her, Miss Aleria''s face exhibited surprise.

    "You have such beautiful eyes."

    Now that the daylight is strong and bright, Miss Aleria noticed for the first time that this boy''s pupils were hazel in colour. This finding made her unconsciously take a step forward and bring her face close to the boy simultaneously. Her eyes emitted a keen re which made the elf ufortable.

    "Elf ears, hazel eyes. Not matching up."

    Saying this, the squad leader sunk in her thoughts. But before she could proceed further, they reached the gates of the town.

    Miss Aleria had to halt her thoughts and walk to the front to identify themselves. And when the guards up above the wall saw that it was the quick response team, they signalled the soldiers down on the ground to open up the gate.

    Thus the gate was opened to its sides and the party entered Emogus.

    As soon as the squad walked into the town, the gates were quickly closed and fortified with wood and iron beams.

    This sight made the squad leader frown.

    "What happened here?"

    Walking into the nearest tent, Miss Aleria probed. A soldier who was standing next to a table with his eyes fixed on the town''s map heard the query and raised his head to know who it was.

    "Ah, Squad 12 leader Miss Aleria..."

    The man in histe twenties turned his head to take onest nce at the map before rolling it into a scroll and shuttling back to her face.

    "Some guards recently spotted some beasts lurking around western parts of the town. The mayor was quickly notified and she ordered a lockdown."

    The squad leader of the 12 unit disyed displeasure with the news. She nodded and then replied-

    "Wepleted the bandit extermination request. Some are injured and there is an old age among them. I''m taking them to the base. Let the Lieutenant know that we have precious cargo."

    Miss Aleria withdrew from the tent and walked to the carriages parked near. She told the soldiers to take the rescued to the base and to inform the store guardian. the soldiers nodded and then rode off as she walked behind the carriages with her head full of thoughts.

    ***

    The military base premise.

    It is an area ofnd given for the amodation and operation of military units. There is not much space and so is the number of soldiers. For about 400 personnel, two-acre ofnd was enough for amodation, training and other activities.

    The military base has walls as tall as an adult human''s shoulder. There were no gates for the premise and that eliminated the need for guards.

    The carriages drove to the building which had a signboard with a green ''plus'' sign on it. The soldiers took the women and the children inside and Miss Aleria came at the nick of the time.

    After the rescued were taken inside, the soldiers were clueless about what to do with the elf boy. Fortunately, the squad leader came to disperse their confusions.

    "I''ll take the boy home. I''ll have to present him in front of the Lieutenant tomorrow. We have a situation at the walls and you can go there after a short rest."

    The soldiers nodded and dispersed into the single-storeyed building. The elf boy and Miss Aleria were left there alone.

    "Follow me, my home is nearby."

    Saying this, the squad leader walked in front of him and he silently followed her. They walked out of the military premise and entered a residential area.

    Walking past the first two houses, Miss Aleria paced towards the third one. As she pushed opened the door, she eximed-

    "Mama, I''m home."

    The sound of utensils nging together could be heard from the kitchen. A few seconds after, a figure emerged to the scene.

    The wrinkles the woman had conveyed that she is over 70 years old. The tranquil smile on her face was brightened further upon seeing her dear daughter.

    Miss Aleria''s mother was amon housewife. She lived with her daughter working in the military. They were a happy duo depending on each other.

    "How did the mission go?"

    The trembling voice befitting an old woman came from her and there were care and concern in it. Hearing the query, the daughter shrugged with a ''so-so'' expression.

    The mother epted the answer with an awkward nod. She stared at her daughter and then her eyes fell on the little elf boy.

    "Who is this little boy?"

    The woman asked while beaming at the elf boy. She walked near him and scanned the boy from head to toe.

    "Umm... mama, he''s an elf."

    Miss Aleria said as she removed the nket over his head. She exposed his ears and told her about his unusual pupils.

    The mother seemed unsettled after the revtion and walked into her room with a contemtion countenance. The boy nced at Miss Aleria and saw that the daughter was frowning at this development.

    Secondster, the mother came back with a thick book with a ck hardcover. She gestured her daughter and the boy to sit as she walked to the dining table.

    "Dear, can you tell me where you found him?"

    The mother''s query was filled with concern and curiosity. Though she tried to leash her anxiety, she ended up revealing it through her facial expressions.

    Miss Aleria took about half an hour to describe the entire event in detail. She also added the statements of the rescued and conveyed her personal assumptions.

    Then the mother ced the book on the table. She carefully opened the book''s cover to reveal old brown pages. The sight of these pages bought a sense of wonder on the armour-ddy''s face.

    The old woman turned the pages gently yet quick. After a few minutes of vigorous searching, she finally came across the page she was looking for.

    "Hmm...elves. Ah, there it is."

 Chapter 342: A New Life, By All Means

    Chapter 342: A New Life, By All Means

    "Elves are a close-knittedmunity. They rarely interact ormunicate with the outside world. Their settlements are deep within forests and jungles and are often too difficult toe across."

    The old woman paused to close the book and then said-

    "I have been living in this town for almost 80 years, and I have not heard of an elf settlement in the vicinity."

    The remark made the daughter and the boy frown.

    "That means he was either kidnapped from a faraway ce or abandoned from themunity."

    The mother disyed abnormal concern on her face as she leaned on the tables.

    "Either way, he will not be taken back into themunity.

    Elves are a race of great standards. They will not ept a person once they are separated from their flock. They consider such individuals as abominations to their race.

    Not to mention, I have heard about the execution of such people in the past."

    The mother''s words were mildly threatening and the elf felt it. Miss Aleria saw the tremor that went down his spine and probed her mother-

    "Mom, what are you implying?"

    The old woman moved the book to a side and raised her eyes to see her daughter''s face.

    "I was warning you.

    Ever since you joined the forces, you have a sense of justice that have annoyed many people in the past. You are prone to return the lost objects regardless of the background. You are too impulsive and does things without cross-checking.

    When the Lieutenant returns from the kingdom, you will present him and you would insist on returning the child to hismunity. But that is essentially executing him.

    So I wanted you to know about the pros and cons of your possible action."

    With a smile, she spoke with care and love as she observed her daughter. The words welled up the daughter''s eyes but she restrained her emotions.

    The old woman nodded at the two before standing up and walking to her room. She then came back and walked to the kitchen.

    "Umm, Mom. You have my old dresses, right?"

    The old woman poked her head from the kitchen with a funny smile before pausing her works and walking to her room again.

    cing two well-folded frocks on the table, she turned to her daughter.

    "Are you going to make him wear the dress with the dust and dirt on him?"

    The mother''s question conveyed that the boy is dirty with dust and indirectly asked Miss Aleria to direct him to the bathroom.

    Quickly, the daughter fulfilled her mother''s wish and took him to the bathroom. Since he is a boy, she asked the boy to clean himself before handing him a towel. The boy gave a nod before entering and locking the door from the inside.

    <em>Simple, yet beautiful!</em>

    The bathroom was small yet it was beautifully arranged. The necessary items were well-stacked on the shelf and the elf stepped to the mirror while running his eyes around him.

    <em>I really have pointy ears.</em>

    Standing in front of the mirror, the little elf checked his ears. The pinna was two inches long and had pointed tips.

    Other than that, he could not find anything unusual in his appearance. His body was slightly tall for a 12-year old and the lean physique was devoid of any muscles. Maybe it''lle in time, he thought.

    Staring down at his hands, he recalled Lee Shen''s memories of childhood. The training regime came up in his head and he positioned himself ording to the images in his head.

    But his mind repeatedly murmured that this is not a suitable ce for it. Thus he took his mind''s advice and concentrated on bathing.

    ***

    The clean-up session took almost ten minutes. When the elf wore the towel around his waist and opened the door to exit, he saw the mother and daughter duo sitting on the couch.

    The old woman stood up and walked to the boy and gave him a pair of new clothes. His eyes skimmed over the folded clothes on the table and he deduced that these are perhaps a new set of clothes.

    He went back inside and returned in a minute with a new look!

    "Now you look fantastic, boy."

    While our little elf was taking a wash, the squad leader''s mother somehow got her hands on a set of boy''s clothes. It was as if they were tailored for him except they were a little tight at ces.

    The pants were made of tanned leather and the upper wear was an off-white tee-shirt. They looked beautiful on him and the shower was refreshing.

    "Come here, sit."

    The old woman asked the guest to sit down on the couch. She probed about thefortability of the outfit to which the elf replied positively.

    Miss Aleria then notified her mother that the boy does not have a name. Hearing this, the woman sunk into thoughts.

    Miss Aleria and the elf boy eagerly waited for her response as they observed her sitting with a contemting expression. The duo did not blink and sat like a statue for two minutes.

    Then the old woman raised her head and asked-

    "How about Jonathan?!"

    With an exmation, the words fell in their ears. The boy felt pleased with the name while the daughter''s expression was different.

    "Mom, that''s your husband''s, my dad''s name."

    She was kinda infuriated by the statement her mother did. Thus she spoke without reserve.

    The response wasughter.

    "Oh poor girl, you don''t know the meaning of that name, eh?

    Your father once told me that his name means special. I consider this unique boy the same, so I don''t think any reason to disagree with the logic."

    Damn! The olddy had a thug-life demeanour when she exined her part and leaned back on the couch!

    Finding the daughter''s expressions creating a tug-of-war in her head, the old woman leaned forward and pointed at the elf boy and gave her verdict-

    "Here on, you shall be known as Jonathan."

 Chapter 343: Jonathan, The Elf

    Chapter 343: Jonathan, The Elf

    The boy''s face lit up with happiness. The joy of being bestowed a name was evident on his face.

    "Thank you."

    Jonathan was delighted to finally have a name. his words were brimming with blissfulness.

    Aleria was still discontent with the naming ceremony. She exhibited displease on her face.

    "Hey, stop pouting. You are being a party-pooper."

    Her mother threw a cold nket over her emotions.

    Eventually, she had to submit to her mother''s verdict.

    The time was just past morning and they chatted until it was time for lunch. Jonathan listened to what Miss Aleria''s mother was saying without blinking, with undivided attention. She started to address him as son as it would be extremely awkward to call him a grandson.

    Aleria spoke her part in the conversation while Jonathan had near to nothing to say. He conveyed that he is a stranger to the outside world and does not know anything about almost everything.

    This made the old woman tell him a story. It was the story of their family. The woman gave a beautiful introduction about their forefathers and dragged Jonathan''s attention into it.

    ***

    Time flew past and Aleria and Jonathan were absorbed in the narration. The old woman''s storytelling ability was beyondparison and the duo did not feel the change in the warmth of the atmosphere.

    The house was silent as the narration continued with its innate charm. The voice of Aleria''s mother could be heard echoing through the room.

    Then, a series of knocks disrupted the serenity of the atmosphere.

    "..."

    Her mother became silent as their heads turned to the door. Aleria got up from her seat and walked to the door while hiding the displease with the interruption.

    She opened the door and a soldier was standing in full-armour attire. When she saw the familiarity of the face, her expressions probed his intention of arrival.

    "The Lieutenant is back and he has summoned all military personal to the base."

    The man spoke and then left quickly. Aleria closed the door and walked to the couch.

    "Mom, the Lieutenant is back from the kingdom. He had summoned all of us at the base."

    She quickly went inside her room and came back wearing her armour and sword.

    "I''ll be going now. If it gets toote, you eat and sleep. Don''t stay awakete at night."

    The mom nodded at her daughter with a smile. Aleria then turned to the boy.

    "Jonathan, let''s go."

    The leader of the 12th squad walked in front and Jonathan followed her lead. He silently followed her footsteps to the base.

    As they stepped into the premise, their sight fell on the disorderly bunch of soldiers standing here and there.

    Aleria walked to the main building with Jonathan in tow. But before they could enter the building, the Lieutenant exited the building with a sense of sadness and worry looming over him.

    Upon seeing him, the soldiers came running from all directions and stood in lines.

    "Attention!"

    The gloomy face shouted out with vigour and a wave of concealed anger swept across them. The soldiers were all stunned by this as they stood still like a statue.

    "I summoned you all to tell important information.

    Thest True God passed away!"

    The gasp and murmur that rose was unsettling and disrupted the tranquillity of the noon. But the piercing stare of the Lieutenant killed the disturbances. Yet, the gloominess was looming over his being.

    "The True God has been alive for more than 900 years. Though their names are unknown, they acted as a beacon in distress. She, with other True Gods, established the kingdoms and positioned the towns surrounding the kingdoms. Their contributions are unforgettable in our history. When the great cmity hit us hard, they rose to keep the entire world together, from falling apart. Ever since that day, they have led us and sustained peace.

    With the demise of the True Gods, their descendants, Demi-Gods have taken over the power. And the rumours were true, those rulers are indeed immature and powerful.

    The peace established by the True Gods is on the verge of being reconstructed. Those who support the Demi-Gods had already infiltrated the council and have forcefully taken the authority into their hands before the pyre of the True God had been extinguished.

    When implored for opinion, I represented our town and voted against the forceful power transition."

    A round of apuse filled the atmosphere and many were delighted to hear this piece of information. But the Lieutenant raised his hand and gestured to stop.

    "But the defence failed. The council fell into the hands of the Demi-Gods.

    Out of the eight towns surrounding the kingdom, four had voiced their disagreement. Thus the council''s authority was forced to put to a standstill at the moment.

    Three days after, a royal convoy would arrive at our doorstep to hear whether we agree to the transition of not. We can choose to be rebels or ves.

    Personally, I choose not to be driven by power, but by the gratitude of what the True Gods have done for us mortals. They protected us from the continents. They created an asylum for the broken and wounded. They built kingdoms for the safety and future of all races."

    When the Lieutenant paused, his elevated breathing could be heard by everyone. Every single soldier in armour was staring at him in expectation. The passion and reverence to the True Gods overflowed from the Lieutenant''s words and influenced the hearts of the soldiers.

    "So I ask you, my fellow citizens of Emogus, should we kneel and ept the fate?!"

    The query was answered by the soldiers in unison, creating a thunderous roar.

    "NO!!!"

    Jonathan was taken aback by the unity of the soldiers. Though they were few and insufficient to protect the town at a full-scale war, they expressed their deration without reserve.

    ***

    The assembly was dispersed after ordering the soldiers to go around the town to let everyone know that thest True God had passed away.

 Chapter 344: Hugo Swanturn, The Lieutenant

    Chapter 344: Hugo Swanturn, The Lieutenant

    After that, the Lieutenant walked back into his office. Before he entered the building, he saw Aleria and the boy standing next to her. He gestured at them toe in as he was already notified about the precious cargo.

    ***

    Entering his office, the lieutenant walked to his chair and plopped down with no gentleness.

    "When you notified as precious cargo, I never expected it to be an elf."

    Aleria had already walked to chairs and had a seat. She gestured at Jonathan who followed her instructions.

    Following that, Aleria narrated the entire event from the beginning. She also added the remarks of her mother and the name she had given to her ''son''.

    "Your mother''s intuition is right. Elves won''t hesitate to kill him if we return him. They won''t stand for reason and are unbearably prideful beings.

    Most importantly, how he ended up in the forest is a mystery. The nearest known elf settlement is deep inside the Swamp Forest, and it is at least a hundred kilometres away.

    Also, we cannot let him live in the town. As a human settlement, people might still be holding grudges against other races. That was one of the many reasons why elves isted themselves."

    Hugo Swanturn, the lieutenant of the Emogus town, shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He had no idea what to do with this boy.

    Then, his eyes brightened up as he spoke-

    "I remember that we still have a Judge Stone with us. So let''s get him tested. If he has an elemental affinity, then we might be able to send him to the kingdom city to learn."

    Without waiting for a reply, Hugo stood up and walked out of the office and to the basement. Jonathan and Aleria followed him with brisk steps.

    The lieutenant was in a hurry to take some measure in Jonathan''s case. He was concerned about the response of the public to the elf''s existence among them.

    Descending the flight of stairs, they set foot on the underground floor of the building. It was surprisingly well illuminated and tidy.

    A sea of boxes and shelves weed their sight as they looked around. For Jonathan, this scene was new whereas Hugo and Aleria have been ustomed to this sight.

    "Gary!"

    Hugo''s voice echoed throughout the underground chamber. The trail faded away and there was no response except a few boxes falling from where they were stacked.

    "Sorry, just a minute."

    From beneath the fallen pile, a figure rose. The bald man with a potbelly scratched his head as he walked to them while kicking the boxes away.

    "You are bing clumsytely."

    Hugo''s remark was scoffed off and Gary replied-

    "I think the word that you are looking for is old."

    Hugo''s face had a funny smile as he shook his head in defeat.

    "Brother, do we still have that Judge Stone with us?"

    Gary''s eyes skimmed over the face of Jonathan and the need for such an object was disclosed.

    "Yes we have, but it''s not in good condition."

    Gary threw a casual nce at Aleria before turning away from the trio. He walked leisurely, shaking hisyers of fat.

    Walking to a shelf among many, Gary opened a box that was ced at its foot. With visible struggle, he picked up a deep grey coloured stone b.

    The seemingly simple stone b had many cracks on it. Its edges were damaged and had many pale spots. Arge crack ran diagonally over it and the condition of Judge Stone was pathetic.

    Gary raised the stone b into his hands and supported it with hisyers of belly fat. The difficulty in maintaining the stone in his hands was visible on his face. For help, he swung his eyes to Hugo and those with him. But he saw the lieutenant whistling while scanning the ceiling with his hands in the pockets.

    Gary walked with the stone in his hand while mumbling under his breath. He walked past the lieutenant while giving him a solid brush.

    Pacing towards a corner of the room, the stone b was ced on a table at the corner. The entire process proved exhausting as Gary sighed and breathed in and out repeatedly. There were beads of sweat on his forehead.

    "Here you go, Judge Stone."

    After introducing the stone, the storeroom manager walked to a nearby chair and plopped on it. He was fortunate the chair did not break.

    Hugo stared at the stone with his hand rubbing his chin. He closely observed the amount of damage it has sustained. His eyes did not miss a single crevice as he counted the number of pale spots it had.

    "Gary, this looks beat."

    The lieutenant turned his head to the storeroom manager and the reply was quick-

    "Well, we have been using this one stone for almost a decade. It should work a couple more times before it crumbles down."

    The lieutenant shuttled his eyes back to the stone and concluded that it is time to buy a new one. He then turned to the elf.

    "Jonathan, ce your hands on the stone."

    Hugo''s sound was stern and had the authority of a lieutenant. Jonathan nced at Aleria and she nodded in agreement with the lieutenant.

    Jonathan ced both of his hands on top of Judge Stone and it trembled for a second. Then a light was projected upward from it.

    <strong>[Stone: 1]</strong>

    The words were blurry yet readable. With only a word and a number, the light disappeared a few secondster.

    <em>What was that?</em>

    Jonathan''s mind was conflicted upon seeing the words appearing and disappearing in midair. He felt a harmless pain running through his head and it was bearable. Unbeknownst to him, his perspective of the world was about to change.

    Aleria''s brows rose upon seeing the affinity being highlighted in the air.

    With confusion and query, he peered at Hugo who was standing motionless rubbing his chin. The lieutenant was in deep thought. Upon sensing the elf''s gaze, he turned to exin uponprehending the meaning of his stare.

 Chapter 345: Judge Stone & Affinity

    Chapter 345: Judge Stone & Affinity

    "The surprise is normal for someone seeing Judge Stone in action for the first time.

    This stone is called a Judge Stone and it can detect a person''s affinity and the magnitude of that affinity."

    Hugo spoke as he pointed at the stone b and continued-

    "What it just projected was your affinity. You have a Stone affinity and its value is one. That means though you have the affinity, it is very weak. The most basic.

    And I believe that it is the same reason why yourmunity rejected you. Elves are known for their affinity with Wind and Nature. Anything other is considered as a stain on their pride."

    The word ''Affinity'' and the projection triggered the unlocking of another set of memories in his head. Luckily, there was no trouble inprehending the memory.

    After a second, Jonathan could recite the names of all of the affinities on the!

    But he kept quiet and stared at Hugo for more exnation.

    And finding the hazel pupils staring at him, the lieutenant felt the need to borate a bit more.

    "The affinity is an attribute that enables the bearer to connect themselves to the element and utilise it for his/her advantage. The value you saw along with the affinity type denotes the strength of your bond with the element."

    Concluding his words, the trio withdrew back to the office upstairs. The lieutenant had a certain sensation of happiness emitting from his face.

    "Now that we have found out your affinity, you can join the kingdom''s school for learning deeply about your affinity."

    Jonathan''s mind had been yearning to ask a question and he found a slot to ask-

    "What about your affinity, lieutenant?"

    The answer came a secondter.

    "I have Water affinity, but the value is zero. That means though you have an affinity, you have zero connection with the element. Yet, those with zero value in affinity exhibit a slight increase in physical abilities than people with no affinity.

    Squad leader Aleria is also a person with zero value and her element is Ice. She could maintain her calmness better than ordinary people."

    Hearing this, Jonathanshyly asked his next question with the worry of offending the lieutenant.

    "Then why didn''t you increase your affinity value? Isn''t it possible?"

    The query invoked a burst ofughter and Aleria smiled at Jonathan''sck of knowledge.

    "The affinity value is not something that could be increased just like that. It is independent of all physical and mental training.

    Yes, it is possible to increase the affinity value. But the conditions are severe and the chances are slim."

    Hugo wanted to continue, but he refrained from popping the bubble.

    "Don''t ask too many questions. I won''t reveal anything more. If I disclose everything now, you would lose your interest in learning things. So you can learn and satisfy your curiosity from the kingdom''s academy.

    And you are very lucky. The leave days of the academy would end in about a month. I will send an application in your name. Until then, you will live with Aleria and must stay out of the sight of the townsfolk.

    When they summon you, I''ll let you know."

    Hugo took out a piece of paper from the draw and wrote down Jonathan''s details. Other than his name, race, affinity and approximate age, there was nothing left to write.

    "I''ll add an appropriate story regarding your origin. Since this would not be known to the public, you''ll be safe.

    You may go now."

    Aleria nodded and stood up and Jonathan followed her lead. As they walked to the door, Hugo said-

    "Miss Aleria, teach him a few unarmedbat moves. It might help him to build up a good physique.

    And Jonathan, try to feel the presence of the element. There is nothing wrong in attempting to sense your affinity inside you and around you."

    Hugo''s words were acknowledged with a nod and the duo disappeared from his sight. The lieutenant then leaned back on his chair and thought of a story to fill in the paper.

    ***

    The squad leader and Jonathan came back home and an aroma assaulted their noses. They subconsciously swallowed their saliva and sniffed their way towards the food on the table.

    "Go wash before touching the dish."

    Aleria''s mother spoke from the kitchen as she could hear the footsteps approaching the dining table. She poked her head through the door to see both staring at the steamy food on the table.

    Sensing her mother''s gaze, Aleria went to her room and came back wearing a casual dress. Jonathan walked back to the table after going to wash his hands, face and feet.

    Without any dy, the lunchmenced!

    ***

    The twin stars in the sky had begun their descend. The birds outside the houses, on the trees, were singing their melody andmunicated without a break.

    Aleria was sitting on her chair in her room. In her hand was her sword she used since joining the military. It was a beautiful mercenary sword she had brought for a hefty price.

    cing the sword on the table, she stood up and walked out of the room. Her eyes fell on the couch on which Jonathan slept like a child.

    Aleria''s mother was sitting on a chair at the dining table. She was busy doing something productive. When Aleria walked out of the room, her mother raised her eyes and saw her daughter surveying Jonathan.

    Aleria turned and walked to her mother. She asked in a hushed voice-

    "Mom, do you remember the dummy sword that I used to practice with?"

    "I think I used it as firewood a month ago."

    Mother was chill when she replied casually. Aleria frowned at her mother in discontent with her actions.

    But what done was done. Aleria thought about teaching Jonathan a few sword moves. But she ended up agreeing with the lieutenant''s instructions.

    After a moment''s contemtion, she asked again-

    "Mom, where have you kept my old practice dummy?"

    Mother''s reply was quick.

    "It hasn''t moved from the backyard."

    Remembering Hugo''s words, she could not risk exposing the identity of Jonathan. Therefore, she could only teach him moves from inside the house.

 Chapter 346: 20 Days Went Like Wind

    Chapter 346: 20 Days Went Like Wind

    ***

    20 days went by like a blink of an eye.

    Aleria would depart from home to report at the military base before the sun establishes his presence. All the soldiers followed this routine. When the guards spotted a few more beasts lurking around the northern wall of the city, the security was quadrupled.

    Aleria and her squad along with five other squads would spread out into the forest around the town to detect any suspicious activities. They frequently came across a pack of Acid Rat but no confrontation urred.

    Living up to its name, the Acid Rat''s saliva were highly acidic in nature. This was the only factor that deterred the soldiers from taking on the pack of rats.

    Every carriage that entered and exited the town was thoroughly checked for anything suspicious. This was not out-of-ordinary as the town was susceptible to infiltrations by bandits and non-peaceful entities.

    While Aleria executed her job with perfection, she did not forget to train her brother. Every evening before the sun sets, she would relieve herself from the duty and would return home to train Jonathan.

    In the daytime, Jonathan was instructed to attempt to sense the presence of soil and stone around him. Although he could feel a certain link with the ground beneath his feet, It was too faint to stabilise and maintain. So usually, he would end up burning his energy for nothing.

    But he was not disheartened. The training sessions from the memories of Lee Shen proved useful in building up a strong physique. After two weeks of self-training, Jonathan could feel the increase in his strength by a small margin.

    The peculiar anatomy of an elf greatly helped Jonathan in the training sessions. ording to Aleria''s mother, elves are always lean and tall for unknown reasons. When she recollected her memories of meeting a bunch of friendly elves at her youth, she conveyed that the elves ate more than the humans and dwarves and yet retained their slimness.

    This factor was handy for Jonathan as his body remained the same even after intense training and work-outs. Although Aleria''s mother would see him training hard to build up muscles, she failed toprehend that his development was invisible!

    After Aleria''s back home, she would clear up some space in the sitting room to teach him basic moves. Jonathan took some time to grasp, but he soon mastered the art of grappling, disengaging, dodging, guarding, manoeuvring and parrying.

    When the sun shone brightly on the 21st day of his life, Jonathan could stand equal with Aleria!

    Both the mother and the daughter were amazed by the boy''s coefficient of growth. But when they considered his racial speciality, they could only smile proudly.

    While they were having breakfast, the atmosphere was cheerful. Three distinct voices echoed in the room and the mood was happy.

    Then, someone knocked on the door.

    *knock* *knock* *knock*

    There was a distinct interval between the three knocks and Aleria could tell who it was. As she rose and walked to the door, her mother followed her to the door.

    The familiar face of the lieutenant greeted them with a good morning. Aleria weed him inside and the door was closed behind him.

    "This came in today morning."

    Hugo spoke as he extended a folded letter to Aleria. She took the letter from his hand and went through it.

    "Jonathan''s admission has been sanctioned."

    Aleria''s voice was brimming with delight as she turned to her mother. Hearing this, the old woman was bliss. Jonathan too was happy to hear this news.

    "Tomorrow, the academy would reopen for all the new students. There would be a practical examination on the same day. Those who are to arrive at the kingdom city early would have amodation provided by the academy.

    That is the reason why I came here as soon as I got the letter of admission. One of the soldiers heard townsfolk murmuring about an elf boy recovered from the forest. I think his presence has beenpromised."

    Aleria understood the gravity of the situation. She nodded at once with determination and unwavering soul. She well knows about the amount of resentment the townsfolk holds for all non-human races.

    (P.S. Reason - the town has a history.)

    Quickly finishing his food, Jonathan was ready to depart. But his feet got stuck to the ground when he saw the teary eyes of the olddy.

    Somewhere deep in his heart, a pain originated. This sensation triggered the recap of a particr event in the memories of Lee Shen.

    "Mom, no matter how long we keep him here, he has to go one day. We would only dy the inevitable."

    Aleria had grown a brotherly affection to Jonathan. But she had to put them away for the peace and safety of both the townsfolk and Jonathan.

    The olddy walked to Jonathan and handed him over a small bag. It was the very object thedy had been absorbed in creating all these days. The sight of the leather bag with a long side-strap welled up tears in his eyes.

    When Aleria saw that her mother had been preparing that bag for this moment, her mind became proud of having such a mother. Internally, she had an urge to hug and kiss her mother.

    "Open it."

    Thedy asked Jonathan to open it and the elf obeyed. As he opened, his eyes fell on a pair of newly-knitted dress for his lean physique. Next to it was a water pouch already filled with water.

    Jonathan knew that he would start crying like a baby if he was to stand there anymore, thus he bid farewell to the olddy and Aleria.

    "My carriage is standing outside. Let''s depart."

    Jonathan nodded and nced at the mother and daughter for onest time. There was an unspeakable sadness now looming inside the house.

    Before exiting the house, Jonathan covered his head with a cloth and quickly walked to the carriage. Following him, Hugo entered the carriage, and Jonathan''s life began to travel forward.

 Chapter 347: Equilion Kingdom

    Chapter 347: Equilion Kingdom

    The carriage moved forward and beyond the boundaries of the town. With each passing second, Emogus was moving away from Jonathan.

    "Are you sad?"

    Hugo asked as he saw a gloom on Jonathan''s face. As a reply, he shook his head while cing the leather bag next to him. The tears have subsided from his eyes and the sadness had mostly faded.

    "Even if you are sad, I''d suggest to not be. Life is like this. You might find happiness and peace, but you''ll have to lose them one day or another for the progression of the journey."

    Though it did not sound as philosophical as Lee Shen''s grandpa, he still conveyed his idea in a beautifully arranged set of words. Jonathan could only nod at his words and avert his eyes to stare at the woods through the window.

    The carriage was silent for another 5 minutes. Then Jonathan asked-

    "I don''t know about the academy and kingdom city. Can you give me an introduction?"

    Hugo was thinking about something when the boy raised his request. Thus Hugo could not hear the question and Jonathan had to repeat it.

    "The kingdom city''s name is Equilion. Previously ruled by a True-God, its poption is at least 10 times of Emogus. Surrounded by eight subordinate towns in eight directions, Equilion stands surrounded by forests and mountains. The natural fortress of woods along with constant traffic to all eight towns keeps the kingdom city safe.

    Equilion is one among three human-majority kingdoms. That means humans are more in poption than any other races. Due to this, it is umon to find a bunch of people of other race walking down the streets of Equilion.

    Technologically, the city is advanced than the surrounding towns. Arge number of soldiers and the existence of Explorer''s Union is the greatest advantage of the city. If a neighbouring country is to attack, Equilion could fight and force them to go back to their countries. The city is ready to deploy half of its forces at the first distress call from any of its surrounding towns.

    The main highlight of Equilion is its academy. Known for producing many talented personals in the past, the Prima Equilion academy has a legacy of greatness. There is only one academy in the kingdom and children travel from the towns and other ces to get admitted to the academy.

    The academy is known for its excellent tutge and curriculum. Prima Equilion takes the hardest way of training and it pays off with interest. Each batch that exits the academy at the end of their 5 years is premium quality. To achieve this feat, the academy is very strict in its policies.

    There will be ssification tournaments at the end of each month and casual duels are allowed inside the campus. This creates an atmosphere suitable for students to mould themselves both physically and mentally, to conquer great heights in the future."

    Hugo paused and that was Jonathan''s cue to raise his doubts.

    "Am I the only student from Emogus?"

    Hugo raised his brows as he realised something.

    "Oh, I forgot about that. Though you are the only student we have this year, you have a senior hailing from Emogus and he is in his 4th year. His name is Terrin Swanturn, my niece."

    ***

    The journey went on and Hugo fell asleep amidst the journey. This gave Jonathan ample time to meditate while sitting cross-legged.

    Somehow, sitting in a lotus position wasfortable and mind-soothing for him. At that moment, he could sense the ground beneath the carriage and could feel a peculiar sensation running through his body.

    But this somehow drained Jonathan off of his energy and he felt sluggish. As he leaned back, he fell asleep.

    ***

    "Hey, wake up. We''re almost there."

    Hugo''s voice fell in Jonathan''s hear as he felt a hand patting his cheeks. Opening his eyes, he saw that the lieutenant was awake and was telling him that they were nearing the Equilion.

    Rubbing his eyes, Jonathan poked his head out of the window and saw a fortress in a distance. It wasrger than Emogus and he felt a prideful aura around it even from a kilometre away.

    The twin stars had painted the sky with a yellowish-golden hue and it was already evening. The birds flew as in the sky and animals could be seen retreating to their turfs.

    "That is Equilion, a kingdom that has been standing for about three centuries. It has a history worth listening to."

    Jonathan listened to Hugo''s words as he carefully scouted across the horizon and the fortress. Due to racial peculiarities, he could clearly distinguish between beasts and animals hiding in the forest. To be precise, he felt that he could sense the existence of nature around him.

    The road leading to Equilion was wide enough for three carriages to go parallel. This wide patch of hard brown soil enabled smooth traffic as people were travelling by carriages, beasts and by foot.

    In Jonathan''s sight, he could see numerous beautifully decorated carriages entering and exiting the fortress. Soldiers in full-armour were checking every nook and corner of the carriages leaving and entering the city. Another bunch of soldiers were verifying the identity of the travellers.

    The carriage was already travelling at afortable pace. It got even slower as it joined the queue of carriages. Yet, the carriage moved bit by bit signifying that the soldiers were efficient in their work.

    Finally, their turn came to identify themselves.

    "Halt."

    A soldier raised his hands and asked the carriage driver to halt and the carriage quickly came to a standstill. Another soldier came towards the door of the carriage which was opened from the inside and Hugo stepped outside.

    "Oh, greetings lieutenant Hugo."

    Hugo nodded and looked around before asking-

    "What is the asion? This amount of security is umon."

    The soldier took a step towards Hugo to convey the reason.

    "Lieutenant, a few days ago, our soldiers detected the active presence of spies in the forest. Through a stealth operation, we caught two of them and they belong to Tyrantine kingdom."

 Chapter 348: Prima Equilion

    Chapter 348: Prima Equilion

    A minuteter, Hugo stepped back inside the carriage and it moved through the gates.

    "Are you okay, lieutenant?"

    Jonathan couldn''t help but notice the tension looming on Hugo''s face. The frown was so strong that it looked like his face has been deformed.

    "Ah, its nothing. I just happened to memorise something."

    Trying to put up a smile, Hugo replied Jonathan. Though his acting was not perfect, he tried his best to contain the surprise and shock he received from the news.

    Jonathan did not pry as he could tell his struggles. To ease the tension, he casually nced outside and the vibrancy of the city was unfolded to him.

    <em>Grand and beautiful!</em>

    <em></em>The two words that shed in his mind was his initial analysis of the greatness of Equilion. And as he had described, the city was unlike any other her had seen in his life.

    The bustling streets of the city were decorated with shops on either side. People were walking on either side of the road. The road paved with bricks marked the advancement and stability upon which the city is based on.

    Carriages and beasts were going to and fro on the streets. The liveliness of the atmosphere was indisputable. Many among the people who walked on the pavements had sword and spear with them.

    The carriage moved forward and it was a feast for Jonathan''s eyes. His hazel pupils scanned the scenery as the carriage travelled towards a building.

    <em>Prima Equilion!</em>

    From a distance of 500 metres, Jonathan caught the sight of an enormous banner. It was raised over the buildings and it had the name of the academy written on it in big letters.

    It was then his jaws dropped!

    Hugo saw the peculiar expression with which the elf boy gawked in the distance. He understood the reason and shook his head with a smile as heprehended the reason.

    "Anyone to see the academy for the first time will have the same expression."

    Hugo''s remark dragged Jonathan back to reality. He quickly retracted his head inside and stared at Hugo with a grin.

    The traffic on the road cleared up and the carriage picked up speed. It entered a wide road that led straight to the academy.

    <em>Wait, what was that?</em>

    <em></em>Jonathan was observing around with interest when his eyes caught the nce of a building. Though the image onlysted for a single frame, it caught his attention. Hugo saw the changes in expressions and said-

    "That is the building of Explorer''s Union. It is for people who want to explore and venture beyond the kingdom''s boundaries."

    Hugo''s words sowed seeds of interest in Jonathan''s heart and he probed. But the lieutenant insisted on finding them himself.

    before they knew, the carriage had gone through the gates of the academy and was moving forward.

    Prima Equilion was the highest institution for education in the entire kingdom. Though the towns have schools and primary educational centres, they fade away whenparing with the majestic Prima Equilion.

    The institution is as old as the kingdom itself. It is said that the True-God personally taught the first batch of students ever to enter the academy. That marked the ascension of Prima Equilion to fame.

    Prima Equilion spanned over 30 acres ofnd. It had a gigantic academic building in which all the theoretical sses and written examinations are taken ce. The building with 7 storeys also contains the individual offices of each teaching faculty of the academy.

    Away from the academic building stands the dormitory for boys and girls. Both dormitories are separated by gardens and pavements and stands apart and beyond vision from each other. Each dormitory has its own cafeteria for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

    In the 30 acres ofnd, there are seven Sparring tforms scattered across the premise. These 10 metres long and wide, raised tforms are the only ces in the academy where fighting between students is permissible and legal. And as the name says, anything including severe injury or death shall be met with appropriate punishment followed by expulsion.

    Apart from Sparring tforms, there is an arena set for tournaments. It is a giant oval-shaped structure with defensive incantations and runes engraved on it. This building has a history of witnessing numerous deaths and bone-chilling fights!

    The academy ground is a wless t space covering over 4 acres ofnd. Large scale mock-battles are conducted here. The yearly Prima Equilion tournament is conducted in the stadium and on the ground simultaneously.

    The most important part of the academy was its humongous library. Assumed to have more than 20 million books, it was asrge as the academic building. The six-storey building hadmon knowledge books filling its ground floor. When a student is admitted as 1st year, the student shall gain ess to the first floor. Likewise, each floor is opened for the student as the learning progresses.

    Hugo continued to describe the academy from his memories before telling that the academy does have many dynamic characteristics. He mentioned that the academy''s sybus tends to change every year, yet brings forth the best of all students.

    As soon as Hugo paused his words, the carriage came to a halt. The door of the carriage was opened from the outside and Hugo followed by Jonathan came out of it.

    In front of them was a flight of stairs emitting aforting radiance. As Jonathan was entranced by this, Hugo began his ascend and this pulled the elf back to reality. With quick steps, he followed the lieutenant.

    The open doors of the academy weed them to a signboard.

    <em>Registration Desk.</em>

    Apanied by a rightward pointing arrow, the signboard conveyed where the registration was taking ce. Seeing this, Hugo took out the letter from the inside of the jacket and walked in the direction.

    Walking down an aisle, they entered a room with three executives seated at individual tables. Hugo walked to the first table and handed over the letter. The woman sitting at the table did not exhibit any expression as her eyes skimmed through the elf''s physique.

 Chapter 349: Evaluation Chamber

    Chapter 349: Evaluation Chamber

    "Go ahead and ce your hand over Judge Crystal."

    The woman''s voice was cold as she casually pointed at the next table. Jonathan followed her instruction and walked forward. As he went away, he could hear the woman inquiring Hugo about something.

    The next table had a decorated tripod over it and a transparent ss sphere sat on it. At a nce, it looked like an artefact with great power. Jonathan briefly scanned the object and his eyes shifted to the man behind the table.

    "ce your hands on the crystal."

    The man spoke devoid of any expression and Jonathan obeyed. As he ced his hand over the crystal, the transparency began to fade away and a muddyplexion filled the inside of the sphere. The man rubbed his chin while squinting his eyes at the sphere and scribbled down something.

    Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, there was a sliver of green colour floating inside the mud-brown colour. The brownplexion simply overshadowed the faint green hue and it was sunk deep.

    "You may go to the next table."

    The man finished scribbling and spoke without taking his eyes from the paper. Jonathan did not dy and walked to thest table.

    The third table had a familiar object on it. But it was not ragged and damaged like the one he had seen at Emogus. This Judge Stone was perfect in dimensions and was wless.

    "ce your hand on it."

    The loli sitting behind the table had an arrogant demeanour as shemanded at Jonathan. Though surprised, he did not disy it on his face and promptly ced his hand on the stone.

    Humm...

    The stone hummed for a split second and was back to normal. The loli seemed surprised by this and nced at Jonathan when she saw his ears by chance.

    "Aha, you''re an elf!"

    Her voice had surprise and curiosity in it. Other than those, Jonathan could feel a tinge of disgust flowing from her.

    The loli extended her hand and took a metal te from underneath the stone. It was made of metal and had some mass. She extended the card to Jonathan who took it from her hand politely.

    "A few tests are going on in the evaluation room."

    Jonathan derived from loli''s words that the test waspulsory and every new student must take it. Thus he walked to the evaluation room while Hugo remained still. Fortunately, there was another signboard that led Jonathan to his destination.

    The evaluation room was arge underground chamber with numerous apparatuses setup for each attribute and element. Students were already taking the tests and professors were directing and instructing the students.

    Jonathan''s eyes skimmed over the entire chamber and then fell on a table near him. The man sitting at the table looked old and in his forties. The student at the table gave him her metal card and he asked her to go to instruments in the chamber after pointing at them.

    Jonathan followed the example and walked to the table. Handing over his metal card, the man raised his eyes to look at the hazel eyes after surveying the card.

    "First go to the strength test, then the endurance test and the reflex test. After all of these, go to the elemental tests and supplementary skill tests."

    The man swung his arm and pointed at the respective instruments before handing back the card. Quickly cing it inside his pocket, Jonathan walked forward.

    Fortunately, there were signboards at each apparatus to describe what it is for. Therefore it was easy to spot the aforementioned instruments in the crowd.

    The strength test apparatus was easy to distinguish among them as it looked like a punching bag connected to some type of machinery. As a student near the instrument, the instructor took the card from the student and inserted it into a slot in the machine. It was only after that the student was allowed to proceed.

    As Jonathan watched, a student stood in front of the apparatus in guard. Her eyes were fixed on the punching bag and then, her hand moved swiftly.

    Ding!

    The instrument produced a mechanical ring and the card came out. The instructor took it and gave it to the student after a quick peek.

    "Yay, 14 kilograms!"

    The girl eximed while pressing down her excitement as she went past Jonathan for the next test. Now he has the outline of how the machine works.

    Next was a boy. Behind him was Jonathan. The boy went and did his best and got the card back. Without any change in expression, the boy walked to the next apparatus.

    "Next."

    The instructor spoke and Jonathan stepped forward. He was able to see the change in expressions as the instructor caught sight of his pointy ears. When the instructor took the card from Jonathan, the man''s brows rose upon knowing his race.

    "It''s been more than a decade since an elf stepped foot on the campus. So, wee."

    The instructor spoke in a hushed voice and stepped back for Jonathan to take his test. The card was inserted into the machine and the instructor nodded at the elf.

    Without taking a stance, Jonathan raised his right hand and threw a solid punch. It was worthy of calling a punch as it was supported by his well-ced footing. Aleria taught this method when he trained under her.

    Ding!!

    This time, the ring was slightly different from the monotonous ring. Jonathan could tell that there was something different in the noise as he shuttled his eyes to the instructor.

    <em>Why is he staring at me?</em>

    Jonathan saw the man standing with the card in his hand. The brows were raised and he had surprise written all over his face.

    It took the man a moment to collect himself before handing over the card.

    <em>22?</em>

    Jonathan was puzzled to see the number. He could tell that he saw the score value average standing between 18 and 12 till now. He wondered whether his result was because of being an elf.

 Chapter 350: Bot Vs Elf

    Chapter 350: Bot Vs Elf

    Then, his doubt was answered. When he thought about the training he had gone through while in Emogus, a faint smile bloomed on his face. He did not forget to thank Lee Shen and his grandpa for sharing his memories.

    With an ted heart, Jonathan walked to the next test site. The signboard for the endurance test was close to the strength test apparatus. Thus, Jonathan wasn''t able to scan his surroundings in detail.

    The next instrument was a 2-metre square tform with an inch or two thickness. To its left was the actual machinery of the apparatus. The enclosed brown box had a slot in which the previous girl''s card remained inserted. On the tform, the girl was standing with drops of sweat dripping from her forehead.

    The boy that went before him was waiting for his chance at the test apparatus. Jonathan silently joined the line and he came to realise that the boy in front of him was slightly short whenpared to him. Without any effort, Jonathan''s line of sight was above the boy''s head.

    The elf race physique gave Jonathan a slightly taller stature than his peers. This enabled him to take a peek at the boy''s card easily.

    <em>No wonder he kept to himself.</em>

    <em></em>The reason for keeping quiet was disclosed as he saw number 13 as his strength value. If he was to proim his score, many would obviouslyugh at him.

    Then, he saw the boy''s hand trembling. The card in his hand was shaking slightly and Jonathan found out the reason.

    The girl on the tform had spat blood!

    The girl has been standing for quite some time and then suddenly she spat blood. It was a surprise to everyone and the girl suddenly copsed.

    The instructor pressed a red button on the machine before running to catch her. Thedy supported her and led her to sit on a bench near the apparatus.

    The boy quickly turned around and saw the elf standing behind him. With an awkward smile, he politely gestured at Jonathan to stand in front of him.

    Jonathan nodded with a faint smirk and walked past him. It was then the boy saw his pointy ears.

    After making sure that the girl is okay, the instructor came back to the machine. As her eyes searched for the next participant, she saw Jonathan walking to her.

    While Jonathan extended his card at her, she saw the elf ears and her eyes disyed a sparkling for a split-second. But the instructor averted her gaze before Jonathan could see it.

    "Go and stand on the tform."

    Thedy asked Jonathan to stand on the tform. She did not forget to add that he can tap out of the test when it bes unbearable.

    Whirr...

    The brown box gave out a peculiar noise and Jonathan felt a weight weighing over him. With each second, the weight increased by a very small margin.

    Few ten secondster.

    <em>Ugh!</em>

    <em></em>It hasn''t been a minute and Jonathan had started to tremble. His legs had begun to wobble and sweat dripped from his chin. As he discovered that his physique could not tolerate anymore, Jonathan waved at the woman. At once the force acting on Jonathan subsided and he breathed roughly as he walked out of the tform.

    He went straight to the bench where the girl sat before. With a controlled copse, he rested his butt on the wooden bench and breathed in and out with exhaustion.

    <em>So I am not cut out for endurance.</em>

    A worthy inclusion was drawn as Jonathan''s head hung low. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and he could feel thefort returning to his body.

    A pair of beautiful legs walked to him and he raised his hand to have his card. The card went inside his pocket and the instructor walked back to the machine.

    After sitting for almost a minute, Jonathan was not tired anymore. So he stood up and walked to the next apparatus.

    The signboard of the reflex test caught his sight and Jonathan walked towards it. Surprisingly, there was no queue and he walked to the man standing next to a robot.

    The instructor turned around to see a participant and extended his hand. Jonathan knew what he intended and handed over the card.

    <em>An elf! This might be fun.</em>

    <em></em>The man had a smirk on his face which made Jonathan ufortable. With a step backwards, he observed the instructor inserting the card into the robot.

    "This robot will try to hit you with its stick. All you have to do is dodge as long as you can. But you should not leave the red circle."

    Jonathan nodded and scanned the robot from top to bottom. The lower torso of the robot was nted firmly on the ground by a thick iron bar. The upper torso had the usual appearance. Additionally, the bot held two wooden swords in its hand and its range was exactly the radius of the red circle on the ground.

    As Jonathan stepped inside the red circle, the bot moved and swung its swords. Jonathan simply slid to his right and dodged the sword.

    But that was just the beginning.

    The next swing was horizontal and was aimed at Jonathan''s neck. The elf lowered his torso but the second sword had already reached in front of Jonathan''s chest.

    <em>Not today!</em>

    <em></em>Jonathan''s moves picked up the pace and the bot was at loss! The bot failed to touch his body yet the swords was almost at its aim.

    Then, it happened!

    The bot suddenly became quick. The change in speed startled Jonathan yet his resolve was firm. To evade the increased frequency of attacks, Jonathan began to fully utilise the red circle. The bot turned and twisted ordingly to Jonathan''s moves.

    Somehow, this development amused Jonathan. He could tell his heart beating with an unspeakable sensation that brought him delight. A grin bloomed on his face as he continued to dodge the strikes with exceptional precision.

    -Hey, look at that!

    -That is an elf.

    -A what?

 Chapter 351: Conflicting Affinities

    Chapter 351: Conflicting Affinities

    The crowd that minded their own tasks turned their heads when the sound of the wooden sticks slicing the air became loud. The applicants were surprised to see a pointy ear elf dodging the sticks that made most of them back off with its sheer speed. Many unconsciously felt a sting running all over their body as they saw the bot and elf messing with each other.

    Many couldn''t believe their eyes. The figure of the boy was shing with incredible agility and the speed was slightly beyond a naked eye''s tolerance. Some turned around as they felt a sting in their head from observing the high-speed chase.

    And finally!

    The bot twisted and turned in such a way that Jonathan had no other ways to dodge. Thus he was forced to retreat and went beyond the red ring.

    The bot was deactivated the very instant and its hands dropped. The fierce aura emitted had disappeared.

    *Huff... huff... huff...*

    Jonathan''s breath was very fast as needed a lot of oxygen to supply to his muscles. His brain was working faster than he could have ever thought as he ceaselessly dodged the strikes. Due to these, his fatigue was over the roof!

    A secondter, a deluge of apuse erupted! The students and the instructor couldn''t stand still like statues after witnessing such an impressive feat!!

    Jonathan stabilised his breath and then stood up to walk towards the instructor. But the man had already approached him.

    "That was impressive. Here''s your card."

    Handing over the card, the instructor congratted him before going back to the machine. The crowd too dispersed after catching a glimpse of the elvish ears and that gave birth to heated murmurings.

    <em>17 minutes!</em>

    Even Jonathan was stunned by this revtion. He thought that it has only been a few minutes.

    <em>Whatever.</em>

    <em></em>Without dwelling on the record achievements, Jonathan stood up and wiped his sweat dripping from his chin and forehead. He then walked to the elemental affinity test apparatus.

    When the woman at the elemental affinity test machine saw Jonathan walking towards her, she was initially stunned by the presence of elf among humans. But she masked her surprise and stared at him. Meanwhile, Jonathan came near her and gave his card.

    "Hmm... Lithos."

    (P.S. Since the is not Earth, using the ''Earth'' element would be awkward. So I used Greek for stone - Lithos.)

    After taking the card, she mumbled to herself and turned to the machine. After inserting the card into the slot, she pressed a button and an obsidian b came up.

    "ce your hand here."

    The instructor said as she pointed at the palm-shaped carving at the centre of the b. Jonathan promptly ced his hand and the b changed its colour to brown.

    After a second, the woman scurried her eyes through the machine and pressed a button. At that very moment, numerous cracks appeared on the b.

    "You might feel a tingling sensation, but do not take your hand off of the b."

    The warning was unnecessary as the aforementioned sensation had already crept up Jonathan''s hand. It made him ufortable to the core yet he kept hisposure.

    The cracks on the obsidian b began to spread and grow exponentially. If he could turn the b over, he might see the cracks covering the entire block like a giantwork.

    The brown colour began to umte around Jonathan''s palm at a visible rate. Then it began to spread through some selected cracks. Except for those cracks, the entire b was normal.

    "Hmm..."

    The instructor looked concerned as she let out an audible sigh. Jonathan turned his head to her and saw a frown on her face as she scurried through a thick book. He crazily skimmed pages to and fro and her expression did not change.

    Then, her hands found the page.

    "Okay. The cracks that, that and this means defence. But...it is rted to...nature?"

    While shuttling her eyes from the b to the book and back, she curiouslyprehended what the formation meant. As she subconsciously stitched together the meaning, both Jonathan and the woman was stunned.

    <em>What is she saying?</em>

    <em></em>Jonathan clearly heard her saying that crack formation is rted to Nature affinity. His brows knit as she lowered the book with a contemting expression.

    "You have Lithos affinity. It is mainly to stone and sand, but you only have the former. Yet your racial peculiarities are taking effect and the crack formation deviates towards nature affinity."

    Hearing this, Jonathan''s brows furrowed. Upon seeing this, the woman further exined.

    "Its nothing bad. It''s just that your racial uniqueness is enough developed to count as an affinity. Thus, though you have a stone affinity, you could also find familiarity with nature. Non-human races have this kind of peculiarity."

    The woman smiled as she exined. But Jonathan did not have a satisfactory expression. The instructor found it hard toe up with another structured set of words so she added-

    "If you have any sort of doubts, you may find books regarding the elements in the library. It''ll help to rify the basics."

    Taking the card from her hand, Jonathan exited the chamber as he finished the tests. Hunger and thirst had been poking its head and he felt tiredness umting in his body.

    Walking towards the front door of the academic building, Jonathan saw Hugo waiting for him. Upon seeing the boy''s figure, Hugo''s face disyed a smile.

    "How did it go?"

    To the lieutenant''s reply, Jonathan extended his card. Hugo took the card and read the strength, endurance and reflex values.

    "Hmm... you did better than expected. Your racial cohesion is strong."

    Hugo mumbled his remark as his eyes skimmed past the numbers multiple times. After that, he flipped the card over to see the affinity formation.

    <em>Wait, that''s...</em>

    Jonathan didn''t know that the crack formation that appeared on the obsidian b would be etched on the back of the card. His eyes disyed surprise as he saw the image with precision printing.

 Chapter 352: Ricky Oxen

    Chapter 352: Ricky Oxen

    "Hmm..."

    Hugo frowned as he scanned the diagram with concern. But he simply dismissed his thoughts and handed back the card.

    "Since the procedures are done, you can go to your assigned room in the hostel. This envelope contains the room key and its location pointer in the building. It also has a detailed diagram of the campus with each site marked andbelled."

    Hugo gave an envelope and spoke about its contents and Jonathan gave his undivided attention.

    "And this is a book of guidelines. It''ll help know the permitted and restricted actions and activities on the campus.

    Since your admission process and evaluation went without a hitch, I''ll be returning to Emogus. And here, you left your bag in the carriage."

    After giving the boy a book of guidelines and regtions, Hugo extended the bag Jonathan was given. With a smile, he received it and walked out of the academic building with Hugo.

    The lieutenant got inside the carriage and departed after wishing Jonathan good luck with his days in the academy. The reply was a smile with gratitude brimming in it.

    <em>Okay, now to the hostel.</em>

    As soon as the carriage disappeared from his sight, Jonathan opened the envelope given by Hugo. Inside it was a map of the Prima Equilion. In it, every single building was neatly marked and clearly named in bold letters.

    Upon catching the glimpse of the room key, Jonathan decided to go to his room. The fatigue running through his body demanded rest and the 12-year-old could not say otherwise.

    Following the route given in the map, Jonathan reached in front of arge building painted with a light blue colour. The doors of the building were open wide and he entered without hesitation.

    <em>Luxurious and beautiful!</em>

    The interior of the boys'' hostel was well decorated and neat. There was a wisp of serenity in the air and Jonathan subconsciously stepped towards his room on the second floor.

    Ascending the stairs, Jonathan reached the assigned floor and looked around. His eyes fell on the room name ''13A'' which was the number and alphabet engraved on the key.

    Without any dy, the door was opened and a room of about 15 foot long and 10 foot wide was disclosed to his eyes. The pale green paint inside the room was appealing to the eyes. There was a bed, a table, a chair, an almirah, and adequate lightings in the room. Jonathan felt pleased to see the condition of the room.

    Closing the door behind him, Jonathan ced his belongings on the table andid down on the bed. Its smoothness gave him a sensation of floating above the clouds and he fell asleep right away.

    ***

    Does not know how much time has went past, but Jonathan was woken up by a monotonous and repetitive bell noise. It was persistent and Jonathan was forcefully thrown out of his slumber.

    "What now?"

    With sluggish eyes, he scanned around and saw a ck box on the ceiling. The sound came through that box which had numerous tiny holes. At a nce, its function was disclosed to his heart.

    Ning! Ning! Ning!

    The unique bell sound came again and Jonathan realised that that has to mean something. He jumped out of his bed and walked to the table where he had kept the guide. Skimming over the pages, he found about the bell noise under the ''Hostel'' section.

    "It says the bell is a reminder for food."

    As soon as he read those words, his stomach grumbled with loudness. A pain enveloped his stomach which made him press his abdomen.

    <em>Damn, I need to eat.</em>

    Closing the book, Jonathan exited the room and ran towards where the hostel cafeteria wasbelled on the map. He did not forget to close his room despite his hunger.

    The cafeteria was on the ground floor. It resembled arge hall and had tables and chairs arranged in order. Looking around, Jonathan saw that the students are to sit on designated areas as his eyes fell on the boards ''1st year'', ''2nd year'' and to the ''5th year ced around the hall.

    After taking food from the serving counter, Jonathan understood that there are no higher ss students in the entire hostel other than newbies. He saw some familiar faces and a lot of unfamiliar faces as he walked past many to find an unused table.

    Soon after sitting down at a table, he began to chew down the bread. There was another attractive dish beside the bread but Jonathan didn''t like its taste.

    "Umm... you''re that elf, right?"

    A voice came from his behind. As Jonathan was about to turn, a boy came and sat opposite him. Looking at his face, he felt a faint familiarity.

    "I saw you at the evaluation chamber."

    Jonathan recollected the boy''s smile as he gestured at Jonathan to proceed before him at the endurance test.

    "I remember you. You were the one who let me go before you at the endurance test tform."

    Jonathan spoke after chewing down the piece of bread that was in his mouth. The boy felt delighted upon narrating the short encounter where they saw face to face.

    "Yes, my name is Ricky Oxen."

    A few students sitting around him almost choked themselves to death after hearing his name. They coughed and struggled to ease the pain and stared at the boy with a ''Bruh!'' expression.

    The atmosphere was awkward to Ricky but Jonathan silently ate his loaf of bread without bothering anyone. A few minutester, Ricky began to establish a conversation with the elf and he was sessful.

    Time went past without waiting for anyone.

    After the long dialogue, Jonathan exited the cafeteria to see that the surroundings had gone dark. He did not have any sense of time as many students came at Jonathan to speak about his incredible agility and strength values. Some opposed the basic fact that an elf should not study in a human academy while some stood with racial diversity at its finest.

 Chapter 353: Seeking Information (1)

    Chapter 353: Seeking Information (1)

    Room 13-A.

    Jonathan was sitting on his chair and his eyes were going through the pages of the guidebook with unwavering attention. On each page he went past, he was able to summarize and remember each rule that was described in detail.

    Through the window near the table, a breeze came in and caressed his face for a second. This distracted his eyes from the book and he lifted his eyes to nce at the silver-coloured doughnut-shaped moon.

    Lost in a flood of useless and baseless thoughts, Jonathan was unaware of the passing time. It was after a long time that he came back to his senses from the trance.

    Sleep attacked him at the very instant and he felt incredibly sluggish. Yawning with his mouth wide open, Jonathan closed the book and ced it inside the draw of the table. He then walked to the bed and plopped down on it. Without any dy, he was offline.

    ***

    Next day.

    The twin stars poked their heads from the horizon to check if our protagonist is still asleep. But they were surprised to know that he was awake and alive after a few hours of deep slumber.

    Sitting at the table, his eyes skimmed through the rest of the pages of the guidebook. Without the luxury of sluggishness, he was attentive in his activity.

    About half an hourter, the book was closed and Jonathan let out a sigh. He had finally read through all the pages of the book and is familiar with almost all the rules and restrictions on the campus.

    Promptly, the bell rang thrice through the ck box at the ceiling and Jonathan proceeded to the cafeteria.

    ***

    Within ten minutes, he came back into his room. The breakfast was simple and was quickly devoured by him.

    Because he had his objectives.

    His mind was revolving around the words of the female instructor who conducted the elemental affinity. Since Jonathan is unaware of the origin and the world, her advice to got the library was ringing in his ears.

    As he was cing his clothes in the almirah, he found the silver coins. For a second he froze and then tears fell as the face of Aleria''s mother came into his mind.

    Wiping away the tears, he safely ced them inside his table.

    Then he packed his bag with the water pouch along with the notepad and the pen he got from the envelope. Swiftly, he changed his dress into a new pair and went to the library after securing his room.

    ***

    The library stood tall like a prideful entity. Its size rivalled that of the academic building and gave off an ancient aura. Maybe it''s because of all the ancient books Hugo mentioned, Jonathan assumed.

    Standing in front of the centuries-old structure, Jonathan felt a wave of bliss in him. A smile bloomed on his face and he stepped inside.

    <em>Empty.</em>

    Except for the long rows of shelves with books neatly ced from another, the ground floor was vacant except for tables and chairs. The reception desk was empty. Not a single soul was inside the entire floor.

    To the right to the entrance was the stairs to go up the floors. Unfortunately, it was closed with a thick rope running across the handrails.

    Thus, Jonathan focused on his mission at hand.

    <em>Element, elements, elements, elements...</em>

    <em></em>There were only a few books on the shelves. The 5-foot-tall wooden shelf was apt for students of any age group to reach and take a book from. Not only that, there were books regarding numerous subjects.

    Jonathan finally found the shelf of books regarding the knowledge of elements. He picked the only five books it had and found the nearest table to read.

    ***

    Time passed without remorse.

    Though the first two books were big, they had no deeper content regarding the elements. But they did convey the importance of each element in the daily lives ofmoners and explorers.

    The term ''Explorer'' was well described in the first book. Since he had seen the Explorer''s Union firsthand, his curiosity only grew as he skimmed through the pages and found the information.

    But, he was disappointed.

    The entire three pages repeated the same content in different sentences and from different perspectives. How could he not be disappointed?

    Opening the second book was a boon for him as that book conveyed the advantages and disadvantages of every element in detail. What surprised him is the list of elements that the book had presented.

    "Pyro indicate Fire with red colour, Hydro indicate Water with blue colour, Cryo indicate Ice with pale blue/aquamarine colour, Electro indicate Lightning with yellow colour. Aero indicate Wind affinity with grey colour. Lithos indicate Stone element with brown colour."

    After reading through 7 pages, Jonathan summarised the above conclusion. Without wasting a moment, he took out the notepad and wrote down his findings.

    Theter pages spoke about some more elements like Space, Time, Light, Darkness and Gravity. But when read that thest person to house any one of these was two centuries ago, he simply wrote the names of those unique and overwhelming elements.

    Then he came across some interesting info!

    "Apart from the elements, people have born with an inclination with physical attributes. They don''t have any sort of affinity with elements but with themselves."

    After reading this, Jonathan''s brows knit. He re-read it to make sure that he read them correctly.

    <em>What kind of power is that?</em>

    <em></em>A question rose in his heart and Jonathan continued to read.

    "These people with attribute affinity as rare as those with an active elemental affinity. Because of the extent of the freedom they have over their body, they tend to utilise their powers more efficiently.

    There have been only four attribute affinities ever discovered. They are Vitality, Agility, Offence and Defence.

    A person with any four of the above affinities tends to have an enhancement in the respective areas. The freedom in using these enhancements make them a force worth considering."

 Chapter 354: Seeking Information (2)

    Chapter 354: Seeking Information (2)

    "The mostmonly seen attribute affinity is Vitality. The person with Vitality affinity would have longer endurance and higher stamina whenparing with others. This gives them an advantage in long battles and duels.

    The Agility affinity gives a person increased mobility and dexterity. This creates a much powerful advantage in battles and can turn tides on a small scale. This affinity requires mental and physical coordination which takes time to master.

    The Offence affinity is about the strength and power the strikes can provide. A person with this affinity is prone to show more brute force and sow destruction in a duel. This affinity is tough to maintain as this could get out of hand easily.

    Defence affinity is the best so far. It increases one''s tolerance to strikes and damage resistance which helps to soak in the damage. This is difficult to activate as it requires life-and-death scenarios to take effect."

    The four paragraphs just conveyed a lot of information to Jonathan. He sat there staring at the page with wonder in his eyes.

    <em>It looks like the attribute affinities are better than the elemental affinities. But the diversity of the elemental affinities are not to be belittled.</em>

    The discussion in Jonathan''s mind regarding the best among the both ended up in an equilibrium. Thus he closed the second book and opened the third one.

    <em>The one who ced this book in the Elements section must be a jerk!</em>

    Jonathan had an urge to curse the person who ced the nameless ck book in the Elements section, as he opened that book. The name ''An Introduction to The Equilion''s Military'' was not the kind of title Jonathan was looking for.

    But, since he took the book to read, he decided to go through it. And that decision proved beneficial to him.

    <em>So the army ranking system of Equilion is simple. The initial stage is called Recruit, aplete rookie who just entered the military. Thenes Soldier, the trained newbies. Then the position rises to Lieutenant, liken how Hugo is. Above that is the final and highest position that amoner could achieve, the Captain.</em>

    <em>Between Soldier and Lieutenant, there is an intermediary state called Squad Leader. The person is assigned to lead the soldiers in squadrons and form unity between individual soldiers.</em>

    <em></em>While reading in his head, several images came shing into his mind. The face of Aleria and Hugo shed and their position and their functions were revealed to him.

    "Well, not aplete waste."

    Mumbling to himself, he closed the book and ced it aside. He only reached for the next book after quenching his thirst with the water from the pouch.

    "Finally!"

    The thick royal blue bind of the book was appealing and devoid of any name. When he opened the cover, his heart jumped up in delight.

    <em>The Encyclopedia of Elements!</em>

    <em></em>From the index itself, Jonathan realised that this was the book he was searching for. He skimmed past the first couple of pages and his heart began to beat with curiosity.

    The initial pages were about elements and attributes. After discussing their good and dark sides, the book directly entered the realm of advanced knowledge. What made his face bloom a satisfactory grin was the fact that this book had all the info he had been looking for.

    "Judge Stone and Judge Crystal are the standard equipment for affinity detection. Yet they have various limitations. As a preliminary analysis, they do their work with precision.

    The Obsidian Stone is the advanced level of detection. The set of five stones handed over from the kingdom of dwarves proved its worth in cutting the time for pondering over the actual manifestation of the ability. When a person is determined to have an affinity regardless of the type, there is 50% of sess that the person will awaken a ''Skill''.

    Skill is the concept of an ability engraved into a person''s being. It is a serendipitous achievement for a person which that brings out the maximum potential of a person''s innate affinity. From words to actions, from emotions to situations, the skill might be literally anything.

    Skill is a mysterious power that could not be replicated by hard work. Some people stumble across their skill identally while some uncover it with trails and errors. In rare cases, some people learn and master their skill at a very young age.

    Those who awaken the Skill vary so much that no one really knows how it manifests. However, it is observed that the individual''s lifestyle is definitely rted to the manifestation of skills.

    For instance, a soldier who has Strength affinity could awaken his skill in a life-and-death situation. He might go through a tough time where his very soul screams for survival. All the setup of the event would eventually trigger his skill, ''Berserk''.

    An athlete who has a Wind affinity might be losing in a race. His eyes that rests upon the victory in the game will push the limits. The person could sessfully activate his skill, ''Dash''.

    The origin of Skills is as old as history. It is said to be a gift from the True-Gods and people with skill is treated respectfully. They could be the beacon of justice or an infamous criminal or a wandering explorer.

    A person could only awaken a single skill. It is an unwritten and unchangeable rule. But some people learn their skills like the outside of their palm and uses it to its maximum extent which increases their field of usage."

    Jonathan read ahead and found that theter portions are useless information. He skipped the pages while taking a quick peek at their contents. There were diagrams on those pages which made his observation easier.

    Then he came across an interesting sub-heading!

    "Affinity Deviation."

    The name itself was captivating as he remembered the words of the female instructor that conducted his affinity test. She said that though Jonathan has Stone affinity, the deviation towards Nature affinity, probably from his racial peculiarities, are strong enough to poke its head across the Obsidian b.

 Chapter 355: Seeking Information (3)

    Chapter 355: Seeking Information (3)

    Under the heading, there was only a small paragraph which Jonathan mumbled to himself-

    "Affinity Deviation is a phenomenon which is rted to racial peculiarities. If a person is non-human or has a non-human predecessor within thest five generations, there is a chance for this phenomenon to ur. Be one''s affinity be an element or an attribute, but if the person satisfies the condition, then the person might have a chance to have the racial affinity reflecting on the person''s innate affinity."

    The paragraph fired Jonathan''s spirit to heaven and his eyes dashed to the next page. But...

    <em>Wait a minute, this is not the continuation.</em>

    Upon continuing reading, Jonathan felt something amiss. When observed closely, the contents were found different. After closer investigation, Jonathan found that a page is missing!

    And that page was supposed to have the most important information he needed to know!

    Unrest hugged Jonathan and he scurried through the book like a madman. His hands danced in the air as he closed and ced the book aside and went for the next book.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t find the page as the fifth book was about beasts and monsters. Still, he skimmed over the pages and the result was nothing.

    <em>Maybe the librarian knows!</em>

    <em></em>Though he did not see anyone while entering, he was expecting to see someone to whom he could ry his distress.

    Thus he stood up with the book in his hand and walked to the front desk.

    Lady luck had smiled upon him as he saw a man in his early sixties standing at the desk. He was bald and had very sparse grey hair. His clean-shaved face disclosed wrinkles that came with time. Wearing an outfit simr to a modern-day tuxedo, he stood there with his eyes fixed on the front door.

    Upon hearing Jonathan''s footsteps, the librarian turned to see Jonathan walking towards him. The man quickly wore a smile on his face and greeted the boy.

    "Good afternoon."

    <em>Wait, what?</em>

    Jonathan was stunned when the man uttered ''afternoon''. He quickly nced outside and saw the shadows of the trees sticking to their bodies.

    <em>Damn! How long have I been reading? Ugh...nevermind.</em>

    Pushing his surprise to the back of the head, Jonathan conveyed his findings to the man. The librarian rubbed his chin after hearing Jonathan''s request to find the lost page.

    Then the man reached for his draw and opened it to take a simple wooden box. When he opened it, several pages that ranged from pale yellow to deep brown could be seen neatly stacked regardless of their source or content.

    The man''s fingers dug into the box and excavated the stack with almost no noise. Within a few seconds, he picked a page with his index and thumb fingers and extended it to Jonathan.

    "Since the page had torn away from the book, the academy regtions does not permit tampering with books, which includes taping a torn page back to it. So I carefully keep them away in my box. After your use, please bring it back."

    Jonathan was revealed to the reason why the page was not in the book. He tried to remember the regtion but ended up forgetting.

    <em>Oh my, that''s the page!</em>

    His jaw had dropped when he took the page from the librarian''s hand. The deep brown page was so fragile that Jonathanid it in his palm and he couldn''t believe it. The page number was urate and the contents were what he was looking for.

    Surprise had clouded his senses as he forgot that he was gawking at the page. The librarian found it amusing and asked Jonathan to remain seated while reading. Apologising for his naivety, Jonathan walked to the table.

    Sitting down with excitement, he carefully ced the page in its appropriate position in the book. It fit miraculously and the flow of information was restored.

    "Affinity Deviation urs when the racial affinity decides to mess with the innate affinity. This event can only ur if the person''s racial affinity transferred from the near-predecessors is strong enough to disy itself. But, even if a hundred people satisfy this condition, less than 20 people might awaken this state.

    The resultant oue would be a case of hybridisation. The innate affinity will remain as the major force ofbat with which damage and defence are possible. It would not exhibit deviation in itself and will remain as normal affinities.

    But the presence of racial affinity transferred from generations would cause unpredictable developments. This could be anything. It could be an element or an attribute that is the same as innate affinity, or thatpliments the innate affinity or something that counteracts it.

    The affinity differs from race to race. The Goblins are bound with the Agility affinity whereas the Dwarves have Defence affinity. While Elves have Vitality affinity, the Orcs disy Offence affinity.

    In certain rare cases, those with a non-human predecessor can have an element as their racial affinity. This feat might not end up as a good one as sometimes, the racial and innate affinities counteract and nullify themselves.

    In the end, it alles to the ability to manifest the Skill. However, if a person with Affinity Deviation fails to awaken his/her skill to itsplete potential due to reasons, the racial affinity woulde into y with less power or might remain dormant. This narrows down the sess of Skill awakening to a much smaller integer.

    To know about Affinity Deviation is to learn byparison. Take an arrow as an example. The arrow is used to disable an opponent. It can at most, kill the opponent. This is the effect of the raw innate affinity. Fire scorches, Ice freezes, Wind sweeps and so on...

    But the story changes when the racial affinity is in action. Then the situation is simr to a poisoned arrow. Not only does it disable the opponent, but poisons the enemy which brings in a lot of pain. The enhancement of poison exponentially increases the lethality of the arrow with which the opponent would sumb to death in time."

 Chapter 356: Seeking Information (4)

    Chapter 356: Seeking Information (4)

    "Likewise, the racial affinity brings appropriate result upon coborating with the innate affinity. If opposite affinities are present, like Fire and Water, then the result would be unsatisfying. If both affinities are the same, like Fire and Fire, then the explosiveness increases by many times.

    But, if the innate affinity and racial affinity areplementing each other, which is rarer, like Water and Ice, and Strength and Agility, then it makes the most powerfulbo. A point to note, the racial affinity only attributes its characteristics to innate affinity unless the racial affinity is an attribute type. Then the audience will witness the hybrid form of an element and an attribute.

    An example is the Fire and Wind affinities which can create firestorms. Ice and Water create flexible Ice needles that switch between solid and liquid states. Defence and Stone affinities make up the best and imprable walls."

    Jonathan went on reading and his eyelids did not blink the whole time. His ungging attention powered by interest to know more was the fuel behind his expedition.

    Seconds became minutes and almost half an hour went past as he continued to read about the elements and their powers. Though he doesn''t need to know about Fire, Water, Ice and Wind, he thought it might be useful to read them.

    And he finallynded on the page which spoke about Nature affinity. He quickly remembered the deviation of his Stone element towards Nature affinity. Eagerness fired up and his eyes slowed down for rity and concentration.

    "Nature element is the representative of flora. The secret of the element lies in the nts and trees around us. It is said to be the very vitality that leads all lives to live and perish and keep the cycle of sustenance stable.

    Yet, it is the weakest power on the list. Those with this affinity can take the role of healer which is still at an advantage in terms of ability. But there rarely have been people who use the Nature element for offence and defence by invoking their skill.

    The race of elves or those with an elvish predecessor is rarely known to house this as an innate affinity. As an element known to provide feeble amounts of vitality to the user, this element is at a disadvantage in battle."

    The description ended and Jonathan was depressed. What he just read conveyed that the Nature affinity is the weakest and is of no use in a battle.

    But he was not discouraged. It is his innate affinity. It is something that he did not even ask for.

    Thus, Jonathan turned the page and his eyes fell on the diagram of a hill. It was beautiful and on it was a word written.

    "Lithos!"

    Jonathan mumbled to himself and his heart was satisfied. At the very nce, heprehended the magnanimity of the element. His eyes moved downward and began to go through the lines.

    "Lithos or Stone affinity is the most powerful element in the list in terms of sturdiness. The boulders and stone wall are the manifestation of this unmoving element. When used properly, it can withstand Fire, stop Water and Ice and can be unyielding in front of Wind affinity. This element is the best in putting up a defence.

    But it can not be used for offence."

    Jonathan nkly stared at this sentence for a minute as his head became an arena for debate. Nothing controversial, but he was conflicted about whether he should just quit the academy or not.

    When he learnt that his racial affinity Nature is incapable of offence or defence, he was not dispirited. But when he read that his innate affinity is as useless as a stone wall, fate threw a wet nket on hisst sliver of hope.

    Though felt hopeless, something murmured in his heart to continue to read. Heeding to this feeling, he went on reading.

    After the Stone element came Electro AKA Lightning. Then came the special elements called Gravity, Space, Light, Darkness and Time. Jonathan read them and took notes on their advantages and disadvantages, but he was feeling hollow.

    Pages after pages, he read and went beyond. As he was nearing thest ten pages, he had an urge to close the book and just retreat to his room and have a nap. Yet, the feeling that insisted to read more was not fading.

    Two pages after, Jonathan stumbled across a piece of information that illuminated his dull heart. As soon as he read ''Skill Activation'', his mind suddenly assured that he can pull off a skill even from these two useless elements.

    The spirit was back and Jonathan read ahead. The next two pages went like a breeze and a smile had bloomed on his face. Though he could not understand anything straight away, he pondered on the words multiple times and was able toprehend the underlying meaning and the trick in awakening the skill inside a person.

    Jonathan thus concluded the fourth book and closed it. The book proved highly informative than the other three books he read. He then stacked the four books he had read and took the page in his hand to give it back to the librarian.

    The process went smooth and he came back to the table. The setting stars had been caught in his sight and he understood that a whole day had been spent in the library.

    Jonathan took the books and ced them where he had found them. Packing his bag with his water pouch, pen and notepad, he greeted the librarian before exiting the library.

    The time was around 5 PM and the sky was lit with an orange hue. Taking peaceful slow strides, he walked toward the hostel. His hands were behind his back and his eyes were fixed at a distance. Yet his head was conducting a series of arguments and counter-arguments.

    "So, to awaken the skill, I need to feel both of my elements. I need to be thorough about its presence, pros and cons."

 Chapter 357: First Day as a Student

    Chapter 357: First Day as a Student

    Turning his head to the horizon, Jonathan found that the sky was getting darker. Thus he increased his pace.

    And as he was walking towards the hostel, he was formting ns to awaken his skill as soon as possible. But the entire content of the pages only conveyed that one can''t invoke their power on the innate affinity without a tutor or an instructor.

    ***

    The triple bell rang and Jonathan went to have dinner after washing himself. The number of students had increased and the area assigned for the newbies were almostpletely upied.

    The number of students had increased significantly and almost all the rooms in the first year''s block were upied. Yet, Jonathan was the only elf in the group and many were surprised to see a living elf. ording to many of them, the race has isted themselves deep in the mountains and some of them questioned Jonathan''s reason why he hade to a human city to learn.

    Only after returning to his room did Jonathan had some peace!

    "No wonder elves isted themselves from humans. So irritating."

    Jonathan mumbled to himself as an evaluation of his experience. But he did notice that they did not mean to annoy him and it was their innocence and naivety taking control.

    Without dwelling on the matters that went past, Jonathan his leather bag and took out his water pouch and the writing instruments. He went through everything he had noted down and re-read the important points.

    A breeze invaded his room through the window and it distracted Jonathan. He subconsciously turned his head and the moon fell in his sight. Its charming appearance caught his mind for a few moments before he averted his gaze to the notepad.

    Not long after, sleep weighed on him and he yawned loudly. Closing his belongings, he ced them inside the draw and walked to the bed. Lying on it, he murmured-

    "Big day tomorrow."

    Within a minute, Jonathan had slipped into a deep sleep. The windows remained open and the gust of wind that blew in extinguished the candle on the walls. The room went dark and the moonlight illuminated a strip of the area from the window to the door.

    ***

    Next day.

    Jonathan was wide awake even before the twin stars came out of the horizon. The sleep had washed away his tiredness and he was sitting near to the window with his eyes fixed on the trees in the garden of the campus.

    There was a Spring-leaf Rain Tree at the centre of the garden. It was simr to the Rain Tree of Earth, except for the fact that the tree''s leaves roll into a spring-like shape as the sun sets and the leaves straighten and stiffen as the daylight intensifies.

    Numerous birds had set up their nests on the branches of the trees, and it was a feast for the eyes to see the diversemunity resting as the daylight seeped into the atmosphere from the horizon.

    And as Jonathan was appreciating the beauty of the sight, a series of dull knocks came from the door.

    <em>Who might be at this hour of the day?</em>

    <em></em>Jonathan was positive that the entire hostel is sleeping like a baby. Thus he wondered who it might be knocking at his door when it was still dawn.

    Without hesitation, Jonathan walked to the door and opened it. A figure of a man in his early thirties came into his view. He was wearing decent attire and in his hands were a bunch of thick envelopes.

    "Student Jonathan, this is your uniform. We apologize for the dy as there were some technical difficulties."

    The man extended an envelope to him and Jonathan received it and saw that his name was written on it. He nodded in return and the man walked to the next room.

    Jonathan poked his head out into the aisle and saw that there were many people in simr attire with envelopes in their hands. They were all knocking on the doors and handing out the envelopes while repeating the same sentence Jonathan had heard.

    Without bothering to ponder, Jonathan closed the door behind him as he walked to his table. Opening the envelope, he pulled out a pair of uniforms.

    "Nice."

    He couldn''t help but utter his initial evaluation as his eyes scanned the deep blue pair of pants and a lighter shade upper-wear. Upon witnessing the degree of craftmanship on the uniform, he was left to wonder who in the world might have such exquisite skills.

    Jonathan had an urge to try them out at the very moment, but he hesitated and decided to take a bath before wearing them.

    It was then he realised that the envelope was not empty, yet. He put his hand in and pulled out a few more things.

    "An identity card, a badge and a letter."

    The identity card was a 4-inch wide and 2.5-inch long metal te with a tenth of an inch thickness. This greyish-white piece of metal had his name, race, year and innate affinity engraved on it. There was a minuscule portrait of him at a corner of the card and it was barely discernable.

    Turning over, Jonathan saw the prestigious symbol of Prima Equilion etched onto it. It was the figure of a roaring lion with wings as it pridefully stood on top of a peak. The degree of detail caught his eyes and he stood there for a few moments.

    After cing the identity card on the table, he picked up the badge. It had ''1st year'' inscribed on it. It did not take more than a second for him to figure out that the badge is supposed to be pinned on the uniform.

    The letter was waiting to be picked up and Jonathan considered its plea. The badge rested on the table as the letter was unfolded.

    "Students,

    After breakfast, all first-year students must gather at the assembly hall. And make sure that you have gone through the guidebook entrusted to you."

 Chapter 358: Assembly Hall

    Chapter 358: Assembly Hall

    The letter was dropped and Jonathan pulled out the draw to take out the guidebook. He skimmed through the entire book and did not see anything out of ordinary.

    "Let''s wait and see."

    After that, Jonathan walked out of the room and to the end of the aisle. He was going to take a bath since the first-years were not allotted rooms with attached bathrooms or toilets. They have a set of bathrooms and toilets built at the end of either side of the aisle.

    While walking towards his destination, he could hear a rustling sound from the rooms. Apparently, the students had thought that there is an encoded message in the guidebook, Jonathan thought.

    The journey to the bathroom and back to the room was about 5 minutes after including the time spent at the bath. The refreshing sensation that he acquired after washing himself was invigorating.

    <em>Let''s try the uniform.</em>

    <em></em>Without wasting a moment, Jonathan slipped into the fresh pair of clothes and he was utterly surprised. It was perfectly fit for his dimensions and was not ufortable at all. It was as if the one who tailored this uniform already had his measurements.

    Jonathan relished this feeling as he stood there while running his fingers over the fabric. There was an undecipherable sensation that veiled over him like a cloud of fluffiness.

    Then his eyes caught the sight of the letter resting on the table and he was pulled out of the trance. Quickly stuffing his bag with the water pouch, pen, notepad, guidebook and the letter, he closed it and hung it diagonally over him.

    There was a small pocket on the inside of the jacket where the identity card satfortably. The badge went to its assigned spot and Jonathan was ready for his first day at the academy.

    Though the triple bell rang, he didn''t go for breakfast. For some reason, he was not feeling hunger. While all the students dashed to finish their food as quickly as possible, Jonathan walked towards the academic building.

    Even from a distance, Prima Equilion''s academic building appeared splendid. Jonathan knew not that he had already neared the building as he was staring at it without blinking.

    The seven storeyed building was the tallest on the campus. Though it was only a storey taller than the library, the difference in the height was almost three storeys. This was because each floor of the academic block was more spacious and taller than the floors of other buildings.

    The ground floor was where the assembly hall and the faculty office are situated. The first floor is for first-year students. There, they have their vast ssroom and a miniature library with all the necessary books for their learning. There are empty rooms for specialised purposes and sparring practices.

    The second floor belongs to the second-year students and it goes till the fifth floor where the final year students sit and modify and improve their skills. Above that is the restricted floor where the principal''s office is located. As the name says, no student is allowed to enter that floor under any circumstances. The rest of the floor is for some undisclosed purpose.

    Jonathan stepped through the front door and he turned to walk to the assembly hall. The detailedyout was given in the guidebook, so he did not make a mistake in finding the room. He also doubted whether the warning-like words written in the letter were for introducing the assembly hall''s position.

    The door was open and Jonathan peeked in as he could not hear any voice from the inside. To his surprise, there was none inside the gigantic assembly hall. At a nce, he deduced that the seating capacity could touch the limit of 500 students.

    Jonathan''s eyes skimmed across the hall and fell over the stage. It was a magnificent tform made of wood and there was a lectern at the centre of the stage. The symbol of the Prima Equilion was engraved on the metal te attached in front of the lectern. His eyes also detected theck of chairs on the stage.

    Then he observed the five rows of seats. He deduced that each row is for each ss and went to the lowest row to have a seat. Sitting at the corner-most chair, his eyes again scurried through the assembly hall.

    Almost a minute had passed when his acute auditory senses picked up many footsteps from the outside of the assembly hall. It was disordered and chaotic with feminine voices. Jonathan assumed the identity of the people even before they appeared at the door.

    And his assumption was correct. A bunch of girls emerged through the door and their eyes scanned the entire room and saw the lonely sitting boy. One of them shrieked as they noticed the pointy ears of Jonathan. With whispers of curiosity and wonder, they neared him with caution.

    Jonathan was resting his chin over his crossed fingers which were supported by his elbows nted on the desk. When the footsteps came towards him, he turned his head slowly and his pupils saw the bunch of girls.

    <em>Seems troublesome.</em>

    <em></em>Jonathan saw a multitude of expressions on those girls'' faces. Some had a disgusted expression while some disyed an urge to call him out for a duel. A girl expressed her curiosity with a vicious grin and another had a pride smug on her face.

    But before they could get close to him, someone entered the assembly halls with firm steps. The echo resonated in their ears as they realised that the person is walking to the stage. Aged mid-forties, the man stared at the girls as they saw him standing on the stage with an unwavering attitude.

    Something told the girls in their heart that proceeding to the elf would not do good and they retreated. Though they found seats in the same of Jonathan, their eyes were still stalking him and their mouths chatted ceaselessly.

    A few minutes passed and an avnche of students erupted into the assembly hall.

 Chapter 359: Classroom Chronicle

    Chapter 359: ssroom Chronicle

    A few minutes passed and an avnche of students erupted into the assembly hall. Following them, several adults walked in and advanced towards the stage. Their feet did not halt until they fall in a line on the stage.

    Many students who had upied the nearest seat at the upper rows realised the hierarchy of seats and scrambled to grab a spot at the lower row. Only after settling down did one of them on the stage stepped forward to the lectern.

    "Good morning children."

    The voice befitting the stature of a man in his early forties rose from the lectern and dispersed the murmurings. The assembly hall became silent and the students gazed at the stage with eagerness.

    "My name is Floyd Graham and I am the vice-principal of this institution."

    Without a microphone, the man''s voice was clearly audible to everyone in the hall. Some students murmured and whispered as he continued-

    "This gathering is for introducing you all to your tutors and for some formal announcements.

    The institution has a total of four teaching departments.

    The first one is the Practical department. It deals with your fitness and fighting capabilities and nurturing them even if you don''t have any.

    The second one is the Theoretical department. It is to teach you about the basic theories and concepts which will give you an advantage in a battle.

    The third one is the Affinity department. This department concentrates on the power of elements and will help you to ascend in your journey to greatness.

    The fourth and final department is the Summoning department. You''ll learn it when you see it.

    Except for the Affinity department, all others have five staffs and one among them from each department would assist your sses. The Affinity department has two tutors for a specific element and they''ll be ready to rify your doubts at once.

    Questions?"

    The atmosphere remained silent and the man smiled delightedly.

    "Beautiful.

    I am here to tell you a few more things, so listen close.

    Next week, all the senior students would arrive at the campus. They''ll upy their rooms and their sses. Before they arrive, you should know the custom of the campus.

    From that day onwards, any senior student can challenge a first-year for a duel and they cannot back down!"

    A shiver went down the spine of many as the students gasped at the piece of information. Many went pale after this revtion. Whisper and muffled agony rose from the audience and the vice-principal raised his hands to calm down the students.

    "Let me finish.

    The duels are not deathmatches and it is illegal to fight recklessly. They can only be fought on raised tforms that are dispersed throughout the campus. There is also aw that a first-year cannot engage in more than one duel in a week, so you all are rtively safe.

    And the most important thing is that there will be a point system for duels. You are initially given 15 points. Every match you lose or forfeit, you lose a point. If you end up losing all the points, then you''ll be kicked out of the academy.

    By now, you might have deduced the reason why I introduced the departments. If no one has doubts, then you may disperse to your floor."

    There was silence and then Jonathan raised his hand. The entire hall''s attention was shifted onto him.

    The vice-principal asked him to stand up and speak out his doubt.

    "What is the purpose of the duels and the point system?"

    Many nodded in agreement as they too had the same doubt in their heads. Several whispers and murmurs rose and the vice-principal replied-

    "This world is not fair. So to survive in this society, you need to fight and win and be victorious.

    The purpose of the duel is to make your resolve strong when facing an enemy. Always be brave when facing an opponent. There is always something to learn from someone who stands against you.

    The point system is to make you feel threatened. When endangered, any being will fight back. This would trigger the survival instincts of a being and will enable it to live without fear."

    Jonathan sat down and the assembly hall was silent. No one murmured, no whisper rose. There was a veil of stillness looming over the students as theyprehended the reason behind these regtions.

    "Now you may all disperse to your ssroom. The teachers assigned to you wille and meet you in the ss."

    The students rose and walked out of the hall in an orderly fashion. Jonathan followed the bunch and ascended the flight of steps and reached the first floor.

    The ssroom was in and simple. There was nothing luxurious about it. The ceiling was higher than other buildings and the windows were tall. A refreshing breeze blew inside the ssroom and filled with an aroma.

    There was a brief period of chaos where all the students were running and jumping over the tables to get their favourite seat. Including Jonathan, only seven among a total of 38 students were able to upy a seat near the window.

    "Hey, get out of there!"

    As Jonathan settled down after his victory, he was greeted with an angry shout from a ssmate. The boy looked irritated and red at Jonathan.

    "Me?"

    He was doubtful as the boy shouted at Jonathan for no reason. Wondering what his deal was, he remained seated.

    "That seat is for humans. You elf have no business here."

    The boy made his point clear as he mmed his palm on the table. The sound produced a short period of silence which was disrupted by another boy who shouted-

    "someone ising."

    Hearing this, the infuriated student walked away from him while gesturing that his eyes will be on Jonathan.

    <em>Some fiend.</em>

    The deadpan expression was brimming with disappointment as Jonathan realised that his first day in the ssroom turned into an outburst of a fellow student''s racial perspective. The nk expression was kept on as a woman walked into the ssroom.

 Chapter 360: When Identities Collide

    Chapter 360: When Identities Collide

    "Good morning everyone."

    "Good morning ma''am."

    The teacher''s greeting was responded to by the students'' reply in unison. The woman let out an amused chuckle upon sensing their stares.

    Though in herte twenties, the woman was still full of youth and dedication. Her beauty and mature demeanour charmed the girls while her plentiful assets and rear captivated the boys.

    "My name is Eliza Torbin. I am from the Theoretical department and I am assigned to your ss. Take care of me."

    After her introduction, she dove straight into the sybus after mentioning that the students only have a week to memorize the necessary concepts and theories. When she repeated the words of the vice-principal, the air inside the ssroom came back to reality.

    Professor Eliza went on introducing the basic terminologies in the sybus. She had to spend more than an hour describing them alone and Jonathan deduced that he needs to pay the library one more visit.

    Hours went on as she continued to speak about ''Skill'' and affinities in detail. To be honest, Jonathan was surprised to hear such an in-depth exnation which made him realise that his reading was actually shallow.

    Due to some reason, professor Eliza skipped the existence of Racial affinities. It did not bother Jonathan but he wondered why as she concluded her lecture with a question-

    "Any doubts?"

    The students shook their head unanimously but there was one person who had a doubt.

    "Ma''am, I have a doubt."

    The voice came from thest row and a girl stood up as she raised her doubt. The entire ss turned around and saw a beautiful girl with greyish silver hair which danced with the breeze that invaded the ssroom.

    "Please proceed, miss Sabryna Colene."

    Professor''s words made many turn to the girl with wide-open eyes. Many started to mutter while some gasped covering their mouth.

    <em>She seems to be a hot-shot.</em>

    <em></em>Jonathan scanned the girl as a whole through the corner of his eyes and saw her unchanging expression as she stared at the professor.

    "I have read the books of history and it is said that there were two forms of energies in the past called Qi and Mana. Why is it that there are no energy forms in the current era? Or are there any forms that we are unaware of?"

    A sting originated in Jonathan''s heart as her words fell in his ears. He quickly grabbed his chest but to no avail. The pain wasing from deep within his heart and he knew not why such a development had urred. The pain intensified and he was on the verge of his tolerance.

    Tears rolled down his cheek as Jonathan shut his eyes in pain. He bit down the pain as he lowered his head trying to suppress the agony.

    Then...

    He felt a seal being released inside him. The weight that burdened his heart receded. Then a flood of images came flowing into his heart and the pain vanished. A whole new set of memories were introduced into his head and Jonathan froze as his forehead gave birth to sweat drops.

    ''<em>Lee Shen...is me?</em>''

    With surprise and disbelief, Jonathan couldn''t breathe for almost a minute. He felt himself being suffocated by the deluge of images and broken voices. Many faces shed across his mind but they were all distorted beyond recovery. No matter how hard he tried, these images were stagnant and blurred.

    A girl who sat near Jonathan heard his breath getting rough. The chubby girl who was considered fat and ugly by the beauty standards of prideful maidens were forced to retreat to a corner. She chose to sit near Jonathan to befriend the elf without any hostile intentions.

    "Hey, are you okay?"

    She spoke in a hushed voice and only Jonathan could hear it. He turned his head to her and she saw his tear marks and wondered as she frowned.

    Jonathan quickly regained his senses and wiped away his tears and conveyed that he''s alright. After thanking her for caring, he turned to the professor who was replying to the girl who raised her doubt and the whole ss was shuttling their eyes between the two.

    The voice of the professor resonated inside the walls of the ssroom and every student gave their undiluted attention to her, except for two persons. Jonathan was digesting and assimting the memories of Lee Shen, himself, and was going through his journal of adventure that he had till his death. He was hesitant to believe but he ended up epting the fact that he is Lee Shen.

    The names of his dear and near ones have been mysteriously removed from his memories. Not even their faces could be recalled. Whenever he attempted to forcefully manifest their faces and voices, a sting would embrace his mind and he could only abandon his ns.

    But, several pieces of information came drifting into his head and he silentlyprehended them. Though he could not make out any facial recognition, the settings and surroundings in the memory were rtively clear. Even among those fragments, many portions were severely clouded.

    While the ss was tranquil and silent except for the voice of professor Eliza, Jonathan''s mind was chaotic and disordered. The amount of information that this 12-year-old had been burdened with was not in small quiantities.

    Frequently, the fat girl who sat next to him would nce at Jonathan to see what is wrong with this elf. Every time she peeked at him through the corner of her eyes, he had a different expression partially veiled under his nk stare. Though she felt amused to watch, she did not hold any hostile intent.

    "Huff..."

    Letting out a mouthful or air, Jonathan raised his eyes and he saw the ceaseless lecture by the professor. When the girl next seat turned to him, she saw apletely different aura around him. It was as if he was anew.

    The theory sses went on and many had raised their doubts. Before they knew, it was already noon. A loud, but dull bell rung once and it was the end of the forenoon session.

 Chapter 361: Someone Like Me

    Chapter 361: Someone Like Me

    "Our session ends here."

    With a joyful demeanour, the professor walked out of the ssroom and disappeared. The students began to chatter and the ss plunged into disarray.

    Jonathan was still pondering over the memories as he leaned on the table. His eyes were focused on a tree a little away from the building as the leaves swayed right and left with wind.

    It was then his ears picked up footsteps approaching him.

    "You, what''s your name?"

    The voice conveyed the arrogance and Jonathan deduced that this guy could be a ''young master'' of some family.

    "Jonathan."

    He replied without bothering to look at the person and a n mmed on Jonathan''s table.

    "You afraid to look at me? That''s right. You must be afraid to look at humans, ve."

    The entire ss went silent as a specific word fell in their ears. The students were aghast as many covered their mouths in surprise.

    "Say that again."

    Jonathan''s figure stood up from his seat and his eyes fell on the boy. The memories of the seasoned warrior Lee Shen who was able to contend Tubians and tame colossal beasts came up in his mind and Jonathan''s eyes emanated a vicious aura. It shuddered the boy at once and he unconsciously stepped back.

    ''He can kill me.''

    The boy was on the verge of wetting himself as he amassed the courage to walk away from him. The boy stormed out of the ss and the ss was silent as a cemetery.

    Jonathan turned towards the window and sat as he shook his head in amusement. He was entertained by the fact that there will always be people who think of themselves above others.

    But the ssroom did not feel that way. The moment he stared into the very soul of that boy, a wave of killing intent swept across the room which made the students freeze. Their minds went nk as they were exposed to such an intense aura.

    Within a few minutes, the ss became empty. Since it was time for lunch, students have to go to their hostels to have the food.

    Jonathan wasn''t feeling hungry yet he stood up. The bag was ced on his chair and he took out the water pouch from the bag. He ced it back in the bag after quenching his thirst.

    A strange feeling enveloped Jonathan as he immersed himself in the evaluation of memories. It was difficult to believe but he embraced the matter of reincarnation. With fragmented knowledge from his past, he was yet to know about his aim.

    "That''s it!"

    It was then he remembered about the girl who asked the question about Qi and Mana. These keywords triggered his memory and he was left to suffer alone.

    Jonathan thus decided to ask her about the information. Since she mentioned a book, he could borrow that book and might be able to learn more about the past of the.

    But he temporarily pushed that matter to the back of his mind as a pale blue screen was opened in front of him.

    ''<em>The system.</em>''

    From the memories, he was able to know about the system in detail. When he came to know that the system is an overpowered assistant that helps one grow, he was ecstatic.

    But...

    There was nothing as shown in the memories.

    ''<em>Is it broke?</em>''

    Unlike his expectations, the blue screen only disyed his name, race and affinities. Jonathan stared at the screen for a whole minute and nothing happened.

    The 12-inch square screen did not have any exquisite border or detailed description like in the memories.

    <strong>/=========</strong>

    <strong>Name: Jonathan</strong>

    <strong>Race: Elf</strong>

    <strong>Affinities: Stone (Nature)</strong>

    <strong>=========/</strong>

    The simpleyout was easilyprehensible at a nce. There was nothing that needed a description and Jonathan dispersed the screen with his thought.

    "Looks like I need to find out how it works."

    Jonathan walked out of the ssroom as he decided to find out how this screen works. He was able to decipher that there is something wrong with the screen but he couldn''t find what it was.

    Maybe it was fate''s prank, but the memories regarding the Essence and its deviant forms had already disappeared from his being. All he remembers are those two names.

    "Mana, Qi."

    Walking down the aisle and to the ground floor, the bell rung and Jonathan was woken up from his train of thoughts. He quietly walked back to his ss.

    ***

    Within a few minutes, the ss was bustling with noise. The students who just had their lunch was energetic and were talking and sharing about their affinities. Some had attribute affinity and demonstrated their feeble enhancements.

    "WOWW!!"

    The sudden exmation caught everyone by surprise and the students turned to the source of the noise. Jonathan also was shocked and he turned around.

    Gasps rose into the air as many students sucked in the air. The astonishment in the atmosphere was severe and Jonathan''s eyes went wide in bewilderment.

    Miss Sabryna Colene was standing with a few girls around her and in her raised right hand was a weak me dancing in its final moments. Though the me was frail, Jonathan and all the students were stupefied to witness the incident.

    "Oh my god, you have such high Fire affinity!"

    "Gyaa...you''re so talented and bright!"

    Within seconds, the girl was surrounded by praise and apuse. The me in her hand disappeared as she waved her hand in style. She had a proud smug as boys and girls alike admired her.

    Jonathan then saw her eyes turning towards him. Her smug deepened and it was more like an arrogant grin. Jonathan couldn''t find the reason behind it as he noticed that her eyes were not aimed at him but on the girl next seat.

    It was then he noticed the gloomy face of the neighbour. The chubby girl was silent and her head was down unlike the remaining ss. A secondter, he noticed tears dripping from her tight-shut eyes. They fell on her frock and then rolled down from the sight.

    "Hey, are you okay?"

 Chapter 362: Life of Tarina Colene

    Chapter 362: Life of Tarina Colene

    It was Jonathan''s turn to console the girl and he tried his best. Luckily, the girl quickly wiped her tears and stered a smile on her face before she raised her head to meet his gaze. Yet, Jonathan was able to see the sadness struggling behind the grin.

    "You can tell me."

    Jonathan had a stern face when he conveyed that she doesn''t need to cry alone. He also added that he does not have a friend yet and extended his invitation to be acquaintances.

    Happily, she nodded in agreement and introduced herself-

    "M-my name is Tarina Colene."

    Jonathan frowned lightly and he nced at the prideful girl through the corner of his eyes before gazing back at Tarina.

    "So...you both are siblings?"

    Jonathan asked in a soft voice an the girl denied it shaking her head. She hesitated to answer and Jonathan had to give her the courage to open up.

    "It''s okay. We all have tough times in our lives where we are degraded and humiliated by others. But to keep your head high when the whole world mocks you is an aplishment only a few can achieve.

    Remember, other''s insult is the investment for our sess."

    Tarina stared into Jonathan''s eyes with surprise and wonder. Her sadness flew away as his voice fell in her ears. Somehow, she feltfortable and at ease.

    Jonathan detected her change in expressions and awaited her reply. It took her some time, but she finally had the courage.

    "I am her father''s illegitimate daughter..."

    Tarina began to narrate her life story. Born as an illegitimate daughter, she was subjected to merciless days and disgusting stares of her household. Her father was concerned about her condition, but the mistress was adamant in keeping her that way.

    At an early age, Sabryna and Tarina were boson friends,]. Then one day, Sabryna began to call her servant. This change devastated Tarina as she epted her reality withoutining.

    Though Tarina did almost all work in the mansion, the servants were merciful to her. They asionally helped the little girl from the shadows and they gave her love which she wasn''t able to receive from her father or deceased mother.

    When Sabryna was 12, Mr Colene took her for an affinity test. He also ordered his trustworthy servants to bring Tarina to the location without the mistress'' knowledge.

    Sabryna was able to acquire Fire element affinity while Tarina was her opposite, Water element. Without dying a moment, he filled the application for both of his children and send them away to the academy immediately. He knew that if his wife came to know about Tarina''s affinity, she would make her life a living hell!

    By the time the mistress of the Colene household came to know about this, both of them were halfway to the Equilion city. Sabryna travelled by carriage while Tarina was apanied by an elderly servant who considered her as his own daughter. The horse ride for hours long was exhausting yet they endured.

    Within five minutes, Tarina narrated her life events like a short story. Jonathan felt sorry for her state and had an urge to meet her father and punch him in the face, but he restrained himself.

    Jonathan wondered how she got chubby but he didn''t dare to question. He was afraid that the query might break her down if she took it as fat-shaming.

    The apuse had died down and there was an awkward silence between Tarina and Jonathan. He was wondering what to ask while she was wondering what his response might be.

    Luckily, a young man in his mid-twenties appeared at the door with a delighted smile.

    "Children, please follow me for your affinity training."

    The word ''Affinity'' caught the entire ss'' attention and students leapt over tables and ran behind the young man. Within a few seconds, the ss poption was cut down to a quarter. When all the students exited the room, Jonathan and Tarina stood up and walked out of the door and to the Affinity Training Hall.

    They were thest ones to enter the hall and stares weed them. While the atmosphere remained slightly ufortable, the young professor introduced with a hyped-up attitude.

    "My name is Glen Jonas and I''m assigned to give you an introduction about the attributes and elements. I''m in your care."

    The silly smile that existed on Glen''s face was amusing and the atmosphere lightened up. After cracking a few jokes, professor Glen took out a folded paper from the inside of his coat.

    "Oh my, you guys are 38 in total. I wonder what all affinities I might witness."

    The astonishment in his voice was clearly exaggerated while his face moved in sync with the tone. Though Jonathan noticed it, he did not mind it. He stood close to Tarina in case someone tried to mock her.

    "My my, we have an elf!"

    Glen stared at Jonathan with amazement and sparkle in his eyes. Though he knew that it was all an act, he felt it was too much for the asion.

    "Can you please step forward, student ...?"

    "Jonathan."

    "Ah yes, Jonathan."

    Professor Glen gave off a childish vibe as he immediately scurried through the name list. Jonathan immediately spelt out his name and the professor giggle like a kid.

    ''<em>Maybe this guy IS nuts.</em>''

    Jonathan was starting to doubt the character of the professor as he stepped forward. Glen skimmed over the names as he mumbled them to himself.

    He then folded the name list and ced it back inside his jacket and said to Jonathan-

    "Please tell me that you have a racial affinity."

    Jonathan did not reply verbally and only nodded. This caused the students to suck in a mouthful of air. Additionally, Sabryna was scowling at him.

    "Okay then, listen here fes."

    Glen snapped his fingers and a gust of wind swept past them. Every student was astonished upon this windy revtion.

    ''<em>This guy is seriously strong.</em>''

    Was the first thing that came up in Jonathan''s mind.

 Chapter 363: Prof Glen Jonas

    Chapter 363: Prof Glen Jonas

    "There are people with innate affinity alone and then, there are people with racial affinity along with innate affinity. It might sound cool, but those with racial affinity are known to struggle more to awaken their Skill and to find the equilibrium between the elements. A slight mishap could break their entire hard work.

    But let''s not forget that they are the strongest once they sessfully awaken their Skill. In some rare cases, people can control both elements individually."

    Professor Glen continued to exin the elements and attributes. He did not forget to mention their advantages and disadvantages on several asions. He went on talking without a break and students were enthusiastic to hear about their affinities.

    "Any questions?"

    Glen concluded his sermon and waited for any questions. There was no response and he dly moved to the next topic.

    "Now, shall we learn how to use your affinity?"

    Professor walked to a wall of the hall and slightly tapped on it. At the very moment, the wall disappeared and students saw numerous training equipment ced in an orderly fashion.

    "To invoke your affinity, be it an element or an attribute, you need something that can help you channel your powers. These are for your training and you may choose one, wisely!"

    Thest word felt important to Jonathan as he kinda missed half of the session in the forenoon. Thus he waited for others to select.

    His eyes wandered for Sabryna and he saw her picking up a sword. A boy who had Ice affinity selected a spear. A girl with Defence affinity chose a shield.

    ''<em>So that''s how it is.</em>''

    By the time Jonathan had decided to pick up a weapon, all the high-quality ones have been taken away. The remaining ones were damaged and low-quality ones. Since he cannot raise his voice toin, he walked from one end to the other as he scanned the pile of props with interest.

    Though those whoid their hands on high-quality ones retreated quickly without looking back, there were yet many to select a suitable weapon. Jonathan thus was able to use the crowd as his cover.

    And as time went by, there were less and lesser students to pick weapons. When Jonathan finally found a suitable ally forbat, there were still four students searching for something useful.

    What caught Jonathan''s attention was a 52-inch long diesel-red coloured rod with a diameter slightly over an inch. It was a blunt weapon and Jonatha could see several cracks. Yet, he could also feel a sense of power emitting from it.

    The unexpected happened when he tried to lift it casually. It easily weighed over 6 kilograms and puzzled Jonathan to his core. When he realised that it would be a struggle to lift it with one arm, he used both of his arms to take it out of its ce.

    "What on earth is this thing made of?"

    Jonathan couldn''t help but mumble to himself as he scanned the heavy-weight object top to bottom. His eyes reflected curiosity as he walked with it and joined the group. Without causing a ruckus, he ced it gently on the ground, near his feet.

    Thest to choose a weapon finally joined the group and the professor walked to the centre of the hall wearing a pair of gauntlets. It wasn''t fancy in colours and decorations. Just a pair of gauntlets.

    "What you had chosen now, will not be your final choice. As you venture more into knowing your affinity, you might be forced to take a weapon that you dislike. But you''ll have no other go than epting the reality."

    Glen brought his hands before his chest. A brief moment of closed eyes and the students saw a faint aura enveloping the gauntlets.

    Then the professor opened his eyes and turned around twirling on his right foot and punched forward!

    BOOM!

    The boom that the punch created made many feel dizzy. Fellow students supported them while others gawked at the sight that unfolded in front of them.

    "The w-wall!"

    A feminine cry made them realise that they were a stupefied bunch of students as they stared at the wall. The crumbled centre and the circr crown around it was a sight to behold.

    "This is how a weapon helps us to channel our strength."

    When Glen turned around, the air around him waspletely different. He had an aura that made many feel the fear of their parents'' beatings.

    "The weapon is not only an object for channelling but also efficient execution. Your powers are worthless if your weapon can only concentrate your energy, ultimately to disperse without any use. It must be able to meet your expectation and spirit with which you wake up from your sleep and work out your day."

    The four walls of the hall resonated his voice with vigour and Jonathan felt an unspeakable sensation in his heart. It is as if he is at the right ce at the right time with the right weapon.

    Glen took off his gauntlets and his childish demeanour was back.

    "Now, I want everyone to practice using the weapon you have chosen. If your choice is in synchronisation with your affinity residing in your soul, then you''ll feel something, something that encourages you to go on.

    Until each one of you has achieved this feat, we will not proceed further."

    Glen casually walked to a corner as he spoke. He sat cross-legged at the corner and closed his eyes. With the pair of gauntlets resting on hisp, he began to meditate.

    The students immediately dispersed inside the hall and upied a spot for them. The air turned chaotic as noise rose exponentially.

    "ARE YOU ALL PRACTISING WITH YOUR MOUTH OR WHAT?!"

    Glen shouted and his voice produced a pressure that pushed students away from him. The entire hall went silent in fear for the instructor. Even after he closed his eyes, the students hesitated to move.

    Yet, within a few minutes, there was noise rising from them.

 Chapter 364: Unlocking Attributes

    Chapter 364: Unlocking Attributes

    Yet, within a few minutes, there was noise rising from them. But it was much muffled than before and Glen was not agitated.

    The 38 students have dispersed throughout the hall and had upied a spot for themselves and were doing their best to invoke ''that'' which professor Glen had mentioned.

    Jonathan was the only one staring at others while others swung their swords and spears in the air. Even Tarina was trying her best.

    ''<em>Let''s tag along.</em>''

    One arm was inadequate to raise the rod. The unusually strong and heavy object gave wonders to him while he slowly raised it above the ground. Jonathan raised and lowered it a couple more times to familiarise himself with its weight when a notification appeared.

    [''Strength'' Unlocked.]

    [Calction Complete.]

    ''<em>Wait, what?''</em>

    <em></em>The blue screen that appeared had only two lines in it and it disappeared without his permission. Stunned by the development, Jonathan summoned the status screen.

    <strong>/=========</strong>

    <strong>Name: Jonathan</strong>

    <strong>Race: Elf</strong>

    <strong>Affinities: Stone (Nature)</strong>

    <strong>Strength: 23</strong>

    <strong>=========/</strong>

    "Oh, so I unlocked an attribute by lifting the rod?"

    The wonder was evident in his eyes as he scanned the wooden rod. Then it struck him.

    ''<em>Does that mean I can unlock Agility and others?</em>''

    It was a thought that unconsciously popped up in his mind but it gave him hope. It spread a grin on his face that no one saw.

    "First, the strength."

    ***

    An hour had passed.

    Since most of the students were absorbed in their tasks, they did not notice Jonathan lifting and lowering the rod like a dumbbell.

    Most of them were exhausted from continuous movements and so was Jonathan. His repeated motion had taken a toll on his vitality.

    <strong>/=========</strong>

    <strong>Name: Jonathan</strong>

    <strong>Race: Elf</strong>

    <strong>Affinities: Stone (Nature)</strong>

    <strong>Vitality: 12</strong>

    <strong>Strength: 24</strong>

    <strong>=========/</strong>

    ncing at the screen, Jonathan can tell how much fatigue has umted in his body. The Strength had increased by one point while the Vitality had gone down by 14 points.

    ''<em>Let''s rest.</em>''

    Leaning on a wall, Jonathan sat while cing the rod horizontally on hisp. Gazing around him, he saw many panting and taking rest.

    Unlike them, there was a delighted expression on Jonathan''s face. He has finally figured out how the status screen works.

    ''<em>So, the Strength went up by one point. That means I can grow stronger. The Vitality went down by 14 points. So that''s my health and I must keep an eye on it.</em>''

    Sluggishness has enveloped Jonathan like a nket and he can tell the fatigue weighing on him. And as he stared at the screen, the Vitality value went down by one point.

    This made his soul plunge into unrest.

    ''<em>I''m losing Vitality?</em>''

    Jonathan''s heart rate began to quicken as he felt his life being drained away. But the next moment, his mind became calm as he began to meditate. He employed the meditation regime used by his grandfather on Earth.

    ***

    Time flew past like a butterfly and everything was fine.

    The students had been taking periodic rests and continuing with their tasks at hand. Surprisingly, none of them was able to awaken that ''something'' that professor Glen had mentioned.

    About the professor, he had already fallen asleep while sitting in the corner.

    Tarina came to Jonathan to ask about how he''s doing. He replied that there have been no fruits whatsoever he had done. Though she was sad hearing this, she cheered him that he will certainly invoke the sensation.

    about 3 hours have passed by and it was evening. The twin stars had thrown a bucket of orange-yellow paint over the sky and it was beautiful.

    *yawn*

    Glen just woke up and yawned out loud as he stood and walked to the students. Upon seeing him, the students obediently formed a crowd.

    "Did anyone invoke the channelling?"

    There were no positive replies. The students simply shook their heads in disappointment.

    "As expected. You''ll continue this routine until every one of you can invoke the channelling.

    Now you may ce the weapons in its ce and leave."

    The students nodded in unison and walked to ce their weapons as Glen took a moment to evaluate and check his gauntlets. Thus he did not hear the footsteps.

    "Professor, can I keep this rod for training?"

    Jonathan''s voice was not too loud or too shallow yet it fell in the ears of all the students. Glen raised his eyes and saw him looking in front of him with expectation.

    Glen''s gaze was confused and cautious. He did not mask his wild aura when he scanned the rod.

    "No!"

    The answer was simple and Jonathan had no other way than leaving in its designated ce. Soon the students left and Jonathan too exited the hall and went to his hostel.

    Professor Glen remained in the hall even after the hall was vacant. His eyes shuttled towards the wooden rod from the door after confirming that there are no one around the door.

    With ease, he picked it up with one arm. Though it was trouble-free, he could tell that it had unreal weight unfitting its size. He wondered what could be Jonathan''s reason behind raising such a query. But since he could not find a feasible answer, he ced it back and left the hall after closing it.

    ***

    Though his request was rejected, Jonathan was not discouraged. He considered it a blessing in disguise as he could excavate all the attributes he could gain through physicalbour.

    The students dispersed to their hostels and Jonathan walked to the academy ground. Spanning over arge area, it was a t, wless piece ofnd with no stones or pebbles.

    "Maybe I can gain Agility."

    Jonathan mumbled to himself as he ced his bag in a corner and took his first step. The next foot went ahead and he was running by the time he came to realise it.

    [''Agility'' Unlocked.]

    [Calction Complete.]

    A few minutes into the activity, a blue screen popped up and notified him that he had unlocked his agility attribute.

    ''<em>Let''s finish the round.</em>''

 Chapter 365: The Art Of Summoning

    Chapter 365: The Art Of Summoning

    Since the ground was too big, it took him quite a lot of time toplete one round. By the time he neared his bag, Jonathan was tired and his legs were wobbling.

    <strong>/=========</strong>

    <strong>Name: Jonathan</strong>

    <strong>Race: Elf</strong>

    <strong>Affinities: Stone (Nature)</strong>

    <strong>Vitality: 13</strong>

    <strong>Strength: 24</strong>

    <strong>Agility: 28</strong>

    <strong>=========/</strong>

    *huff*

    With a thud, Jonathan fell on his rear and he nced at the screen. He can see his Agility value and his eyes found the Vitality value.

    "I''m losing Vitality a lot quickly. I need to train more to build up endurance."

    From the cocktail of memories, Jonathan was able to deduce that the Vitality, his health, could be increased with exhausting activities. The more he can drain himself of energy, the quicker he will be able to get back on his feet. It will also increase his maximum Vitality value by a small margin.

    If Jonathan was to keep up this routine, he would end up growing at an astonishing rate!

    Ecstasy filled his heart yet it quickly drained away as Lee Shen''s cautiousness took control of him.

    "Even if I grow, I must keep the face of a newbie. I cannot risk being stalked everywhere I go."

    Without thinking anything, he drank water from his pouch and ced it back in his bag. Then Jonathan walked straight to his hostel for a wonderful bath and rest.

    ***

    ''<em>System.</em>''

    <strong>/=========</strong>

    <strong>Name: Jonathan</strong>

    <strong>Race: Elf</strong>

    <strong>Affinities: Stone (Nature)</strong>

    <strong>Vitality: 28</strong>

    <strong>Strength: 24</strong>

    <strong>Agility: 28</strong>

    <strong>=========/</strong>

    "No wonder I''m feeling energetic than usual."

    Though the rise in Vitality was two points, the difference was evident in his face. Waking up early, Jonathan was sitting at his favourite spot by the window while observing his status.

    The usual breeze felt much better than before and Jonathan''s eyes shuttled outside of the window. His eyes fell on the trees and he spaced out for a minute or two.

    And it was the triple bell that woke him up from his trance.

    "Breakfast."

    ***

    Having breakfast and slipping into the uniform was swift and smooth. While his fellow boys were chatting and wasting time, he exited the hostel and walked to the academic building.

    Jonathan was the first student to walk into the ssroom but he wasn''t the first person to arrive.

    "Good morning Jonathan."

    Standing near the professor''s table was a beautiful woman with unnatural charm. She was like the manifestation of an angel. Jonathan was dazed by her look but something pulled his senses back to reality.

    Replying with a simple nod and smile, Jonathan proceeded to his table.

    Minutester, the students began to flow in and all the chairs were upied within half an hour.

    "My name is Millie Ri and we will learn about Familiar Summoning today."

    With these words, the professor was able to bring all the students under her charm. It was a harmless effect as Jonathan felt that he almost saw an aura around her.

    "Have anyone read about Familiar Summoning?"

    The students vigorously shook their head and indicated that they are hearing the therm for the first time. Jonathan too joined the chorus as he had only heard about this at the initial day assembly.

    Professor Millie seemed pleased by theck of knowledge of her students and she began to exin.

    "The True-Gods who ruled the kingdoms and empires were so powerful. Among many things that they have taught us, mortals, Familiar Summoning is the most powerful practice.

    Apart from this world where we live, there is another realmpletely inessible to all sentient beings. It is said that the True-Gods came in contact with the residents of this special realm and allowed them to walk on our world through the process of summoning.

    The one who initiates the summoning is called a ''Contractor'' and the summoned beast is called a ''Familiar''. The contractor''s orders are verdict for them and the familiars cannot hurt humans of their own will.

    And finally, they won''t die as long as their contractor is alive. Their bond as apanion would break and the familiar would be released from the burden of being contracted again.

    The summoning is a unique and individually distinct process. One cannot predict the familiar that can appear before them. But if one is intelligent enough, then they can assume the type of familiar that might respond to the contractor''s call. After all, it is directly bound to your soul, your behaviour and your entire being.

    There are different types of familiars that have appeared via summoning. It might be tiny or colossal. It could be cute or menacing. It can even be humanoid or ethereal.

    There are numerous ssifications for the summoned familiars. I shall introduce you to them after your sessful summoning."

    Millie was a bbermouth when it came to describing the Familiar Summoning. She repeated the same set of sentences from different perspectives and the students did not realise this.

    About an hour have passed and professor Millie brought her lecture to an end.

    "Now, shall we conduct your summoning ceremonies?"

    The response was an uproar and she was pleased with it. Asking the students to follow her, she walked out of the room and towards a hall which wasbelled ''Summoning Hall''.

    There were 38 tables orderly arranges and each student was asked to take a position. The students dispersed and selected a table for themselves. Unfortunately, there were no chairs in the vicinity or near the tables.

    The golden coloured metal blocks that were ced on top of each table caught the students'' attention. It looked in but if one observed closely, they could detect tiny carvings and diagrams engraved on the block.

    There was nothing special about the 12-inch wide, 10-inch long and 4-inch thick metal block except a small portion was missing from its upper face. The carved-in area at the centre of the face was perfect for the student''s identity card to fit in.

    And it was what professor Millie asked them to do.

    "Students, take out your identity card and ce it at the centre of the Summoning Stone."

 Chapter 366: Side-Effects of Continous Training

    Chapter 366: Side-Effects of Continous Training

    A few among the students have already achieved this feat and they had a prideful smug. But they did not know what to do next and silently awaited further instructions.

    Professor Millie too had a Summoning Stone for demonstrating. She took out her staff identity card and ced it at the centre.

    "Now ce both of your hands on the stone and close your eyes. Try not to think about anything for the time being."

    The students promptly followed her instructions and Jonathan was no stranger among them.

    "Now..."

    The change in professor Millie''s voice was evident as she sounded serious.

    "Try to picturise a pitch-ck circle in your mind. It must be wlessly ck and stable."

    Millie''s words faded away into the air and there was an uneasy quietude in the air. The students remained inflexible and theck of windows attributed to an eerily stillness inevitable for the senses.

    A few minutes have passed and students began to moan and squirm in pain. Some of them suddenly copsed which disturbed those who stood near to them.

    In about 17 minutes, every one of them had either felt disoriented or have fainted. Panting and struggling to stand up, their attempts proved futile as they found themselves tired to their core.

    Yet, the professor had a delighted countenance as she saw the students troubled with heaviness. She pped her hand twice and attracted the attention of the ss.

    "This was expected. It would take a hefty amount of mental pressure to create a summoning portal. And the fact that you all have been exhausted from this basic attempt means that you can prolong in your next attempt."

    Millie conveyed that they can continue again if they have restored enough energy and have gotten rid of their tiredness. She did not forget to mention that forcing themselves to cling to the summoning ritual would only damage their soul.

    The warning alerted the students and they retreated to the walls to sit down and recuperate. Jonathan went with the flow and sat down while leaning his back to the wall.

    In front of his eyes was the status screen and disyed his Vitality value as 10. The drop was significant as well the sweat drops originating from his foreheads and going down his cheeks to his neck. The steady stream of tiredness drenched his clothes.

    ''<em>The drop is reasonable. I am reduced to such a state just by attempting</em> this.''

    Jonathan was taking in arge amount of air by mouth while exhaling and inhaling. This eliminated the trouble of noise like all other students did. Not only that, he could see his vitality value rising as he took rest for a prolonged period.

    As the value went above 25, Jonathan got back on his feet and continued his attempts. Other students had already taken enough rest and continued their struggle.

    ***

    This cycle went on and on and on, and it was already noon.

    Millie pped twice again and the entire ssroom''s attention was shifted from the summoning stone to her.

    "Did you all realise that you have spent more than three hours in this hall?"

    The query stunned them all and they rushed to peek out of the door.

    Professor was right. They have ceaselessly attempted to create the summoning portal.

    "Let''s end our session here. We will continue our sses on the day after tomorrow."

    The professor asked everyone to take their identity card before exiting the hall. Within the next four minutes, the hall has be vacant.

    An unbearable sensation took over the bodies of the students as they weed an awful lot of pain. Many rushed to their hostels while those who cannot tolerate the burden paced to their ssroom.

    Jonathan''s Vitality value had risen by two points in thest few hours and he still had more than 15 points, yet he felt his body going through a session of mild torture.

    Rushing to his room, Jonathan grabbed his towel and dashed to the bath. He spent almost ten minutes soaking in the water and consequently forgot to eat. But his body benefitted from that as he exited the bath with vigour.

    Thoughte by almost half an hour, the cafeteria in the hostel was merciful enough to serve him food. Jonathan had to apologize for the dy and promised not to repeat this.

    ***

    ''<em>Thank goodness, I had a bath.</em>''

    Walking to his room, Jonathan could hear the painful moans from the rooms. It seems like the students ignored the pain and consumed food which multiplied their uneasiness by many times.

    Some rooms had their doors open and Jonatha saw many rolling on the floor and squirming in their beds.

    Retreating to his room, Jonathan locked the door and sat on the floor. He began to meditate and his Vitality level reached 31.

    After a few minutes of steadfast concentration, a warm wind blew inside the room which woke Jonathan up. He remembered that he needs to be at the training grounds for the afternoon session and promptly left his room.

    "Hey, Jo..."

    A familiar voice came from his behind as he exited the hostel building. Turning around, he saw a familiar face.

    "Oh hai."

    Ricky had an ufortable expression on his face. Apparently, he was among those who ran to stuff their mouth with food.

    Pressing his stomach and suppressing the ache, he asked Jonathan for a shoulder to lean on. The elf dly supported him and they slowly moved towards the training grounds.

    ***

    "I don''t want to sound mean but, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL!!?"

    The masculine voice of a man in histe twenties roared at the bunch of girls that were in no shape to even stand up. The armour-d woman who stood next to him walked to one of the female students and inquired the reason.

    The girl whom the female knight approached whispered something in her ears and her brows rose with acknowledgement. She patted the girl''s shoulder and spoke as she walked back to the knight.

    "Their forenoon session was about summoning."

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1: Attention, dear readers!

My new novel "A Desireless Agelong Migrant" is out and ready to read. I assure you that the story will be interesting and you''ll like it.

    Brace yourselves for another adventure!