305-314

Chapter 305 - Let There Be Wind!

When the colossal rock golem appeared before the Ant King, Elder Evergreen waste a single moment. As soon as the Ant King finished screeching, the colossal rock golem had already lifted its large feet and stomped hard on the Ant King.

Compared to its initial formation, the colossal rock golem was much more mobile after being equipped by the layer of green grass.

The force of the stomp generated incredible wind pressure that forced the surrounding ants in the vicinity into the ground like they were suffering from tenfold gravity.

The Ant King stare up at the imposing feet without a hint of fear or intention to dodge. Instead, the Ant King was bold and full of arrogance. It raised its own arm to receive the colossal stone golem's stomp with a punch.

Boom!

Both attacks connected, and the force of impact generated a seismic shockwave that rippled across the battlefield.

Web-like cracks formed underneath the Ant King's feet as the rock golem's feet were shattered, albeit only a fragment of its entirely, as the rest of the foot proceeded to press into the ground and flatten the earth.

BOOM!

The second impact was like a clap of thunder as the earth quaked with a deafening explosion. Dirt and soil rose into the sky, along with many fractures formed across the region.

The fractures reached all the way to the earthen rampart and beyond, affecting everyone on it and back at the camp as they failed to keep their balance.

However, this was nothing compared to the epicenter of the impact that directly crushed thousands of ants underneath the rock golem's feet. Tens of thousands more ants were sent into disarray as they were swallowed by the forming fractures in the earth.

"I thought the Ant King was monstrous enough but isn't the elder even more monstrous?!"

"Right? This level of destruction is unbelievable!"

"I can't believe the attack would reach all the way here. We should retreat further back!"

The palace guards and soldiers began to retreat with the earth spirits guarding the rear. Excluding the earth spirits, all the other earth-users within the group could be seen clenching their trembling fists, but they were not trembling because of fear.

"We can win this! Elder Evergreen will definitely be able to beat that thing!"

"This is how an earth-user should fight! I've been wielding the earth incorrectly!"

They were trembling from excitement. It was like the mist obscuring their vision had been cleared as they could see the direction to pursue to become a great earth-user.

After the dust was settled, the few hundred thousand ants could be seen rushing towards the rock golem from the World Tree while a few ten thousand more climbed out of the fractures to join the fray.

The rock golem could be seen lifting its other feet and stomping down on the ants with another deafening impact, crushing thousands of ants and sending tens of thousands more flying away from the generate air pressure.

These low-level ants were not deterred by the overwhelming difference in strength. After getting back on their feet, they rushed towards the rock golem and climbed onto it before biting with their powerful mandibles in a frenzied manner.

Scree!

Underneath the rock golem's foot, the Ant King screeched with anger and a hint of helplessness that no one else could hear. It was pinned into the ground in a squatting position, under the rock golem's immense weight, and could not move.

It was clear that its strength was greater! So, how can it be stuck in such a sorry state?!

Scree!

(How can a superior being like myself suffer such embarrassment from the likes of these inferior humans?!)

(You have successfully angered this king!)

The Ant King's eyes glowed with a brighter crimson light as its body began to bulge and expand to twice its original size.

The earth underneath its feet began to crack further as it slowly lifted the rock golem's feet up with both hands and through the rock golem off balance with a final push.

The rock golem fell back with a heavy thud, kicking up another storm of dirt and dust as the Ant King pounced on top of the rock golem and rained down a barrage of punches.

The low-level ants were unable to damage the rock golem that had been reinforced by Elder Evergreen's energy.

Some even had their tough mandibles broken when they snapped at the golem's hard rocky surface, but under the Ant King's barrage, the rock golem easily cracked and deformed terribly.

When Elder Evergreen tried to swat the Ant King away, the Ant King would quickly evade the swing and rain another barrage of attacks until each limb on the rock golem were disabled.

The rock golem was strong! But it was equally slow! Meanwhile, not only was the Ant King strong, it was equally fast!

They were not on the same level!

Lilith showed a worried look while everyone was stunned by how quick the situation changed.

…

Standing on the deck of the new airship, while Faelyn and Marquis Haldir quietly enjoyed the scenery from up high, Leon had a frown on his face as he listened to the distant booms that reached them from the World Tree.

As the airship drew ever closer, these booming noises became more evident to the point that they could feel the rumbling earth despite being high in the sky.

Only then did the elven princess and Supreme Elder glanced towards the direction of the World Tree.

"Seems like something big is going on over there!" Faelyn pointed ahead.

Marquis scrunched his brows together and slowly sensed the ripples in the World's Laws, before saying, "I sense a powerful Transcendent fighting, but I cannot tell who that person is fighting."

"The Transcendent fighting must be Elder Evergreen. As for who the elder is fighting… we will know once we get there. At the very least, we know something big is happening if Elder Evergreen is the one fighting. We need to hurry over!"

"Your Highness, the main propellers are already spinning at maximum speed. The airship cannot go any faster unless we have some good wind."

"Then let there be wind!" Leon said domineeringly.

"What are you even saying…"

The airship captain was speechless.

He felt a wave of frustration in his heart as he thought that the prince was being unreasonable. How can there be wind just because the prince says so? The prince was not General Marquis Hendrick!

The airship captain was ready to talk some sense in the prince when he was quickly stunned silent by what followed.

Leon had made a grasp of the empty air behind him and brought it forward, after which came a rush of wind pushing against the back of the airship and propelled it ahead.

Swoosh!

The airship's flight speed was directly raised by at least 50%! This was the power of his Divine Will! Bending the world's elements to his will with a single thought!

"…Your Highness."

The airship captain gulped and swallowed the rest of his words that got stuck on the tips of his tongue. He looked at the prince with amazement and awe. He had never heard of the prince being a wind-user, but damn!

The prince was so domineering!

Leon did not pay any further attention to the airship captain as he faced the front with a troubled look.

The magnitude of the battle could be felt so far away. Obviously, whoever the elder was fighting was very powerful!

"Your assistance be needed very soon, Senior."

"I'll be glad to be at your service, Your Highness.." Marquis Haldir said as he slightly bowed with one hand over his chest.

Chapter 306 - Can You Even Aim?

In the Grassland Region, it had not been long since the sun had finished setting. As the darkness of the night swallowed the last traces from the light of day, so did the people feel the darkness swallowing their hearts and sealing their grim fates.

If Elder Evergreen could not win, none of them would survive.

The Ant King's pounding on the defenseless rock golem was like a hammer on their hearts. Each pound would make them sink a little deeper into despair.

The Ant King was more monstrous than any beast they had come across. Even the Skysilver Beast King would not be as tyrannical as this. These were the thoughts of the few soldiers who had been to the Western Frontier and witnessed the grandeur of the Transcendent beast king.

Elder Evergreen had suffered greatly under the Ant King's barrage of attacks. Although the dense layers of earth absorbed most of the damage, the shockwave still reached the elder hidden within.

It was foolish of the elder to believe that he could overpower the Ant King with his current cultivation.

Although the rock golem possesses a lot of power, it was too easy of a target with its slow speed. If Elder Evergreen had another choice, he would not have conjured a rock golem to fight.

There had to be a better way to optimize his fighting potential. His power was too spread out in the rock golem. IF he could compress everything, his battle potential would rise.

Unfortunately, Elder Evergreen was helpless in his current state.

The battered rock golem was the only thing protecting his life.

If he tried to change tactics while being immobile, he would be giving an opening for the Ant King to finish him off.

Elder Evergreen brainstormed for solutions but came up with none to get him out of his current predicament.

'Haiz…. It seems like this old life of mine will end here tonight.' Elder Evergreen quietly thought while trying to endure the shockwaves from the Ant King's attacks.

The people had retreated quite far from the camp. The earthen rampart had been too close to the battle and had already been destroyed by the attacks of the Transcendents.

Despite being quite a distance away, they could still tell that the situation was not good. The earth spirits were still protecting their rear against the ants going after them, but it was not long before they become surrounded.

"What to do? What to do? We need to help Elder Evergreen, but we are also too weak to help. Is there nothing we can do?"

Lilith was anxious, but so was everyone else. They were holding out for now, but if nothing changes, then they were only delaying inevitable.

Buzz….

Suddenly, a low distant droning noise began making its way into the ears of everyone present amidst the sounds of the battlefield and the booming blows of the Ant King.

Over time, the droning noise became loud enough not to be ignored.

"Does anyone hear that sound? Where is it coming from?"

"Why are you even worried about that? We should be worrying about how to survive this mess!"

"Hang on, I think I know this sound… Isn't this the noise made by airships?"

The soldiers from the Western Frontier were more familiar with the airships. Once they heard the mention of the airship, everyone's eyes lit up.

"An airship is coming?"

"We have reinforcements!"

"We are saved... or not."

"Urgh… So, what if there is reinforcement? Who could possibly stop that monster?"

"Ah… that's true. Elder Evergreen is the strongest person I ever met, but even the elder is not a match for that thing… shit, we are still fucked."

It did not take long after the soldier's short celebration that they became dejected once more. Nevertheless, they still searched the sky to locate the direction of the airship.

…

In the sky, the airship began to decelerate as it drew closer to the World Tree. Leon stood on the bow with Faelyn and Marquis Haldir as they gazed ahead.

Princess Faelyn was awed by World Tree, the closer they got. She knew the World Tree was big, but she did not expect to be THIS big. Seeing up close gave a different feeling to seeing from afar. It was an eye-opener for her.

Marquis Haldir did not express any opinion, but it was also clear that he was also admiring the World Tree. Even the darkness of the night cannot hide its towering grandeur.

While the two of them had their sights on the World Tree, Leon was pleased with the density of spirit energy in the area. It was vibrant and very suitable for cultivation, but he did not forget he needed to collect a large amount of spirit energy for the Teleportation Array.

Leon quickly refocused his attention on the more pressing matter at hand.

Stirring the black vortex in the depths of his sea of consciousness, the ring of grey energy transformed into spirit energy and traveled through his meridians channels to his eyes. Soon, his eyes began to glow.

Leon was using [Spirit Eyes] to survey the source of the rumbling earth in the distance below. He quickly located the humanoid ant battering a broken colossal earth golem, but could not tell who was controlling it.

His sight moved onto the group of humans and earth spirits much further down south. Their situation looked precarious as they were surrounded by ants, but they were actually holding out well.

He found Lilith among them but did not see Elder Evergreen. His eyes immediately shot back to broken rock golem being battered by the humanoid ant, and his expression became more serious.

There was no need for him to guess at this point. Elder Evergreen was the one controlling the rock golem.

As the airship entered the range of the battlefield, or more precisely, the range of the World Tree, the airship was suddenly uplifted with increasing altitude.

The airship soon broke the limit of 600fts and continued rising without any sign of stopping. Although Leon was surprised, it was not the time to be pondering why the airship was able to break through the altitude limit set by the unknown suppression of the sky.

"Begin the descent!" Leon commanded.

The airship captain proceeded to order the crew to slowly lower the power output of the active levitation stone. The airship stopped rising and began making its descent.

At this point, Leon turned to the Supreme Elder and asked, "What do you think, Senior? Are you able to handle that monster?"

The deafening booms as the Ant King pummeling the broken rock golem made the Supreme Elder turn stiff with wariness, but he still answered, "My cultivation is low. I'm afraid I am not that thing's opponent. However, if I team up with that other Seeking Insight-level Transcendent, we might be able to stand a chance."

Leon nodded, expecting this answer.

Elder Evergreen was much older than the Supreme Elder and should have been in the Seeking Insight-level Transcendent Realm for much longer than the Supreme Elder.

If Elder Evergreen were not the Ant King's match, then the Supreme Elder would not be its match either, but it was as the Supreme Elder had said. If they joined forces, they might be able to stand a chance.

In the Divine Realm, body refiners always suppress energy refiners of the same realm, but this did not mean that body refiners were infallible.

"Please help us out, Senior." Leon clasped his fist and requested.

"As you wish, Your Highness." Marquis Haldir slightly bowed with a smile.

Leon smiled in turn, but his expression suddenly froze midway when he saw the Supreme Elder directly jump off the airship, which was still hovering at about 400fts. Of the five basic elements, wood, water, and earth could not be used to fly.

'Did he just force the Supreme Elder to commit suicide? Was the Supreme Elder actually not confident despite what he said and planned for an early grave?'

These were just passing thoughts before Leon stopped his nonsensical thinking. The Supreme Elder would surely have his own methods to reach the ground safely.

Sure enough, the Supreme Elder took out a seed from his pouch that quickly grew into a large cloverleaf that helped the Supreme Elder slow down his descent.

During his descent, the Supreme Elder also tossed out a handful of seeds instilled with his energy at the Ant King.

Scree!

(Hmph! I wasn't planning to play with you newcomers until I'm done with this one, but since you are in a hurry, I'll send you off!)

The Ant King snorted as it turned to Marquis Haldir with grim crimson eyes.

Just as the Ant King was about to swat away the seeds shooting at him, he suddenly paused. The seeds did not even hit the Ant King. Instead, it shot into the rocky golem just by its feet.

(???)

The Ant King glanced at the seed before looking back up.

Scree!

(Stupid, human. Can you even aim?)

Chapter 307 - Greater Earth Armament

"Um, you won't be asking me to help out too, right?" Faelyn asked after watching the Supreme Elder jumped off the airship.

"You must be kidding. Neither you nor I will be surviving a hit from that thing. Wouldn't I be asking you to die?" Leon responded rhetorically.

"Err, that's true." Faelyn patted her chest with relief before flashing Leon a questioning glance. "Then, what are you doing?"

Leon was seen stretching his limbs and muscles.

"I can't join this level of battle directly, but I can still assist them from the sidelines," Leon said while focusing on the situation below attentively.

"Will your assist even be of any help at all?" Faelyn doubted.

Towards this, Leon did not comment and just smiled lightly.

Indeed, even with Leon's current 9-star Ranked Awakener cultivation, the power difference was too vast for him to hurt the robust body of the Ant King. Heck, he might not even be able to tickle it.

A Preliminary Accession-level equivalent Transcendent beast, or in other words, a Rank 1 Transcendent beast possesses a physical strength of 100 thousand jin and beyond.

For a powerful creature like the Ant King that was on par with Seeking Insight-level Transcendents, it was a Rank 2 Transcendent and a powerful Rank 2 Transcendent.

The physical strength of Rank 2 Transcendent beasts and creatures went beyond one million jin. This was far greater than the measly 10 thousand-jin physical strength limits of human Transcendents possess.

And for a creature to possess over one million jin worth of raw physical strength, it goes without saying that its body would be equally powerful.

If humans want to compete with such monstrous beings, relying on just their awakening cultivation alone would not be enough, not unless they figured out how to utilize their elemental laws to their full potential.

For Leon, who was not even a Transcendent, harming a Rank 1 Transcendent beast might still be within the realms of possibility, but damaging a Rank 2 Transcendent creature like the Ant King was just not possible.

Of course, this is only comparatively speaking for his combat prowess. Whether he had a method of slaying Transcendents was an entirely different matter.

"Che."

Faelyn pouted and faced away in another direction after being ignored. Shortly after, she saw the situation on Lilith's side and pointed.

"Shouldn't we help those people over there?"

Leon flashed a quick look and shook his head.

"No, they will be fine for now. They are holding out well. We need to kill the humanoid ant down here if we want to win the battle decisively."

"Eh, but they will have an easier time if we help them."

"Then you can head over there with the airship. I'll be staying over here."

After saying that, Leon hopped off the airship and used Divine Will to float in the sky.

Faelyn had her brows furrowed as she had no idea what Leon was planning. People of their level were too weak to provide any form of assistance.

The Ant King was simply too monstrous, so monstrous it would only take one punch for them and the airship to be done for.

Glancing back at the airship captain on the deck, Faelyn said, "Well, you heard the prince. Take us over there."

"As you wish, Princess Faelyn."

The airship complied willingly.

…

After Marquis Haldir threw out the seeds imbued with his power, the seeds shortly grew into long thorny vines that caught the Ant King by surprise as the thorny vines wrapped about the Ant King and entangled it.

Scree!

(Foolish humans. Do you think something like this will be able to restrain me? If I want, I can snap this apart just by exerting a little bit of… hmm? This thing is tougher than I thought. Interesting.)

"Take this chance to escape!" Marquis Haldir shouted to the broken golem while the Ant King was still preoccupied with the strange thorny vines.

Elder Evergreen did not waste any time after he was given the opportunity. He quickly withdrew all the energy reinforcing the broken golem back into his body and shot out from the broken golem's head.

"Many thanks for your timely help, Fellow Transcendent." Elder Evergreen expressed his gratitude with clasped hands after landing besides Marquis Haldir.

"Never mind that. We need to work together to take that thing down! Do you have a plan?" Marquis Haldir asked urgently as he exerted all his power to reinforce the thorny vine entanglement.

Hearing this, Elder Evergreen became solemn.

"The Ant King's is too hard! We need a Transcendent of the fire or metal element to be able to kill it! But if you can buy me enough time, there is something I want to try. If I am successful, I will be able to handle our defenses."

The first half had Marquis Haldir furrowing his brows as he was unconvinced, but the second half had his eyes lit up.

"If you can handle the defense, then I will handle the attack. How much time do you need?"

"As much as you can give me."

"Hmm… alright, but don't take too long."

Receiving Marquis Haldir's agreement, Elder Evergreen began his preparation. During the battle with the Ant King, he was able to gain further insights into the Laws of Earth.

"Earth, come!"

Countless earthen soil flew towards Elder Evergreen from the remains of the broken golem and stopped just in front of the elder.

These earthen soil from the rock golem were only rocky under the elder's reinforcement of earth energy. Once the energy was removed, they had naturally returned to normal soil.

But they had been compressed once and appeared clumped together like rubbles.

"Compress!"

Elder Evergreen compressed these clumps of earth even further. In fact, he used all his power to compress them to the limits of his ability. As they shrank, their density and hardness increased drastically until they turned in countless rectangular-shaped earthen plates.

After this was done, these earthen plates latched themselves onto the elder. The overgrown grasses were used like thin ropes as they proceeded to fly over and weave the earthen plates together into a full suit of ancient-style battle armor.

[Greater Earth Armament]

Elder Evergreen decided to call it that.

"This is what you wanted me to buy you time for?!" Marquis Haldir appeared greatly disappointed as he was expecting something big. "How can this possibly be used to defend against the Ant King?!"

"Don't look down on this new move of mine. This is my most powerful state yet."

Elder Evergreen's eyes glistened with confidence.

If [Colossal Rock Golem] was conceptualized on attack, then [Greater Earth Armament] was conceptualized on defense.

Only a fraction of the rock golem mass was used for [Greater Earth Armament], but its weight and defensive capability was not something to be looked down upon.

The ancient-style battle armor glistened and glowed with a yellowish sheen and appeared almost metallic.

A ridiculous amount of earth energy had been poured into it, and even now, Elder Evergreen's power was freely flowing through the battle armor. It was almost like another layer of defense made of pure earth energy.

Elder Evergreen was not lying when he said it was his most powerful state. His power had been too spread before, but now it was all compressed in this tiny frame.

A simple step forward was taken, but the earth easily cracked under its weight. Marquis Haldir had a change in expression at this sight and was forced to reevaluate the potential of the battle armor.

Suddenly, Marquis Haldir had another change in expression.

"Oh, no!"

Prak!

The thorny vines snapped, and the Ant King set itself loose from the restraints after losing interest. The thorny vines were tough, but still not enough to hold the Ant King back when it becomes serious.

Scree!

(Which one of you want to die first?)

No one understood its meaning, but Elder Evergreen stepped forward and shouted, "Your opponent is me!"

(Very well. It shall be you then!)

Boom!

The Ant King closed the gap in an instance and shot out a punch straight at Elder Evergreen's chest before anyone could even react.

Pang!

The elder could not guard in time and flew over 300 yards away!

Fast! Too fast!

Marquis Haldir's expression was terrible to behold. He was about cuss when he suddenly heard another explosion behind as Elder Evergreen shot back towards the Ant King in a raucous mood.

"Hahaha! Again!"

Elder Evergreen laughed as his eyes burned with great battle spirit. The blow just now had barely hurt him at all!

Pang!

Elder Evergreen struck again, but he had his knees bent in a guarding position. He managed to resist the force of the blow. Still, he was sent 30-yards back with deep trailing marks on the ground.

"Again!" Elder Evergreen shouted again with glee. The battle armor was holding out well with little to no damage to it and himself. Against an opponent of this caliber, this battle was exhilarating!

The Ant King was incited. In the next 20 exchanges, Elder Evergreen became its punching bag as he was sent flying around continuously by its powerful blows.

"Oi, oi, oi! When are you going to help?!" Elder Evergreen shouted in panic after a crack finally appeared on his battle armor.

Chapter 308 - Charred Crispy

The Ant King was puzzled how [Greater Earth Armament] could be so sturdy when it was able to pummel the [Colossal Rock Golem] into ruins. The 'human' it once looked down on had suddenly become so formidable and hard to kill like a tenacious cockroach.

Nevertheless, [Greater Earth Armament] was not perfected and indestructible. Under the Ant King's constant barrage of attacks, the ancient-style battle armor started to wear out and cracked.

After receiving Elder Evergreen's reminder, Marquis Haldir roared, "Watch my spear!"

A powerful-looking green spear overflowing with lifeforce was seen in the Supreme Elder's hand. This green spear was made of several squirming plants intertwined and appear alive. There were numerous small thorny spikes on the spear, and even its spearhead was one menacingly large thorn.

The spear was thrown at the Ant King with high speed after Elder Evergreen retreated.

The Ant King narrowed its crimson eyes with disdain at the incoming spear. Such speed was slow in its eyes and could easily be dodged or swatted away.

Before the Ant King could slap the spear away, the spear suddenly separated into numerous plants and dodged the Ant King's palm. They squirmed around Ant King and restrained it like the previous thorny vines.

Scree!

(This trick again? You do not learn, do you? It does not work on this king!)

The Ant King screeched with coldness.

To use the same move twice despite its ineffectiveness, it was clear that it was not being taken seriously! This person was not a worthy opponent. There was no need to waste time on this insect!

However, Marquis Haldir was not finished.

"Devour him, my babies!"

The tips of each thorny vines proliferated into heads of plant-eaters and proceeded to bite at the Ant King with their drooling mouths, full of razor-sharp thorns. Their drool was not real drool, but a type of fluid, filled with paralyzing toxins that help the plant-eaters devour their prey.

"Watch your spear? How is that a spear?! What kind of plants of those?!" Elder Evergreen widened his eyes at the sight.

The plant-eaters appear menacing. Unfortunately, it was useless! Instead of tearing away at the Ant King, the plant-eaters looked like they were just nibbling or play biting. Their thorns failed to pierce the Ant King's skin!

(A bit interesting, but it is useless!)

The Ant King grabbed a plant-eater and tore it away with its bare hands. When the plant-eater was ripped apart, it quickly withered and died.

"No!"

Marquis Haldir cried with a pained look. These plant-eaters were not just any ordinary plant and were exceptionally rare. Even if he supplied them with wood energy, he would not be able to revive them!

The plant-eaters were torn apart one after another, and the Supreme Elder became deathly pale at a loss. He had relied on these plant-eaters to fend off Rank 1 Transcendent beasts from the Great Forest of Elvengarde.

"How can this be?! How can its skin be this tough?!"

Elder Evergreen dashed forward and blocked a blow from the Ant King while the Supreme Elder was staring blankly into space.

"If you have any bigger moves, now is the time to used it!"

"That was my best move!" Marquis Haldir was ashamed. It was as Elder Evergreen had said, only metal or fire Transcendents of the same level would be able to kill the Ant King. Their own attacks were too weak.

"Take everyone and get as far away from here as possible, while I hold it back! It cannot be killed!"

Boom!

Not long after Elder Evergreen made the call, a black spear dropped in front of Elder Evergreen while a sword dropped in front of Marquis Haldir, followed by Leon's calm words, "Don't give up just yet. It might not be impossible. Use these weapons and buy me some time, Seniors!"

Elder Evergreen looked up and asked, "What are you planning, boy?"

"You will see!"

Elder Evergreen shook his head before he was alerted by a sense of danger and quickly grabbed the black spear to block the Ant King's sudden attack.

Leon's lips twitched when he saw the state of his black spear after one blow. A black spear forged with top-grade materials and enchanted with Tier 3 runes were bent out of shape just like that…

"Why are you using my spear to block instead of your armor?!"

"My bad, boy! It was a reflective action, haha!" Elder Evergreen laughed awkwardly as he skidded back from the Ant King's attack. "But this spear not half bad! Quite durable and the weight feels just right! The sharpness should not be too shabby, right! You can probably kill Rank 1 Transcendent beasts with a weapon like this!"

"Good weapon!"

Marquis Haldir praised after a few practice swings with the sword enchanted by Tier 3 runes, before jumping into the fray. His arm blurred in a quick succession of slashes on the Ant King, before receiving a blow from the Ant King.

Pang!

Marquis Haldir sent flying over 500 yards away with mild injuries that quickly healed, but Leon closed his eyes with a pained expression as the sword was also bent out of shape.

"It seems I need quickly comprehend Tier 4 runes." Leon mused, before shifting his thoughts.

"Lumi!"

Leon summoned the spirit girl after flying outside the range of the World Tree. That's right, Leon had placed the vengeful spirit in his Worldspace. As it was nighttime, it was alright to take her out.

The poor spirit girl had no idea where she was when she woke up in the Worldspace before she was suddenly kicked out.

"Eh? Eh?! W-What happened? Where am I?" Lumi looked around with a lost expression. "Ah? Leon? Did you call me just now? Where was I just now?"

"In my spatial artifact. Alright, never mind that. I need your help right now. Will you help me?"

Faced with Leon's solemn request, Lumi, who had yet to adapt to the situation, stuttered, "Eh? O-Okay, what do you need my help with—Woah, what a big tree!"

As a spirit, she could fly freely. Lumi's eyes wandered back to the towering presence before they shifted upwards with wide eyes as the World Tree grabbed all her attention.

"Yes, that is the World Tree. Anyway, I need you to protect me against that thing down there if it attacks me. Can you do that?"

Lumi peeled her eyes away from the World Tree reluctantly. After flashing a look at the Ant King below, she gave Leon a confident, okay.

"Thanks!"

Leon took a deep breath with a feeling of refreshment and closed his eyes to recall the inheritance. The condition was right, it was time to test the authenticity of the legends!

After locking onto a specific image in his memory, his eyes snapped open and waved his hand at the sky with Divine Will. Abundant spirit energy began to gather and transform, en masse under his will as they form the initial shape of a giant spiritual array.

He once attempted to create a Tier 1 Spiritual Array in the capital, but it failed due to insufficient spirit energy. This time, there was abundant spirit energy in the atmosphere. As such, he was going to go big and form the best attack-type spiritual array he knew!

Spiritual arrays were divided into tiers by the number of layers required in their construction.

For the spiritual array Leon was constructing, it needed three layers! It was the Tier 3 spiritual array, Heaven's Wrath, that he received from the inheritance.

After the first big spiritual array was formed, Leon became more proficient and created the following two, subsequently smaller spiritual arrays in quicker succession.

"Start luring it over here!"

Leon called out the two elders fighting the Ant King with their life. Elder Evergreen and Marquis Haldir were quick to react as they retreated in his direction.

As the Ant King got close, Leon combined the three layers of spiritual arrays to activate the Tier 3 Spiritual Array, Heaven's Wrath.

Dark clouds were formed above the spiritual array, and many more clouds in the skies were drawn over. As the dark cluster grew bigger, the crackling sounds of thunder could be heard within. A threatening sense of annihilation was spread to all who stood beneath.

The Ant King stopped abusing the two humans and glanced up with caution, only to see Leon flashing it a provocative smile.

Leon had no other choice but to resort to this. He needed to provoke the Ant King's pride and stop it from escaping. At the same time, the spiritual array required more time to gather power.

Spirit energy was poured continuously into the spiritual array and transformed into cracking lightning, full of destructive power.

Scree!

(A puny human like you dare to look down on this king?!)

The Ant King was incited by Leon and flew straight towards Leon with an almighty jump. It could tell Leon was the source of the dark clouds gathering. He did not need to escape. He just needs to kill this puny human, and the problem would resolve itself.

"Lumi!"

The spirit girl had been watching and immediately used Banshee's Scream.

"Rahh!"

The Ant King had no means of defending itself against such a bizarre attack. The soul attack struck its soul directly and shook it greatly.

The Ant King was stunned and narrowly missed Leon as it continued its upward momentum, almost reaching the spiritual array in the sky before crash landing with a boom!

Soul attacks had always been the bane of pure body cultivators. After this failure, the Ant King would surely try to escape, and no one would be able to stop!

"Everyone, get out of the way!" Leon warned.

Although the Tier 3 spiritual array was not fully charged, Leon could not afford to wait any longer after the two elders escaped to a safe distance while Lumi went into his Worldspace.

"Heaven's Wrath, Unleash!"

BOOM!!!

A thick beam of light shot down like tribulation lightning and ripped the earth asunder with its thunderous power of annihilation.

The Ant King did not recover from the soul attack in time, and in the end, did not know how it died as it was swallowed by the destructive lightning that shot down from the sky.

After the lightning subsided and the dark clouds dispersed, all that was left of the Ant King was a crispy charred body.

Chapter 309 - Can't You Poke Softer?

After the fall of the Ant King, the ant problem within the Grassland Region was basically resolved. What was left was the cleanup of the remaining ants that went berserk after the death of their king.

These berserk ants pose no challenge without a powerful Transcendent to lead them. In a short while, the Grassland Region was littered with their carcasses.

The shock brought by the appearance of Heaven's Wrath did not wane even after the dust settled. While everyone became busy with the clean up of the battlefield, their heads were still wrapped around the scene of lightning descending from the skies, and more surprisingly, the person who made it possible.

The power was not as destructive as real tribulation lightning, but it was hardly something a person could withstand. With the ability to command such devastating power of annihilation, who could possibly be the prince's opponent?

While Leon was being revered by countless admiring gazes, he shook his head helplessly. The condition to set up spiritual arrays were strict and too time-consuming to use. It was not practical in battle.

Although they had managed to pull it off, there were too many lucky factors to consider, such as the opponent's unfamiliarity to spiritual arrays, the Ant King's easily provoked pride, and Lumi's presence.

Lumi was the decisive factor.

Without the Banshee's Scream of a Half Corporal state higher vengeful spirit or higher, it might not have been possible to land the hit on the Ant King.

Luckily, they have managed to pull it off, even if the Tier 3 spiritual array only manages to display a fraction of its full power, it was still more than enough.

"Boy, that was truly a big surprise. Who knew that you would have such an impressive ability? Impressive, very impressive. You've saved us all." Elder Evergreen praised in a jolly mood.

Staggering from Elder Evergreen's big pats on the back, Leon smiled wryly, "You have overpraised me, senior. It was everyone's united efforts that save us all."

"No need to be so humble, Your Highness. We all know that without your ability, killing that Ant King would not have been possible. Oh, right. That young lady was also impressive. Where did she go?" Marquis Haldir said.

Facing the curious stares of the people gathered around him, Leon shrugged and sent Lumi out of the Worldspace.

"How did you do that, Leon?"

"What is she really? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"She looks kind of transparent."

"Seems that way to me too."

Everyone watched as the cute spirit girl appeared out of thin air right in front of them. Their eyes widened with surprise and turned to Leon with questioning gazes.

"I have a spatial artifact," Leon admitted. It was no secret at this point.

"Spatial artifacts? That's very interesting, Leon boy. Normal spatial artifacts aren't able to contain living things." Elder Evergreen commented.

"Are you actually a Beast Tamer instead? I heard Beast Tamers possess special spiritual worlds that can store their pets." Faelyn asked with curiosity, while Lilith flashed with a look of wariness.

"Hmm?"

Leon was taken aback by the question, before shaking his head.

Beast Tamers were also a known profession back in the Divine Realm. However, he does not know the method of bonding used by Beast Tamers to store pets in the so-called special spiritual world. He only studied medicine with his father in his past life and never touched on the topic of beast taming.

"I'm not a Beast Tamer, and Lumi isn't a living thing. She's a vengeful spirit."

"What?"

"Vengeful spirit as in, a ghost?"

Everyone suddenly kept their distance with great shock at the revelation.

Lumi took some time to adapt to the change of environment again before understanding what was happening. She did a little curtsy and greeted, "Hi, I am Lumi."

Everyone revealed another round of shock.

"You must be joking with us, Leon boy? When were vengeful spirits this well-mannered?"

"Yeah, vengeful spirits are so ugly and grotesque looking. How can this… this little sister here be a vengeful spirit?"

Leon could not be bothered with these questions and lazily said, "Why don't you all ask the spirit herself? I won't be staying here for long. After settling a few things, I'll be returning to the Capital."

"Oh, right. Lumi." Leon suddenly said.

"Y-Yes?" Lumi answered with slight apprehension and nervousness as she recalled the painful experience.

Leon felt slightly guilty seeing her reaction, but there was nothing he could do about it. At the end of the day, Lumi was a vengeful spirit with an unstable factor. If he was careless, people could die to the evil Lumi.

Nevertheless, he reminded with a softer tone, "…Try to behave yourself… and not kill anyone, okay?"

"O-Okay!"

After being surprised by Elder Evergreen's progress in the Gaian language, Leon introduced the two elders to each other before dragging Lilith away from the group.

The others began to circle around Lumi curiously and barrage her with questions after overcoming their initial fear of vengeful spirits.

"Are you really a vengeful spirit? How come you don't look scary at all?"

"Yeah, you look quite human to me."

"No kidding! Vengeful spirits were originally humans when they were alive. If she doesn't look human, then what is she supposed to look like?"

"C'mon, you know that's not what I mean, and besides, not all vengeful spirits were humans. Don't you know that? They can be from other races too!"

The two elders just stood aside and listened while the younger lads among the palace guards and soldiers vied for a chance to talk with Lumi.

"Enough, all of you get back to work! We have a lot of clean up to do! Don't you know these creature's blood is very corrosive? This place will become a wasteland if we don't clean it up!" An older palace guard walked over and said sternly.

"Eh? Ah…"

"Ah, what?"

"Ah, yes…"

"Hm?"

The older palace guard raised an eyebrow at the soldiers' response.

"I mean... Yes, Sir!" The soldiers corrected and skedaddled, afraid to face the palace guard's iron fist discipline.

"Hmph!"

The palace guard snorted.

In the end, only Faelyn and the two elders were left with Lumi after the rest left the area.

"Hey, hey, can I try touching you?" Faelyn asked, filled with curiosity. She has heard of vengeful spirits back in the tribe, but it was her first time actually seeing one.

"Um…"

Lumi was unsure how to respond to that. If It was a guy asking, she would have considered it harassment.

…

Some distance away, Leon had pulled Lilith away from the group.

"Hey, hey, hey! I also want to talk to Lumi!" Lilith complained.

"There's no hurry. You will get your chance. Anyways, how have you been? I see that you have become quite proficient in the ancient language."

"I've been pretty good! Everyone seemed to have accepted me, and some even respect me! Well, until everything suddenly went crazy with the ants anyway." Lilith said before noticing something in Leon's words and became surprised. "Huh? When did you learn about that?"

"I have pretty good eyes. I saw you talking to some of the villagers during the battle earlier." Leon smiled before continuing, "Since you are already down with the basics, I'll transmit to you the intermediate level. Brace yourself, there's a lot of information to digest."

After giving his warning, Leon poked Lilith in the forehead, just like he did the first time. Lilith winced as the sea of information rushing into her head. She took some time to recover, before pouting, "Can't you poke me a bit softer? You're not gentle at all."

While rubbing her forehead, she continued without waiting for Leon's reply, "Anyway, thank you. I will definitely put this knowledge to good use."

Leon smiled lightly and said, "I'll be relying on you to be my guide in the Wildlands."

"You want to go to the Wildlands?"

Lilith was startled.

"Not now, but in the future. Maybe when everyone in the kingdom is settled. I definitely have to explore the world and see what it has to offer."

"Aren't you being too ambitious? The Wildlands is much more over dangerous and chaotic than you think. Only the strongest of beasts would be able to traverse the Wildlands freely like an unfettered bird. Why not ask me some more questions about the Wildlands for now? I'll try and answer them all."

Leon began heading in the direction of the World Tree. With his back facing her, he waved while saying, "Maybe another time."

"You can go talk to Lumi now, but try not to make her sad or feel threatened. She can become crazy like a real vengeful spirit."

Lilith was left with complicated feelings as Leon left for the World Tree. She felt she owed Leon too much and became confused about their relationship.

Leon seems to place a lot of trust in her for him to be uncaring about more vital information on the Wildlands. Was he not afraid that she would run off and disappear one day?

Leon would have lost big time if that happened, but she would not do that. She was not an ungrateful person.

Sometimes, she feels that they were more than just allies adhering to a business deal. She felt that they were more like good friends, or perhaps something more…

Lilith blushed as her thoughts went off the rail.

Chapter 310 - Wealth In The Palm Of One's Hand

Unaware of Lilith's complicated thoughts, Leon arrived at the foot of the World Tree and began ascending with Divine Will.

The soldiers and palace guards did not need his direct supervision in dealing with the aftermath of the battle and knew what to do. They were trained to handle situations like this and had a steady chain of command. It would be too arrogant and conceited of him to believe they need his leadership.

300fts… 400fts… 500fts…

Leon continued to ascend along the trunk of the World Tree. The higher he flew, the denser the spirit energy in the air became.

"If my speculations are correct, then… It should be possible for me to reach the crown." Leon thought as he was drawing closer to 600ft altitude, even though the World Tree is over 10 thousand feet high.

No, the World Tree has grown slightly taller in the days he had been away. 10 thousand feet was just the initial height of World-level trees.

World Trees still had a lot of room for growth after reaching this height and can grow to a staggering 30 thousand feets.

550fts… 580fts…

Soon, Leon flew past the 600ft altitude mark, but he still had a long way to go before reaching the bottommost level of the World Tree's crown. The crown should be where the spirit energy was the densest.

700fts… 800fts…

"As I thought. I have already broken past the 600ft altitude mark, but I have yet to feel the sky's suppression. The unknown force that makes one difficult to fly higher does not apply within the World Tree domain."

Leon felt a bit excited as he concluded this point.

Flying had always been something achievable by any Heaven Ascension realm practitioners and beyond when he was back in the Divine Realm. But here in Gaia, it had become a luxury only the strong can afford to achieve.

Being infected by the contagious Gaian mentality, Leon felt the joy of being able to fly high. The higher he flew, the further he could see.

At a certain point, he would be able to see the entire Human Domain. He might also be able to see the rest of the Wildlands if he could train his [Spirit Eyes] to the next level and not get his vision obscured by the veil of clouds.

It did not take long before Leon broke past the 1000ft mark, but he did not show any sign of slowing down, nor any signs of being suppressed by the unknown force from the sky.

"About another 5000fts to reach the bottom level of the World Tree's crown, huh? I should reach it." Leon concluded. He depended on Divine Will to fly, but the expenditure of mental energy was minimal. This was something Leon had noticed after his various experiments with the usage of Divine Will.

Divine Will expends the most mental energy when used on intelligent lifeforms with their own wills, moderate amounts when used on the environment, and the least amount when used on himself.

It was surprising that body augmentation under Divine Will experienced the most significant benefit under the least expenditure, although he had yet to test its extent.

Putting all thoughts aside, Leon increased his pace and shot up even faster like he had just kicked the air itself, leaving behind a spiraling trail of wind.

…

His actions did not go unnoticed. He had attracted a few curious gazes even before he started shooting into the skies.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you working?" A palace guard questioned many soldiers who had stopped pushing their earthen wheelbarrow filled with ant parts.

A few soldiers rubbed their eyes as one of them proceeded to answer, "Sorry, Sir. I might be seeing things, but I think I just saw the prince break through the sky's suppression."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Only Transcendents can easily fly within the suppression zone."

"He's not speaking nonsense, Sir! Take a look!"

A few soldiers defended and urged the palace guard to glance at the direction they were pointed. It did not take long before the palace guard became just as surprised as the rest of them.

Elder Evergreen and the Elven Tribe's Supreme Elder were having a small chat when they also paused due to the ongoing commotion.

"This boy is full of surprises, isn't he? I am sure that he had yet to reach the Transcendent realm. Is he supposed to be flying with such ease?" Elder Evergreen commented after listening to the crowd.

Elder Evergreen was intrigued. Living underground his entire life, he had never heard of the suppression of the sky.

"That's for sure. I'm rather interested in what ability the prince is using to fly. I cannot sense any manipulation of elements from His Highness." Marquis Haldir said, before adding, "As for the sky's suppression… there isn't any."

Elder Evergreen was taken aback. It was true that he could not sense any force pressing down from the sky, but the soldiers would not spout rubbish without reason. And when there is a whole crowd doing it, there must be some truth to it.

"There is indeed a tremendous force suppressing the entire sky, but we will not experience while we are within the World Tree's domain, Senior. The World Tree is blocking off the suppression."

Marquis Haldir was relatively aged, but compared to an old monster like Elder Evergreen, he was still considered rather young. He was also slightly inferior in cultivation. As such, it was only right for him to address the other person as senior despite both being in the same realm.

Both the Supreme Elder and the elven princess Faelyn were familiar with the cause due to their experience with their Elder Tree. As such, they did not share the crowd's sentiments when they witness Leon ascending with ease.

"I see. That is interesting. Still, I am quite curious about what that boy is planning to do up there. What do you think?"

"I'm afraid only his Highness can answer your question. I am just as clueless, Senior."

"Never mind then." Elder Evergreen gave the Supreme Elder a look and asked, "It seems you also have something you want to talk to me about?"

"It seems I can't hide anything from Senior's discerning eyes. There is something I wish to discuss with Senior about…"

…

As the two elders continued their discussion, Leon finally stepped foot on the bottommost level of the World Tree's crown. The place was seething with spirit energy that it was naked to the human eye.

Leon took a deep breath as his eyes brightened with a refreshing feeling, before mumbling, "If I can practice divine cultivation here, it should not be a problem breaking through to Revolving Core in a month."

This is just base on the standard breathing technique of absorbing and refining spirit energy. If he relied on additional abilities and cultivation pills, his divine cultivation speed would shoot up drastically.

Let alone one month, it might be achievable in a single week, provided that the density of spirit energy did not decrease.

"Haiz, better focus on the first two objectives first. I can come back again after resolving everything the present problems."

Leon shook his head as he recalled what he came to do. After reaching the central region of the World Tree's crown, Leon sat down on a thick branch that was no different from a very fat log.

"Let's try something first!"

Leon swallowed a Spiritual Enhancement Pill and regulated his breathing before activating Divine Will.

"Spirit energy, gather!"

Swoosh!

The leaves rustled with the gushing wind as dense amounts of spirit energy began to rush towards Leon's palm from every direction like numerous pythons.

After the ball of spirit energy floating above his palm became as fat as 16 watermelons, Leon stopped gathering further spirit energy and began to slowly clench into a fist.

"Condense!"

Leon's eyes lit up when the ball of spirit energy shrank into liquification, but he did not stop and went one step further.

"Compress!"

The spherical liquified spirit energy began to shrink even more until it finally solidified into a walnut-sized crystal rock.

"It works!" Leon was overjoyed as the ball of solidified spirit energy dropped onto his palm. Feeling the texture of the object and sensing the spirit energy inside, Leon laughed, "Hahaha, I created a spirit stone, and it's a spirit stone of the highest grade!"

"If anyone had this kind of ability back in the Divine Realm, they would never have to fear having no money!"

Spirit stones were the primary source of currency in the Divine Realm and were divided into four grades of low, mid, high, and supreme.

100 low-grade spirit stones were equal to 1 mid-grade spirit stone, and 100 mid-grade spirit stones were equivalent to 1 high-grade spirit stone. By that subsequent order, 1 supreme-grade spirit stone was worth 1 million low-grade spirit stones.

Looking at the size of his walnut, it was quite small compared to the standard supreme-grade spirit stones, but it was a supreme-grade spirit stone nevertheless! It should be worth at least 500 thousand low-grade spirit stones!

Chapter 311 - Settling Eastfell City's Survivors

After some time, Leon's excitement toned down. Thinking back, being able to create supreme-grade spirit stones was impressive, but the current world has no market value.

Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time before it does as people discover their usage in cultivation, formations, and arrays.

At least for now, having the ability to create spirit stones ensured that he would not lack the resource to power his formations and arrays.

After storing the supreme-grade spirit stone in his Worldspace, Leon began to produce his second piece of supreme-grade spirit stone.

Spirit stones were divided into four grades, but their grades were determined by their purity. A spirit stone made of pure spirit energy can only be a supreme-grade spirit stone, while low-grade spirit stones are usually stones with some spirit energy inside them.

In a short moment, another supreme-grade spirit stone of a similar size was solidified into shape.

"Haiz… How great would it be if divine cultivation also works the same way? Unfortunately, refining energy is not that simple. If I replicate this method, I will feel like having a dead brick in my glabella. The quality will be terrible, and drawing power will be slow. This would be like having the energy reserves of a Revolving Core realm, but only being able to exert the strength of a Body Tempering realm."

Leon sighed before shaking his head.

"Never mind. Although I do not need to fear the rush of energy with my tempered meridians, there is no need to rush my divine cultivation. It will be too troublesome to remove it later when I properly start training. The loss time would far outweigh the gains. I better focus on completing my main objectives first."

Time flew in the following period. Leon exhausted all his mental strength to produce a total of 8 supreme-grade spirit stones.

After that, he moved onto his second objective and manifested the [Divine Book of Life] to absorb the remaining spirit energy in the surroundings to help the heavenly artifact recover.

The power of a heavenly artifact that came from the era of Old Gods was never to be underestimated, even when it is a damaged one.

Leon witnessed the powerful absorption ability of the [Divine Book of Life] once more as it whipped up a terrible storm of energy and threatened to devour the spirit energy clean. If not for the World Tree continuously producing spirit energy, he feared that it would have been the case.

After the spirit energy was funneled into the Worldspace, the energy was directly dumped into the [Universal Life Conversion Array] that began to rotate like a grinder after it was activated by the presence of energy.

Once the spirit energy was broken down and transformed into life energy, it was spat out from the other side of the [Universal Life Conversion Array] and scattered onto the Sacred Garden like a water sprinkler.

Some grey zones on the edges recovered their color, and many spirit herbs grew more lively as their growth slightly accelerated.

Several stalks of Tier 3 spirit herbs, which were initially going to take a whole year to reach Tier 4, began showing signs of a breakthrough. As for Tier 2 spirit herbs and below, they all leveled up directly.

"Mine, mine, mine, all mine!"

Maya ran into the Sacred Garden and began competing with the spirit herbs for the life energy like a child trying to drink the rainwater. In the end, she managed to wrestle away a larger portion of the life energy, and the Tier 3 spirit herbs failed to reach Tier 4.

Nevertheless, the timing has been greatly reduced, and it was only a matter of time before they reach Tier 4 spirit herbs eventually.

Leon did not mind the artifact spirit's action and allowed it to do as it pleases. There were no urgent needs for Tier 4 spirit herbs, and the artifact spirit was considered the heart of the heavenly artifact.

He would be too short-sighted if he prioritized a few trivial Tier 4 spirit herbs over the recovery of the artifact spirit.

The manifested [Divine Book of Life] was returned to his soul core after seeing the spirit energy level in the surrounding reduced to a bare minimum.

After spending the following half an hour resting to recover some mental strength, Leon returned to the surface level.

…

The surface of the Grassland Region glowed with many dots of light sources as the soldiers continued to clean up the region through the night.

Many areas near the foot of the World Tree were devastated with splashed of ant blood and deep craters created during the battle.

The two elders had not been idle and contributed significantly to the restoration of the Grassland Region. The craters were patched up, and the corrosive blood were all purified.

A large mountain of ant carcasses could be seen to one corner of the field as the soldiers continued dumping more scattered ant parts to the pile with their earthen wheelbarrows.

There were less than 3000 soldiers on the job, not a significant amount of manpower to clean up the several hundred thousand carcasses in a few hours.

Most of the work had been done by Elder Evergreen after he shifted them to one side like a bulldozer under his manipulation of the earth. The soldiers were only in charge of cleaning up the remnant parts left behind.

Nevertheless, it still took some time to settle everything.

After the last wheelbarrow full of parts were dumped onto the mountain of carcasses, work was pretty much done. There were still large patches of land devoid of grass, but this was not a problem.

Everyone celebrated the completion of the task and began prepping for dinner and relax for the night.

…

After reaching the ground, Leon quickly found Lilith and Faelyn sitting by a small fire with teary expressions next to Lumi. Heading over with a peculiar look, he asked, "What's wrong with you two?"

Flashing Lumi a quick glance, Leon continued, "Did Lumi bullied you two or something?"

"No, not at all!" The two girls quickly denied in unison. "Lumi's story is just so sad. No woman should have to suffer like her."

Sniff… Sniff…

Recalling the story of how Lumi became a vengeful spirit, Leon did find it unfortunate, but that was it. He was unable to sympathize with the spirit girl like the two ladies are. There is simply too much injustice in the world.

After some small talk, Leon left them and found a relatively high-ranking soldier to inquire about the war.

"Is there something I can help you with, Your Highness?"

"What's the latest news on the war?"

"Glad you asked, Your Highness." The soldier's eyes lit up with excitement at the question before continuing, "The messenger just arrived earlier today, Your Highness. It was our overwhelming victory. The Bloodfiend Sect was destroyed, and the Valaran Kingdom submitted to our ruling. However, I heard it was the Burning Heaven Sect that destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect."

"The Burning Heaven Sect did? What do they want? Don't tell me they want to play the fisherman in this war?"

"Not at all, Your Highness. They departed as soon as they destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect and left all the loots behind as a greeting gift to express their goodwill to us."

"I see…"

Leon's brows were knitted, but he no longer bothered the soldier and allowed the soldier to return to his meal after getting all his questions answered.

It appeared that his mother was returning with Lynne and Aria, but he would not be around to welcome them as his adoptive mother's situation grows bleaker with time.

After settling a few things and sending Lumi back into the Worldspace, he began making his journey back to the Capital alone through the night.

Marquis Haldir and Princess Faelyn did not wish to follow him and stay behind to learn more about Elder Evergreen and his people.

…

Capital.

Earlier in the day, just after Leon departed with Marquis Haldir and Faelyn for the World Tree direction, the Capital became busy dealing with the new arrivals from Eastfell Region.

A long line of survivors was seen queueing up for identity recording after their airship was forced to disembark outside the Capital.

After getting their names and previous occupations recorded, they were escorted to a temporary refugee camp until appropriate lodgings were arranged.

The survivors were very compliant, and everything proceeded smoothly with the palace guards keeping the order. Alas, it was not completely smooth.

Trouble started arising when a few defiant survivors failed to drop their hoods as they were asked to have their facial appearance recognized.

Chapter 312 - Silent Night

"Next."

A bulky man with rough hands stepped forward after being called out by the official clerk. The official clerk glanced at the man brimming with tight muscles, before proceeding with the paperwork.

"Name?"

"I am John. Just John, Sir."

"Age?"

"38, turning 39 in 3 months."

"Past occupation?"

"I was a carpenter back in Eastfell City, before all hell broke loose, Sir." The bulky man spoke with lingering uneasiness.

"Alright, that's enough. Follow this man to the back to have your picture drawn, then you will be escorted to the camp for your temporary accommodation. You'll be notified when your residential permit and lodgings in the Capital are approved and arranged."

The clerk was not interested in the man's story and carried on with his work. After scribbling down the information and passing it to another clerk, he urged the man to move on.

"Next."

"Wait, Sir. What about my family?" The bulky man asked as he glanced back at his wife and two sons lining up in the queue behind him.

"They will rejoin after having their information recorded." The clerk paused before adding, "If you are not comfortable with that, you can wait here and head off together after I am done with recording their information."

"I will do just that. Thank you, Sir."

Towards the bulky man's sincere gratitude, the clerk nodded and called out, "Next!"

A total of ten booths were set up for the sake of processing the group of survivors. As the survivors slowly shuffled forward in line, they were still baffled by the strict regulations as city guards, and palace guards were guarding the area.

"What's going on at the front? Does anyone know why we need to line up here? I heard that the royal family would provide us with new homes and food, is that true?"

"It should be. I don't think there's anything to gain from lying to us common folks, but it has never been this strict to enter a city before."

"This isn't just any city. This is the Capital. I heard it is a new regulation being implemented by the king. The Capital is currently undergoing huge developments and needed a lot of manpower, but they don't take in just anyone."

"Eh? Where did you hear this from?"

"From the city guards. I have a pretty good pair of ears and overheard them whispering about it just a little while ago."

"Eh? That's pretty impressive."

The survivors at the far back of the queue were seen quietly whispering to each other. Suddenly, there was a commotion breaking out upfront.

"Eh, something is happening up ahead. I wonder what it is?"

"We were promised food and housing, what kind of trouble could there be? Could the royal family be going back on their words?" A person said nervously.

"Shh, don't say that. Are you crazy? Oh right, wasn't there a guy with good hearing here? Tell us what's happening up ahead."

"It seems like a few people are refusing to cooperate." The person said after listening.

In the back of one booth, three hooded survivors refused to lower their hoods to record their facial appearances.

"Please cooperate nicely. If you do not drop your hoods and let me draw your faces, you will not be allowed to enter the camp, let alone the Capital."

The three survivors remained silent as they hugged their hoods tightly and refused to let go. From time to time, their bodies could be seen shivering.

Their commotion drew the city guards' attention over as one of them began to question, "What is going on here?"

After the clerk helplessness explained his dilemma to the city guards, they became alerted and eyed the three survivors with sharp looks and swords drawn.

"Refusing to reveal your appearances? I think the three of you are very suspicious!" A city guard said, before forcefully shouting, "They might be spies! Apprehend them for interrogation!"

"No…"

The three hooded survivors were noticeably shaken by the accusation and made an effort to defend themselves as they spoke feebly, "We are not spies…"

"If you are not spies, then why are you refusing to reveal your appearances?! What are you hiding?!" A city guard interrogated strongly.

The three hooded survivors bit their lips and removed their hoods reluctantly. Once their appearances were revealed, the clerk and city guards all gasped with surprise and shock.

"Oh my god, such terrible burns!"

"Their faces are disfigured to the point of being horrifying! Their life is as good as ruined with such appearances!" A city guard made a comment after noticing there were two women among the three survivors.

The disfigured survivors lowered their heads with shame as they quickly cover with their hoods again.

Smack!

"What's the matter with you? No tact at all."

The city guard was quickly smacked on the back of the head before another city guard turned to apologize, "Sorry about that, we did not know your faces were ruined. However, we still need to record your facial appearances before allowing you into the camp."

"What's the situation? Did we catch a spy?" A few more city guards were drawn over by the commotion.

"Nah, it was a false alarm."

The city guard shook his head and urged the others to return to their post as the situation was shortly settled.

Back in the queue, a survivor saw one of the returning city guards. He hurried over and politely inquired, "May I ask what is going on back there, sir?"

"Nothing much. Just a few survivors refusing to show their faces for recording." The city guard answered.

Shortly after, he gathered all the survivors' attention before announcing, "Everyone must remove their hoods and cooperate with the clerks nicely! Do not delay the process further, or your entry will be refused!"

The announcement did not make too much of an impact on the crowd. Only a few had suffered facial burns, while many had sustained burns and injuries in other parts of their bodies.

Nevertheless, there was still some discontent.

"Tch."

A hooded survivor in the queue was disgruntled.

"Shh. Don't affect the plan."

"I know."

A similar disfigured appearance was revealed behind the hood, but it was slightly different from the others upon closer inspection. The disfigured appearance seems to have been caused by self-mutilation, but no one noticed this.

…

Three hours later, all survivors were processed and escorted to the temporary camp. It was not easy for the drawers to sketch a few hundred faces during this time.

Night arrived, and the survivors were served stew and bread for dinner. After finishing their meals, the survivors gathered and talked about their losses and future plans, while others hit up the camp's older commoners for a chat.

Nothing seemed out of place, but upon deeper scrutiny, a group of survivors was inquiring about the Capital and royal family.

Their inquiry did not draw any suspicion from the patrolling guards. It seemed perfectly normal for these survivors from the Eastfell Region to be curious about the new regulations and security circling around the Capital.

When all survivors had long returned to their designated tents to rest, and fewer guards were awake for their patrol shift, a group of survivors from the camp began making their move in the dead of night.

Without alarming anyone, they quietly killed off all the patrolling guards before killing off everyone else asleep, including the commoners and survivors in the camp of roughly 1500 people.

Despite all the killing, the thick scent of blood was absent from the air, and only dried corpses were left behind.

After the corpses were hidden, the group of killers regathered at the camp's center and kneeled before another person with an unfathomable aura and pressure that only Transcendents have.

"Sect Master, everyone on the camp has been killed, and their blood has been collected. How should we infiltrate the city without alarming the watchers?"

"Strip the dead guards and use their armor. We will enter the city under the guise of city guards."

"I'm afraid if all of us enter, our large group would still draw their attention and suspicion."

"We will lead a small group to enter and kill off their watchers first. The rest of you will enter after my signal."

"Understood, Sect Master."

This group of killers was the last of the Bloodfiend Sect. They were also the best of the best within the sect.

None of their cultivation was lower than 5 stars. They were all eligible to become inner elders, but they were not. They were the core disciples.

The Sect Master faced the direction of the Capital with dense killing intent and resentment and gave a cold, confident smile.

The overseer may have interfered with their plans, but he had long predicted that to happen and made contingencies for it.

No one would have been able to guess that the Sect Master was willing to use the entire sect as a diversion.

This was a classic example of sacrificing one's own headquarters to destroy the enemy's headquarters (Capital).

Chapter 313 - Confrontation

In the dead of night, the group of blood cultivators approached the sentries stationed by the eastern bridge leading to Capital's Lower East District.

The sentries immediately noticed them, but they were not alerted due to the city guard's armor adorned by the blood cultivators. Despite that, they were still puzzled why these city guards were returning to the city at this hour.

"Good evening, brothers. What brings you here at this ungodly hour?" A sentry guard called out, but as the torchlight slowly revealed their upcoming appearances, the sentry guard froze at the unfamiliar faces. "Who are…"

The sentry guard did not get to finished asking before one of the blood cultivators closed the distance in an instance and drilled his hand through the sentry guard's leather armor and crushed his heart like a piledriver.

"Y-Y-You…"

In a state of shock and disbelief, the sentry guard stuttered with wide eyes while pointing with a trembling hand.

At the same time, the other sentry guard reacted quickly to the situation and turned around to alarm the others.

"Sound the—"

Unfortunately, his words stopped short after another blood cultivator dashed forward and swiped at the two sentry guard's neck with his hand.

Shortly after, their heads slowly rolled to the ground, deader than dead.

"Go for the head. Don't give them a chance to speak, understand?" The person spoke as he wiped his hand clean with a cloth.

"Yes, Sect Master."

The blood cultivator retracted his hand after draining all the blood from the sentry guard and tossed the headless dried corpse to one side like throwing away trash.

At the same time, the rest of the blood cultivators rushed in with subtle steps and began taking out the rest of the nearby sentries, including the one on the sentry towers with large bells.

"Hm?"

The Sect Master hummed after noticing a slight movement in the shadows of the city on the other side of the eastern bridge and spoke, "A rat got away."

"Allow me to finish him off."

"Do it cleanly."

The Sect Master nodded after one of the core disciples quickly volunteered and dashed off in pursuit. Shortly after, the core disciple returned with a dried head.

"This must be one of those shadow guards mentioned by Zagan."

At the mention of Zagan, the Sect Master eyed the said person and snorted with displeasure, before asking, "How's the transplant?"

"Pretty good, but not as good as the real one. Thanks for asking, Uncle Balthazar."

"Hmph! That is what you get for acting on your own! If you were not part of my Denholm family, I would have had you killed for your insolent actions." The Sect Master of the Bloodfiend Sect, Balthazar Denholm, flicked his wrist and proceeded to order a core disciple, "Go call the others over."

"Yes, Sect Master."

After the Bloodfiend Sect gathered, their group of 30 entered the Capital sneakily and climbed onto the rooftops.

"Ignore the others. We head straight for the palace and kill the king first. Others can live, the royal family must die!" Balthazar Denholm spoke.

As they quietly darted across the rooftops and scaled over the upper wall, quickly entering the Upper District and continued straight for the palace, several more shadows shifted in the night.

"There are more rats here. Quickly take them out."

Four core disciples immediately dashed out in the four directions of the escaping shadow guards, pursuing them like chasing shadows.

The rest of the members continued advancing along with their Sect Master until they suddenly discovered something.

"Wait." Balthazar Denholm halted everyone with one hand. After crouching towards the edge of the rooftop and gazing at the buildings ahead, he hummed in thought. "Hmm."

"There seems to be something important about this place for it to be walled off and guarded by palace guards." A core disciple whispered softly with narrowed eyes.

While the Bloodfiend Sect quietly inspected the area, the other four core disciples caught up and rejoined their group.

Suddenly, one of the palace guards below shouted, "Who goes there?!"

The shout caught the Bloodfiend Sect by surprise. They all grabbed the hilt of their swords, ready for battle.

"How did they discover us?" A core disciple said gloomily, but another person quickly said, "It's not us. Look."

…

Shortly after the palace guard shouted, the other palace guards rushed over from their post as they surround the approaching figure with all their weapons drawn.

The figure had an indifferent expression as he walked out of the darkness and into the illuminated area surrounding Lost Isle Alley.

"It's me." The person spoke.

The palace guards all showed surprises after getting a good look at the person before they sheathed their weapons, and respectfully greeted, "Your Highness!"

…

Your Highness?!

In that instance, the members of the Bloodfiend Sect lurking on the rooftops all expressed their surprises. They did not expect the royal prince to deliver himself right to them before they even reached the palace.

At the same time, Zagan gazed at the prince in the distance and felt a stabbing pain in his chest area with unreconciled hatred, causing intense killing intent to surge inside. He failed to suppress it and allowed a trace of killing intent to escape.

There was a slight pause in Leon's steps before he resumed his movements like nothing had happened. After whispering some words to the palace guards, he sent all away on an errand.

"Hahaha, Lady Luck is smiling upon us. This stupid boy actually sent all the palace guards away. Sect Master, we should take this golden chance to kill him while we are still in the dark!" A core disciple whispered excitedly.

Another core disciple did not share the same excitement. With a calm look, he asks, "What are your orders, Sect Master? Shall we kill the prince right here and now, or do we continue to aim for the king first?"

"We need to kill that little bastard. We have already been exposed."

Balthazar had a look of indifference as he already viewed the royal prince as a dead man. The royal prince would not be able to escape his clutches from this distance.

"What? We are already exposed? How?"

Contrary to Balthazar's indifference, the core disciples were surprised by the news. They immediately understood after the Sect Master flashed Zagan Denholm a glance. But then they wrinkled their brows with confusion afterward.

"If we are already exposed, why would that little bastard send away all his palace guards?"

"Maybe his head had been kicked by a donkey?"

"Or maybe he was dropped when he was born?"

Hearing these comments, Balthazar's lips rose into a smile and chuckled coldly, "Hahaha, perhaps! Overconfidence is also a form of stupidity. That little bastard is already at 9-star Ranked Awakener realm. None of you are his match, but he is still an ant to me!"

"What?! That kid is?"

"Isn't this kiddy prince only 17 years old?"

The core disciples were greatly shocked by their sect master's words, while Zagan had disbelief written all over his face.

"Impossible! That little bastard was only at the 9th step two months ago!"

Little bastard? More like a little monster! Weren't his talents a bit too terrifying? These were the thoughts of the core disciples.

…

Leon erected a stone throne from the ground before seating himself. He casually glanced in the general direction of the killing intent he sensed earlier and quickly locked onto the rooftop lurkers with his divine sense.

"Come out! There's no use hiding."

Leon spoke with a commanding tone. At the same time, he was intrigued by his own luck, running into the enemy just after returning from the World Tree.

If he did not sense the faint trace of killing intent, he would not have realized the enemy had snuck into the Capital.

None of these remaining blood cultivators looked like pushovers. The weakest of them was at 5 stars of the Ranked Awakener realm, while the palace guards were between 3-4 stars of the Ranked Awakener realm. They would have died in vain if they stayed.

"Hahaha! Little bastard, you are very arrogant!" Balthazar spoke while jumping down from the rooftop.

"You must be the Sect Master of the Bloodfiend Sect. You are even more arrogant than I am by coming here."

"Hahaha! If I can't even handle a little runt like you, I would have cultivated it in vain! Do you think you can buy enough time for the Transcendent to come save you?" Balthazar spoke with extreme confidence as he instantly saw through Leon's 'plan.'

While it was true that palace guards were sent to alert Grandpa Don and the others, Leon did not place his hopes on their help. He gazed at the Sect Master with a burning battle spirit.

A Preliminary Accession-level Transcendent was different to a Rank 1 Transcendent beast. Human flesh was innately weak. As long as there was an opening, he still had a chance at killing a Transcendent.

"There's no need for Grandpa Don's help. I, alone, am enough to handle all of you!" Leon said domineeringly as he pulled the black spear out from the Worldspace.

"…"

Balthazar narrowed his eyes as he looked at the 'L' shaped spear in Leon's hand with anger, feeling humiliated.

"Ahem, my bad. I grabbed the wrong weapon just now." Leon coughed. He forgot to fix the black spear.

"Is this some sort of joke? You want to deal with me using that broken toy of yours? It seems a little bastard like you do not take me seriously! I ought to teach you that Transcendents are not to be trifled with!"

Balthazar exuded dense killing intent and pressure exerted by Transcendents. He had thoughts of capturing the prince to lure out the king.. But after being angered, he just wants to kill the cheeky runt.

Chapter 314 - Transcendental Battle Power

"I'm going to have fun dismembering your limbs and parade your head around the city after I'm done, but don't take it too personally, kid. You only have yourself to blame for being born into the wrong family and kingdom."

"Less nonsense and just fight!"

Leon was not interested in listening. Any place would have its own struggles and hardship.

"You are too insolent, kid! Since you are in a hurry to reincarnate, let me send you off!"

Balthazar growled as a malevolent aura gushed out his body like a tidal wave with pulsating pressure. After drawing his sword and slicing his own body, his flesh split open, and blackish-red blood oozed out of his fresh wounds like goo.

The blackish-red blood was incredibly thick and evil. It spread like boiling bubbles and contained thousands of human faces that appeared like their very souls were trapped within.

It was uncertain how much lives were taken to reach such a sickening state of blood refinement that emanated a pungent and putrid stench of iron and death.

After covering Balthazar's entire body, sword included, the blood hardened into a black armor with crimson sheen.

[Blood Armament]

Balthazar locked onto Leon's figure with sharp eyes, and his billowing malevolent aura surged with sharpness as they start to converge on the tip of his sword.

Whether it was bravery or foolishness, Balthazar had no intention of going easy on Leon just because of his superior cultivation level.

"Eat my sword!"

Balthazar hacked out with a vertical sword slash, and an energy wave of bloody aura swept towards Leon in the form of a crescent moon!

Crimson Moon Slash!

Realm of Sword Spirit! Infusing spirit into one's attack!

"So, you are also a Swordsman!"

Leon dodged to the side without any intention of changing his weapon as the bloody aura narrowly missed and cleaved the earthen wall behind apart. Since he had taken out the 'L' shaped black spear, he will use it!

The bloody aura did not stop and continued to strike the old buildings of Lost Isle Alley, but Leon did not turn to check the damage. He could not afford to divide his attention in the middle of battle.

The ring of grey energy within the black vortex of his sea of consciousness was set ablaze and transformed into a ring of fire.

Leon tightened the grip on the black spear and channeled the fiery energy into his spear along with his infused indomitable spirit before sweeping out with an attack of his own!

However!

Due to his spear's shape, the fiery energy was discharged oddly like an ill coiling dragon learning how to be a frog. As it headed towards Balthazar, it seared the ground with each bounce.

"Hmph! What a joke!"

Balthazar snorted.

Such an attack was a complete embarrassment!

The fiery coiling dragon attack lost half its momentum and power by the time it reached Balthazar and was directly slapped away with ease. No burns were suffered due to the protection of Balthazar's Blood Armament.

"Old bastard, help me straighten out my spear!"

Right then, a forceful spear blow dropped down from above Balthazar's head as the flames of the fiery dragon attack disperse from the slap. After his first attack, Leon had not been idle and had followed close behind the fiery dragon like he chasing the dragon's tail before leaping in the air with a downward swing.

"Hmph! Want to compete in physical strength? You're not—"

Balthazar snorted and received Leon's blow with confidence, but his expression drastically changed when the sword and spear were contacted.

"What!"

Boom!

It was like Balthazar had been struck five times in the span of one attack, as Leon struck with the force of five echoes, a fivefold increase in his physical strength. Under the augmentation of Divine Will, his attack received a further 50% boost in physical strength.

Balthazar's hands trembled greatly and cracked the ground beneath his feet with the first wave, while the subsequent waves forced Balthazar down on one knee as he suffered the brunt force of Leon's almost 70,000 jin spear strike.

If not for the Blood Armament reinforcing Balthazar's defense, he would have been crushed into the ground. What kind of strength was this?!

Balthazar flushed with rage after losing to Leon in a contest of brute strength. Was this little bastard actually a beast in human skin?!

A 9-star Ranked Awakener only had 9000 jin of physical strength, while a Transcendent's physical strength was 10,000 jins!

"Haaa!"

With an intimidating shout, Balthazar empowered himself with surging blood energy and struck out forcefully as he stood up.

The force not only push Leon back, it also sent him flying! Leon slammed into the earthen wall behind him. He grunted from the impact but did not suffer substantial damage.

"Good fucking job, little bastard. You certainly outdid yourself this time! I've underestimated you! But don't think I am the same as that useless brother of mine who fell under your mother's blade!"

Balthazar spat and glared at Leon with a vicious gleam.

Unaffected by Balthazar's glare, Leon glanced at the glowing red spear that he had been feeding with his fiery energy before shouting, "Again!"

Leon launched himself forward from the wall and sent out a flurry of attacks in quick succession, while Balthazar received them calmly.

Cling! Cling! Clang!

In a short instance, the two exchanged over two dozen blows as their weapons clashed. Each time Leon's fiery spear and Balthazar's blood sword contacted, Leon would get blown away, but he would shoot straight back like an infallible cockroach.

Any other human in Leon's shoes would have already suffered numerous bone fractures and become disabled from fighting. However, thanks to his incredible physique and stage one of [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard], he was quite durable and only suffered bruising.

"Haha! Old bastard, your strikes are pretty weak! Eat another one of my spear strikes!"

Leon raised his strength to six echoes. Coupled with Divine Will augmentation, the force of his spear reached 81 thousand jins, but still 19 thousand jin shy of Balthazar's casual strikes.

Peng!

Leon flew back again. This time, he did not crash into the earthen wall or any buildings but slid along the ground after landing.

Six echoes were Leon's current limit.

This is due to him having yet to master the execution of seven echoes and not because his body could not endure the stress of seven echoes. [9 Echo Oscillating Fist] was just a foundational technique for body forging practitioners.

After reaching stage one in [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard], tempering his meridians and possessing the Five Element Body physique, his body could endure the strain of seven echoes. Anything beyond that, Leon was not confident unless he tempers his bones.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again!"

Leon and Balthazar exchanged another five dozen blows, but Leon did not show any signs of tiring. After reaching six dozen clashes, Leon retreated some distance and laughed, "Haha! Many thanks for helping me straighten out my spear, Old bastard!"

"What!? You dare treat me like a tempering hammer?!"

Balthazar almost coughed blood from anger.

He found it strange that the 'L' shaped spear got straighter with each clash. He initially thought it was a coincidence due to his great strength, but it turns out that the little bastard was not kidding when he asked him to help straighten his spear!

"Hahaha! Now I can fight seriously!" Leon laughed.

If not for Leon focusing on heating his spear and making it more malleable, it would not have been possible for Balthazar to strike a Tier 3 weapon back into shape so easily.

Balthazar was a little startled with Leon's outrageous claims and asked with suppressed anger, "Are you telling me, you have been holding back all this time?"

"Did you think it was so easy to straighten a weapon enchanted with Tier 3 runes back into shape with just your strength alone?" Leon looked at Balthazar with a mocking smile.

Balthazar was stunned. What the hell are Tier 3 runes?

It was unheard of for a 9-star Ranked Awakener to be this powerful, and yet this 9-star Ranked Awakener could still become stronger? Wouldn't that mean that the little bastard possessed the strength to rival Transcendents without reaching Transcendence?

Seeing Balthazar's incomprehensible look, Leon shook his head. "Never mind. An uncultured person like you would not know what runes are."

Balthazar was immediately enraged.

To think that someone like him, the Sect Master of the Bloodfiend Sect, was forced to go all out against someone who had not even stepped into the Transcendent realm.

"Little bastard, you are far too insolent! So what if you the power to rival Transcendents? Even among Transcendent of the same level, there is a great difference in strength! I'm going to make sure you die a painful death!"

After those words were spoken, Balthazar's eyes turned completely bloodshot. Along with his increased heart rate, his body temperature rose sharply with skin turning red, and veins protruded all over his body.

Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

After sensing the dangerous transformation taking place within Balthazar, Leon became solemn.