532-544

Chapter 532 - Explosive Enchantments

Inside the vine dome, Princess Thessalia opened her eyes to a dark surrounding. Her body was wracked with pain and weakness, while her memory was a blurry and jumbled mess.

The only source of light was the soft green glow coming from the Supreme Elder's Wood Energy.

"Supreme Elder?" Princess Thessalia muttered weakly.

"Shh, don't talk and just focus on healing." Supreme Elder Haldir hushed with a solemn look before he focused on healing Princess Thessalia's wound in silence.

Princess Thessalia laid still on the broken deck and tried to recall what happened.

However, her memory was still fuzzy, causing her to shake her head before covering her mouth and started a sudden fit of violent coughing.

Shortly after, she noticed her hand was filled with blood.

"Save your energy and don't make any sudden movements. You can move all you want when your body is in better shape." Supreme Elder Haldir frowned with a chiding tone.

"Sorry, Supreme Elder." Princess Thessalia apologized.

Her gaze shifted down before color was quickly drained from her face after seeing the state of her body under the weak green glow of Wood Energy emitted from the Supreme Elder's palm on her stomach.

Her body was ridden with holes from the neck down with blood gushing out from them.

Supreme Elder Haldir did his best to stop the bleeding and preserve the organs of her upper body, but her legs could not be felt.

Suddenly, she froze.

If her body was in such a state, what about the others?

Princess Thessalia scrutinized her eyes and tried to peer into the darkness of her surroundings before she discovered the bloodied corpses of the airship crew and all her personal guards.

Tears quickly filled her eyes.

Everyone was leaving her one after the other. First was her family. Now, even her loyal personal guards have left her.

Only her baby sister was left.

"Calm your emotions." Supreme Elder Haldir's voice rang out again after noticing her agitated emotions before he explained, "I was unable to save everyone, unfortunately. Only you managed to survive."

The Supreme Elder had caught the elf princess before the airship crashed at the foot of the Great Wall.

The airship crew and Princess Thessalia's personal guards had all died in the crash. Even if they managed to survive the crash, they would not have lived for long.

Supreme Elder Haldir did not have enough hands to have healed everyone's punctured wounds.

Princess Thessalia closed her eyes painfully in sorrow before she wept silently.

…

On the Great Wall, General Marquis Hendrick was ready to give the retreat order for everyone below the 9th step Awakener Realm.

He did not want to sacrifice good soldiers to senseless casualties that could be avoided.

Just as he raised his hand and about to give the order, a soldier suddenly exclaimed, "The Skysilver Beast King has returned!"

"That Transcendent-level three-tailed silver wolf is? Then that should also mean…"

"His Highness has returned!" Another soldier shouted with excitement before the other soldier could finish speaking.

At that moment, Leon dived straight into the mutated rat tide with his Tier 4 Bone Spear, while Silver followed not too far behind him.

Boom!

Leon landed heavily inside the middle of the mutated rat tide like some fiery meteor, immediately crushing a mutated rat under his feet to death!

Swoosh~!

The earth underneath quickly cracked and formed a small crater from his heavy landing before he swept out with his bone spear, sending dozens of mutated rats hurling into the air before their bodies separated into diced pieces from lethal wind pressure.

Some distance away from Leon, the three-tailed silver wolf crushed dozens of mutated rats before sweeping away hundreds more with its iron tails.

"Awrooo!"

Silver gave a mighty howl, exerting its dominant presence on the field.

The mutated rat tide's attention was quickly attracted, but they did not swarm their way over. Instead, they raised their back and pointed their lightning spikes at Silver and Leon.

"Silver!"

"Awroof!"

In a short instance, countless lightning spikes were shot their way.

However, thanks to Leon's warning, the three-tailed silver wolf did not dare take the lightning spikes lightly. Even its instincts screamed danger.

Nevertheless, the hundreds of lightning still landed on the three-tailed silver wolf's body.

However, they were no different from soft pricks for the three-tailed silver wolf after its body was reinforced from shrinking.

What the three-tailed silver wolf really needed to protect was its vulnerable eyes.

After a quick body roll, the three-tailed silver wolf evaded all the lightning spikes aimed at its eyes before it lunged straight into another group of mutated rats and began its rampage.

At the same time, numerous lightning spikes landed on Leon's body, but none was able to harm him. His tempered flesh resisted all damage while his lion-headed cloak protected his head.

Nevertheless, a few lightning spikes got stuck in between gaps on his lion head.

After removing them all for a quick study, he snapped them in half with a clench of his fist, causing electrical sparks to quickly escape and disperse into the surroundings.

His eyes quickly flickered before tightening his grip and ignited his bone spear on fire, causing the mutated rats in Leon's surroundings to immediately retreated.

Although Leon was surprised by their self-awareness of danger, he did not give them any chances of escaping and dashed right after them.

Boom!

After sweeping out with his flaming spear, the fire contacted the mutated rat's lightning spikes and generated a violent reaction!

Boom! Boom!

Hundreds of mutated rats exploded after coming into contact with Leon's sweeping flame wave!

At the same time, Aria continued to rain icicle showers and assisted Leon from the sky as they battled with diminishing mutated rat tide.

"Well, don't just stand there and watch while my son-in-law is fighting out there alone. You should all help too." Duke Ignis arrived before speaking on the Great Wall.

"Duke Ignis? Where have you been at this time?" General Marquis Hendrick glanced over at the Duke's face covered in soot and sweat.

"Working on a new product, of course!" Duke Ignis grinned before barking to the blacksmiths behind him, "Bring them over to the idle cannons!"

"Yes, Your Grace!"

"Are these all cannonballs?" General Marquis Hendrick gazed into the wooden crates filled with round black objects before he raised an eyebrow at the engravings on them, "No, these aren't normal cannonballs, are they?"

"Nope, they are all enchanted with explosive runes!"

Chapter 533 - Grand Surya Desert

The cannons were quickly adjusted and loaded with enchanted cannonballs before the blacksmiths awaited the Duke's command.

"Fire!" Duke Ignis immediately barked.

Once the order was heard loud and clear, the blacksmiths quickly fired the cannon with their fire abilities.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of deafening roars were heard from the cannon before the enchanted cannonballs shot into the distance.

Ssss—!

The enchanted cannonballs whistled through the air with incredible speed before losing momentum rapidly before dropping on the mutated rat tide.

BOOM!

The enchanted cannonballs immediately erupted into a massive fiery blaze of epic proportions upon impact!

Everyone on the Great Wall was greatly startled by the grand explosion before them as the flames soared rapidly, swallowing tens of thousands of mutated rats.

Boom! Boom!

Numerous micro explosions occurred in quick succession as the flames and lightning chain reacted within the mutated rats' bodies.

Some explosions took place exceedingly close to the fallen airship, causing Duke Ignis to bark, "Watch where you're aiming!"

"I am deeply sorry, Your Grace!" the blacksmith apologized with guilt after being smacked on the head.

"Let my soldiers handle the cannons. Your blacksmiths are not familiar with these tools." General Marquis Hendrick stated.

"Not familiar, you say?" Duke Ignis shook his head before he asked, "And who do you think made these cannons?"

"That is not what I mean, Duke Ignis. Being good at making something does not mean one is also good at using said something." General Marquis Hendrick explained.

"I see. My apologies. You can have your men correct the aim. However, the cannon still needs to be fired by my blacksmiths. Enchanted cannonballs won't activate properly otherwise and might even blow up the cannon on the spot." Duke Ignis also explained the condition.

General Marquis Hendrick gasped at Duke Ignis's explanation as he drew in deep breaths to calm himself.

"Understood." He nodded shortly.

Duke Ignis had outdone himself and created something incredible this time. The enchanted cannonball's destructiveness had exceeded everyone's expectations.

It could hardly be called a cannonball anymore and should be called an extremely powerful bomb instead!

As the people loaded the next round of enchanted cannonballs, Leon cleaved his way through the mutated rat tide and headed towards the fallen airship in the center.

Although he was not present when everything happened. It only took a few simple observations to piece everything together.

The airship was shot down by the mutated rats, and the people on board are mostly all dead.

Leon only hoped that there was no one important to him on board.

In a short while, Leon entered within a certain distance from the fallen airship before sending out his divine sense to sweep the wreckage.

His face turned grave at the sieved corpses before he discovered Princess Thessalia's condition.

Although she was not important to him, she was important to Faelyn and the elven tribe. Nothing can happen to her!

Boom!

Leon immediately increased his pace and shot over swiftly, cleaving away every mutated rat in his path with repeated sweeps of his flaming bone spear.

Boom! Boom!

More explosions occurred in his surroundings before he arrived next to the fallen airship.

Meanwhile, General Marquis Hendrick barked back on the Great Wall, "Stop your fire! Be careful of hitting Prince Leon! Readjust the cannons and aim further away!"

"Yes, General Marquis!" The soldiers answered.

At the same time, Duke Ignis gazed at the quickly depleting ammunitions of enchanted cannonballs before shaking his head.

Hours of hard work, only to be used up within moments.

Duke Ignis gave a soft sigh before shifting his gaze into the distance to observe the big explosions in all their beauty.

"Is this Grandmaster Don's passion affecting me? I'm starting to appreciate the art of explosions too." Duke Ignis muttered softly.

Let alone him, even the soldiers and elves were also appreciating the beauty of explosions. There was a sense of satisfaction in watching the mutated rats burst into flames.

The irony of the elves was that they have realized they were not as nature-loving as they thought they were.

...

Ishaan Kingdom

In the burning sands of the Ishaan Desert, a person suddenly sneezed.

"Master, are you cold?" A young girl with an eyepatch asked while holding onto the person's hand.

She appeared to be around 15 years of age. She had short black hair, a very tanned but smooth complexion, and seemed very cute and lovely.

Evidently, she was a native of the Ishaan Kingdom.

The Ishaan Kingdom had always been known for its incredibly high temperatures. But after the Cataclysm erupted, its temperature had soared to new heights, becoming not only the hottest region in the Human Domain but the entire Desolate Continent.

Nevertheless, the two people traveling in the burning desert appeared to be quite fine despite its scorching temperatures.

Grandmaster Don rubbed his nose to get rid of his itch before he smiled wryly at his newly accepted disciple, "My precious disciple, the whole world has literally turned into hell. How could I possibly feel cold?"

"...Maybe because it's not hot enough for master?" The young girl answered innocently.

"Haiz... If it gets any hotter, we will both be roasted like barbecued pork, my dear disciple." Grandmaster Don sighed helplessly at his disciple's adorable response before saying, "Some sand probably got into my nose..."

"Oh..." the eyepatch girl responded with no apparent opinion before she asked, "Where are we heading again, master?"

"Legend says that in the heart of the Grand Surya Desert, there exists a second sun, which is responsible for the high temperature of the surrounding Ishaan Desert and the Ishaan Kingdom as a while," Grandmaster Don mentioned the local myth without saying their destination directly.

Nevertheless, the eyepatch girl was bright enough to have understood from Grandmaster Don's words before she asked in confirmation, "We are going to see the second sun with the Grand Surya Desert, master?"

"That's right." Grandmaster nodded.

Before returning to the Crawford Empire, he wanted to see whether the legend was true.

As one of the four Perilous Lands of the Human Domain, the Grand Surya Desert was considered a land of death to many.

Even Grandmaster Don was not confident of exploring the region with his transcendental cultivation.

"Are you afraid?" Grandmaster Don asked with a smile.

The cute eyepatch girl quickly shook her head, "Not afraid!"

Chapter 534 - Sun God's Descendant

After hearing the cute eyepatch girl's answer, Grandmaster Don rubbed his disciple's small head dotingly.

There were three reasons why he had accepted this little girl by the name of Anya as his disciple, one of which was why he dared to explore the Grand Surya Desert.

She had a unique physique that allows her to resist extremely hot temperatures.

Grandmaster Don was able to resist the surrounding hot temperature due to his cultivation as a Fire Transcendent, but his disciple could do the same at the 3rd step Awakener Realm.

It definitely had something to do with her physique—a heavenly blessed physique so great that it could possibly resist the scorching hot temperatures of the sun.

Ordinary people would assume she was the sun god's descendent if they came to know of her physique. Even Grandmaster Don did not know what her physique was called.

When Grandmaster Don found Anya in her home village, she was not revered as the sun god's descendent but some cursed child instead.

This was mainly due to her unique hobby and also the reason why Grandmaster Don took her in as his disciple.

They were two people who share the same passion for explosions. There was no way Grandmaster Don would leave such a gem to remain unknown in some backward village.

No, with such a heaven-blessed physique, Anya was destined for something much greater.

What she needed was an opportunity to spread her wings, and Grandmaster Don was the person who will give her that opportunity.

As two trekked through the scorching sands of the Ishaan Desert, leaving behind a trail of footprints that slowly disappear under the wind.

Shortly after, Grandmaster Don and his disciple stopped on the top of a hill.

In the distance ahead of them, a colossal sandstorm was revealed, obstructing their visions from seeing further beyond.

"So this is the entrance to the Grand Surya Desert," Grandmaster Don muttered with few sweats oozing from his forehead.

The sweats evaporated within moments, causing Grandmaster Don's skin to appear dry and dehydrated.

Nevertheless, Grandmaster Don's attention was focused on the sandstorm in the distance with hints of both dread and anticipation in his eyes.

Fire Energy was especially strong within the region. Such environments made it the ideal place for Fire Awakeners to cultivate.

Most people would avoid this place.

However, Burning Heaven Sect's disciple frequently visited the Grand Surya Desert's outer region to train.

Those who ventured deeper into the inner region, however, never made it back—and that was precisely where Grandmaster Don was heading with his disciple, Anya.

"Let's go, my dear disciple. Be careful not to catch sand in your eyes, though." Grandmaster Don warned.

"Yes, master!"

Shortly after, Grandmaster Don conjured a flame barrier that surrounded the two of them before they disappeared into the sandstorm.

...

Great Wall.

At that moment, the mutated rat tide continued to get pincered by explosive cannonballs at the front and icicle showers at the back, significantly reducing the endless mutated rat tide to a level where a glimpse of victory could finally be seen.

Nevertheless, the mutated rat tide was still great, numbering in the millions. The battle would not end any time soon.

"Marquis Haldir, I will create an opening for you. On my signal, take Princess Thessalia and retreat back to the Great Wall for proper treatment." Leon shouted from outside the vine dome.

"Young prince? You're back? That's good." There was some relief in Supreme Elder Haldir's voice before he said gravely, "Princess Thessalia's injuries are too severe for her to be moved! Her condition will quickly deteriorate if I stop supplying my Wood Energy, even for a brief moment!"

"This…" Leon quickly frowned.

With a quick scan with his divine sense, he was able to see a clearer picture of Princess Thessalia's condition up close despite still being outside of the vine dome.

While hacking away some mutated rats and block their ballistic lightning spikes, Leon's frown deepened further.

It was as Supreme Elder Haldir said.

Princess Thessalia's wounds were so severe, it was practically a miracle that she was even still alive. Her body was punctured in so many places that pierced even her bones and organs.

She was surviving purely on the Supreme Elder's supply of Wood Energy that healed her fleshly wounds, stopped her bleeding, and continued to regulate her body in place of her failing organs.

Although Wood Energy had excellent healing properties, it still had its limits.

Wood Energy can boost the body's natural regenerative rate by hundreds to thousands of times greater depending on a Wood Awakener's capability, but it cannot do what the body already can not—regrow missing limbs and organs.

At the very least, it did not seem like it was possible in the Transcendent Realm.

And although Princess Thessalia still had her limbs and organs, so many parts were missing that it was no different from not having any.

After fending off another wave of attacks from the mutated rats and observed the surrounding battle, Leon said, "Then create an opening and let me in. I will help."

"Alright." Supreme Elder Haldir quickly agreed.

After Leon gave the Supreme Elder his location and timing, Supreme Elder Haldir diverted some of his attention from Princess Thessalia to create a vine dome opening.

Once Leon saw the opening, he entered immediately before the gap in the vine dome quickly closed up behind him.

Shortly after, several lightning spikes struck the vine dome.

"What do you think, young prince? Are you able to heal this level of injury?" Supreme Elder Haldir asked.

Leon observed the state of Princess Thessalia's body before falling silent in quiet contemplation of a suitable method of treatment.

Princess Thessalia was weak, but she overheard their conversation.

No one knew better about the state of her body than herself. Seeing that the Supreme Elder was helpless and Leon was silent, her will to live slowly faded as she began to lose hope.

"Just let me die and save yourself the troubles. No one can save me," Princess Thessalia spoke weakly with a paled face and listless eyes.

"If you really want to die, I won't stop you. But don't forget that there are people who will mourn for you, like Princess Faelyn. Are you sure you want to leave behind your only sister left behind in this world alone?" The Supreme Elder said.

He had also presumed that Princess Thessalia's case was hopeless after observing Leon's silence on the topic of solutions.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Supreme Elder? I cannot continue living on your life support forever. Your Wood Energy is not endless, and I am not that selfish!" Princess Thessalia spoke emotionally as tears dripped from her face.

Shortly after, she threw another fit of violent coughing.

To not be able to move and had to rely on the kindness of others to stay alive, how can she stand living like that?

Such a life was no better than dying.

"I haven't said anything yet. So why are you already giving up on life? Did I say I couldn't treat your grave injuries?" Leon finally spoke.

"Oh? Do you truly have a way to save Princess Thessalia, young prince?" Supreme Elder Haldir was pleasantly surprised to hear Leon's word.

Leon nodded.

"If you had a way, then why didn't you say something sooner?" Princess Thessalia complained while wiping her tears with her hands. She felt wronged and blamed Leon for making her feel sad for no reason.

"I was thinking. How would I know if I can or not without checking?" Leon responded with furrowed brows before adding, "Anyway, seeing you act like this is much more preferable compared to your usual self. No man will ever like such a tomboyish woman."

Leon thought that one day, he would eventually leave Gaia. And when he does, he would take all his women with him—including Faelyn.

If Princess Thessalia never gets married and produces any descendants, wouldn't that mean that he would have basically ended the royal elvish bloodline on Gaia?

Not that it bothered him all that much, considering the Supreme Elder was the true ruler of the elven tribe.

It was just a passing thought.

Nevertheless, after Princess Thessalia heard Leon's words, she felt embarrassment overwhelmed her as she covered her face like she was trying to hide from being seen in such a vulnerable state further.

"For now, just swallow this first." Leon casually said, unaware and unconcerned of Princess Thessalia's present emotions.

He took out a Tier 3 All-Purpose Healing Pill before forcefully slipping it into Princess Thessalia's mouth and making her swallow it, albeit with some resistance.

Although the All-Purpose Healing Pill cannot regrow missing bones and parts of the organs, it supplemented the regenerative process of the flesh and muscles that had already been mostly recovered by Supreme Elder Haldir.

As such, less Wood Energy was required to maintain Princess Thessalia's condition as they were all directed into regulating the body's functions.

Shortly after, Leon placed his hand over Princess Thessalia's chest and supplied his own Wood Energy as he took over the Supreme Elder's role.

"You can leave Princess Thessalia to me and head out to assist the others while I am conducting the treatment, Marquis Haldir," Leon said.

Supreme Elder Haldir gazed at Leon for a moment.

"Alright. Well then, I will be leaving Princess Thessalia, young prince." Supreme Elder Haldir nodded before shortly leaving Leon and Princess Thessalia inside the vine dome alone.

The Supreme Elder had vaguely guessed that the young prince's medical treatment would be unorthodox and involved some secrets that the person did not want to be known by others.

Chapter 535 - Treatment Process

After Supreme Elder Haldir left the vine dome, he was immediately barraged by lightning spikes from different directions.

Nevertheless, he was prepared.

The two large vine wings immediately flapped, slapping away from the Supreme Elder before he took to the sky to observe the situation.

"Supreme Elder!" Faelyn called from the top of the Great Wall.

Supreme Elder Haldir glanced over with surprise and asked while he was in the midst of fending off the next wave of mutated rats attack, "Princess Faelyn? What are you doing out here? You should go back. It is dangerous here."

As The Supreme Elder said this, a vine lance was conjured in his palm before impaling a mutated rat in the head with a single thrust.

"How is my third eldest sister? Is my third eldest okay?!" Faelyn hollered from a distance with urgency and worry.

"To be honest, Princess Thessalia's condition does not look good. I am helpless to help. However, she is in good hands now. We have no choice but to believe in the young prince's ability." Supreme Elder Haldir explained without hiding anything.

As expected, once Faelyn learned of her third eldest sister's grave condition, her worry shot through the roof.

If the Supreme Elder could not heal Princess Thessalia's wounds with his cultivation, it was more impossible with Faelyn's own ability.

As Supreme Elder Haldir said, they have no choice but to believe in Leon.

Faelyn could only pin all her hopes on Leon. If something happened to her third eldest sister, she would not know what to do anymore.

"I will help with the battle. I am, after all, still a 9-Star Ranked Awakener. My strength is adequate." Faelyn said decisively.

The mutated rats that hurt her third eldest sister, she was not going to let them off easy.

Faced with Faelyn's resolute look, Supreme Elder Haldir did not try to persuade her otherwise.

"Be careful." He said.

Shortly after, Faelyn burrowed some vine seeds from the nearby elven warriors before equipping her own vine armor.

Nevertheless, she did not leave the Great Wall. She was self-conscious enough to know that she could participate in the battle but could not fight the mutated rats head-on like Supreme Elder Haldir, Leon, and the Transcendent-level silver wolf.

She would be quickly overwhelmed by the mutated rat tide's numbers due to her lack of battle experience.

Vine lances were formed from the seeds in Faelyn's hands before she stood on the edge of the Great Wall and hurled them down at the mutated rats below.

Meanwhile, back inside the vine dome, Princess Thessalia was curious how Leon was possibly going to heal her damaged organs and missing bones.

Leon closed his eyes and descended into the Worldspace with his consciousness in the form of a spiritual avatar.

After glancing around, his gaze fell on the bottles of Wrathful Demonic Energy he had previously collected.

"Pardon my offense, Maya. This is an emergency situation." Leon spoke while Maya was nowhere to be seen.

However, as soon as Leon grabbed the bottles of Wrathful Demonic Energy and made his way over to the Universal Life Conversion Array, Maya quickly manifested.

"Don't you dare, Leon—!" Maya roared.

But it was too late.

Maya watched the bottles of Wrathful Demonic Energy tossed into the Universal Life Conversion Array before her face paled.

"Nooo—!" Maya cried before quickly vanishing without a trace again.

The Worldspace rumbled violently as the Universal Life Conversion Array broke down the Wrathful Demonic Energy and transformed them into Life Energy.

Before Life Energy descended and sprinkled on top of the herb garden, they were all collected into a pill bottle with Leon's Divine Will.

After receiving a specific concentration of Life Energy, Leon condensed it into liquid form before sealing the cap and brought it out of the Worldspace.

Princess Thessalia immediately noticed Leon's eyes reopening before her gaze shifted to the bottle of glowing white liquid that suddenly appeared in his right hand.

While Wood Energy could not regenerate bones and organs without the Awakener reaching a certain level of attainment, Life Energy definitely could without such requirement.

Even so, it was not like it would be over once Leon dripped some Life Energy liquid on Princess Thessalia.

No, doing such a thing would only fill Princess Thessalia's body with large amounts of lifeforce and prevent her from dying, which the Wood Energy was already capable of doing.

As such, it was a very wasteful way of using Life Energy.

To make the most of Life Energy, Leon had to make his only own preparations. Only refined pills can regrow bones and regenerate organs the Leon wants them.

However, only Divine-Tier pills were capable of such effects, but with Life Energy in his grasp, Leon can make up for what is lacking.

In addition to his own medical techniques to guide the regeneration process, it should be possible for Princess Thessalia to make a full recovery.

"What kind of energy is that in your hands?" Princess Thessalia queried with curiosity but received no response from Leon.

He took out his pill cauldron and two specific sets of Tier 3 Spirit Herbs from the herbal garden in his Worldspace before he quickly commenced pill refinement.

Princess Thessalia pouted and did not speak any further. She was not in any condition to expend her energy bickering with Leon.

Meanwhile, Leon could not stop supplying Wood Energy to Princess Thessalia for too long. The efficacy of the Tier 3 All-Purpose Healing Pill will eventually run out.

As such, he had to be quick with his pill refinement.

Sometime later, two batches of pills were refined; Bone Regrowth Pills and Nirvana Pills. Of course, they were the only Tier 3 Spirit Pills, simplified versions of the actual Tier 1 Divine Pills.

After Leon waved his hand, summoning his set of acupuncture needles and sterilized them in flame, he shifted his attention onto Princess Thessalia's body.

"Pardon my offense, Princess Thessalia. I will be commencing the treatment immediately." Leon said after dousing the Bone Regrowth Pill and Nirvana Pill in liquid Life Energy.

All preparations were completed.

"What do you mean?" Princess Thessalia asked weakly with confusion, but it did not take long before her confusion was cleared in an instance.

Leon tore away Princess Thessalia's punctured clothes and removed all obstacles that may affect his treatment process.

"What are you doing!" Princess Thessalia cried after being stripped bare of what little clothes she had left to cover her fair body.

Seeing Leon cast his serious gaze on her naked bare body, Princess Thessalia's anger exploded. How can her bare body be seen by someone other than the person who would be her other half?!

Her body was being tainted by Leon's gaze!

Nevertheless, before Princess Thessalia could resist, Leon pressed a few acupoints and immobilized her body from moving during the treatment process.

"Just kill me. I will not be humiliated and defiled like this. How can I marry after being seen by you?!" Princess Thessalia cried.

"With your tomboyish nature, no man would want to marry you anyway," Leon said nonchalantly before force-feeding Princess Thessalia the Tier 3 Bone Regrowth Pill and Tier 3 Nirvana Pill.

Shortly after, he added, "If you die, Faelyn will be sad and alone. Is that what you really want? This is a necessary step in the treatment."

"Pah! A necessary step, my ass! You are just taking advantage of me! Even if no man wants me, it is not important with my status. I can just make them marry me after finding the one I like!" Princess Thessalia said defiantly.

Leon began stabbing acupuncture needles into various points on Princess Thessalia's body to control her blood flow and realign her bones and organs.

"Since you already think like that, why would you still need to worry whether you can marry or not when you plan to force the man you like to marry you anyway? Besides, there is no happiness in such a forced marriage." Leon casually spoke while continuing the treatment.

Princess Thessalia was immediately tongue-tied for words.

Shortly after, Leon used his hands to massage Princess Thessalia's body. Some parts cannot be aligned with acupuncture needles alone.

Although he could use Divine Will to fix the organs and bones into proper placements, the additional assistance of his hands would spare him some of the mental energy expenditure.

Of course, none of this needed to be explained to Princess Thessalia when she already hates his guts for what he was doing anyway.

He was not completely guilt-free either.

Princess Thessalia's body was well-toned from numerous combat experiences and practice. Even so, they still retained their suppleness and smoothness, making them feel nice to the touch.

Leon was enjoying himself.

Princess Thessalia was, after all, still Princess Faelyn's elder sister and a natural beauty in her own right, even though not much else can be said about her personality, otherwise.

While Leon continued his treatment and made Princess Thessalia drink the remaining contents of the liquid Life Energy, the person herself was livid beyond doubt.

Not only was her body tainted by Leon's eyes but also his hands!

But no matter how angry she was, she could not do anything about it while her body was immobilized with sealed acupoints.

Chapter 536 - What's Going On Here?

Leon shortly directed the Life Energy throughout Princess Thessalia's body with Divine Will. The Life Energy quickly linked with the medicinal essence of the Bone Regrowth Pill and Nirvana Pill before their efficacy was boosted.

Missing parts between bones were gradually regrown and connected before they were reinforced while organs slowly reformed themselves under Leon's observant divine sense.

At the same time, Princess Thessalia gazed at him coldly.

As she felt her body's condition improving, the cold and piercing gaze that Princess Thessalia glared at Leon with gradually turned complicated.

Nevertheless, the healing process was slow and gradual.

Outside of the vine dome protected by Supreme Elder Haldir, the battle continued to rage on, and time quickly flew past.

The mutated rat tide quickly dwindled in numbers.

Eventually, the last mutated rat was slain by Aria's icicle attack from the sky as it was escaping from the region.

"It's finally over," General Marquis Hendrick sighed on the field littered with mountains of mutated rat carcasses.

After the mutated rat tide was reduced to less than ten thousand in numbers, the General Marquis directly joined the battle and fought alongside the Supreme Elder.

"Yeah…" Supreme Elder Haldir spoke.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Elder paid little attention to the mutated rat carcasses on the battlefield. Instead, his gaze was fixed on his vine dome located at the airship's crash site.

Many hours had passed since he left, but the treatment process was still ongoing.

At the same time, the explosive cannonballs forged by Duke Ignis and his group of blacksmiths were depleted.

Many mutated rat carcasses had exploded into numerous pieces of flesh after the violent reaction effect of clashing lightning and fire. They laid scattered all over the battlefield with their lightning spikes fragmented into dull shards.

While many pieces like this could be found everywhere on the battlefield, many whole carcasses were also preserved with their lightning spikes intact.

These were the mutated rats killed by Aria, the Supreme Elder, and the General Marquis.

Shortly after, the General Marquis began issuing his orders for the soldiers on the Great Wall to descend to the foot of the wall where the General Marquis awaited them.

However, many rope lifts had been destroyed by the mutated rat's volleys of lightning spikes. As such, some time was taken for high-level elven warriors to construct new rope lifts for them.

"What are your orders, General Marquis?" A leading soldier inquired in salutation with a group of soldiers right behind him.

"Go clean up the battlefield. Also, collect the lightning spikes and send them to Duke Ignis to be studied. See if the Duke has a way to make use of these lightning spikes. It would be a waste to throw them away, otherwise." General Marquis Hendrick ordered.

"Yes, General!"

"Also, give me a count on the casualties later." General Marquis Hendrick added.

The soldier saluted, "Yes, General!"

Meanwhile, Aria descended from the sky and landed near the airship crash site before she awaited Leon's emergence from the vine dome.

Shortly after, Faelyn also arrived and waited with a concerned look.

"Sorry. This would not have happened if I did use my lightning powers." Aria apologized to Faelyn with guilt and self-blaming.

However, Faelyn shook her head and held Aria's hand before reassuring her, "This was not your fault, Miss Aria. No one could have predicted the rat tide was capable of mutating like this. As such, I do not blame you, no matter what happens to my sister."

"Thank you…" Aria said with difficulty.

Who knew how much harder it was for Princess Faelyn to try and console Aria when her heart was plagued with her own worries for her third eldest sister's safety.

Seeing Faelyn's tight wrinkle as they gazed at the vine dome, Aria knew it was her turn to console Faelyn.

"Don't worry too much. If it's Leon, your sister will definitely be healed. When it comes to medical skills, I believe he is the best in the world," Aria spoke confidently.

Faelyn was not sure where Aria's confidence came from, but she nodded, having understood Aria's kind intention in trying to reassure her.

Sometime later, inside of the vine dome, Princess Thessalia was fully healed.

Once Leon was done with the treatment, he unsealed Princess Thessalia's acupoints before draping a piece of clothing from his Worldspace over her bare body.

Surprisingly, Princess Thessalia did not attack Leon after her mobility was recovered.

Instead, she wore the clothing Leon gave her before thanking him in a cold and emotionless tone, "Thank you."

Shortly after picking herself up, Princess Thessalia made her way over to her personal guards' corpses and gathered them in silence, intending to give them a proper burial elsewhere.

Seeing his business done here, Leon waved his hand at the vine dome and manipulated it to dismantle itself.

"Leon!"

"Sister!"

Two different voices were quickly heard.

Aria approached Leon before she lowered her head in guilt, still feeling terrible about what happened.

Leon pulled her into his embrace and caressed her head gently with one hand as he said soothingly, "Don't worry, you did well to minimize the casualties while I was gone. There's no need to be hard on yourself. Not everyone can be saved. However, it's alright now."

It was a pity for the airship crew and the Third Princess's personal guards, as well as the soldiers and elven warriors that died.

But at the very least, Princess Thessalia survived.

"Mmm." Aria nodded before resting her head against Leon's chest.

Meanwhile, Faelyn had rushed over and embraced her third eldest sister from behind.

"I'm so glad that you are okay, sister. I don't know what I would do if you were to also leave me like father, mother, big brother, and big sister." Faelyn said with relief.

Princess Thessalia lightly smiled with little emotion in her eyes before she said, "Sorry to have worried you, baby sister, but I'm fine now. You can let me go now. I need to give collect my personal guard's bodies."

"Let me help you, sister." Faelyn quickly offered, but Princess Thessalia shook her head and said, "I want to do this myself."

"Alright…" Faelyn reluctantly left her sister alone.

Shortly after, she made her way over to Leon. Seeing Aria was within Leon's embrace, Faelyn could only stand by his side while waiting her turn.

"Thank you for saving my sister, Leon!" Faelyn said shortly after giving Leon a sudden peck on the cheeks to express her gratefulness for what he had done.

Leon shook his head and said with an unnatural smile, "It's what I should do."

Faelyn's peck on Leon's cheek did not escape Aria's eyes as she pulled herself away from Leon before looking at them with a raised brow in question.

"What's going on here?" Aria queried suspiciously.

Leon chuckled wryly before she explained awkwardly with a cough, "Ahem, well… some things sort of happened back in Elvengarde…"

"We'll be sisters in the future, Miss Aria. I hope we can get along from now on." Faelyn said guiltily with a shameful blush.

While hugging one of Leon's arms close to her chest and feeling bad for getting in between them, Faelyn did not want to give Leon up.

Aria was stunned, speechless.

She had let her guard down and allowed Leon to pick up a new sister. That being said, she was not angry—just a little surprise.

She could also immediately see that Leon and Faelyn's bonding was good for the relationship between humans and elves.

This would be important for the elven tribe's integration.

"You don't have to explain to me, Leon. I am not angry—just a little surprised. You should think about how you are going to mother instead." Aria said.

Leon smiled wryly.

"You don't dislike me?" Faelyn asked Aria with surprise, thinking Aria would have developed some ill feelings for having to share her man.

However, Aria shook her head.

"No, I have long known that I cannot keep Leon to myself. Besides, you are not the only one. The other sisters are waiting for us back in the empire."

Aria shrugged.

Shortly after, she whispered into Faelyn's ear teasingly, "Besides, I cannot satisfy Leon by myself. It's good to have some sisters to help me. You might have to do some extra work, though."

Faelyn's face quickly flushed red from Aria's words.

At the same time, Leon was a little speechless after overhearing Aria's words. Despite how she was behaving in front of Faelyn, she was actually a conservative woman.

Perhaps, Aria was trying to assume her role as the head wife that looks after her little sisters in the harem.

After Leon gave Aria a peculiar glance, she immediately averted her gaze from him with a crimson blush on her cheeks.

Sometime later, Supreme Elder Haldir and General Marquis Hendrick approached them.

"Thank you for saving Princess Thessalia, young prince. Your abilities never cease to amaze me," Supreme Elder Haldir praised Leon, seeing that Princess Thessalia was alive and kicking.

Leon smiled lightly in response.

Although the Supreme Elder was very curious about Leon's method, he knew that the person did not want to disclose the secret. As such, the Supreme Elder intended to inquire from Princess Thessalia later.

Shortly after, Leon turned to General Marquis Hendrick, who appeared to have something to say before he smiled, "Let us head back to Military City and discuss our next course of actions for this Cataclysm. It'll be great if I can contact my father and mother back in the Capital quickly."

There was no doubt that chaos has spread throughout the Crawford Empire due to the Cataclysm's eruption.

There was a mountain of issues that required immediate attention and arrangement.

"Yes, Your Highness." General Marquis Hendrick fixed his expression and patted his chest solemnly before he said, "I will arrange the Communication Tower's repair immediately. It should not take too long.. You can use it to contact the Capital."

Chapter 537 - Bring Her Back

After General Marquis Hendrick finished speaking, Aria furrowed her brows and said, "Just wait a moment, general. I would like to speak to you in private."

General Marquis Hendrick was slightly surprised before turning towards Leon.

At the same time, Leon was also curious about what Aria had to say to the general. Nevertheless, he gave the General Marquis a nod.

"Of course, Miss Aria," General Marquis Hendrick said.

Shortly after, Aria and General Marquis left to find a spot some distance away from Leon before General Marquis Hendrick turned to Aria and said, "What did you want to talk about, Miss Aria?"

"Pardon my offense, general, but don't you think you are relying on the prince too much? Don't you know the prince is a very busy person? Aren't you the General Marquis? Can't you take the initiative to think and do things yourself? Stop leaving things to His Highness, and do them yourself. The prince also has his own things to worry about!" Aria spouted without pause.

General Marquis Hendrick was surprised by Miss Aria's words before becoming alarmed in his heart at the sudden realization.

"You're absolutely right, Miss Aria. The Western Frontier is my responsibility, but I have been swept by His Highness's charisma." General Marquis apologized.

He was not offended by Aria and even felt thankful.

If she had not brought this matter up, he might not have realized it himself. When did he started leaving things to other people? Was it when his own strength had become inadequate?

"It's good that you know." Aria nodded.

Shortly after, the General Marquis excused himself and returned to Leon's side before he said, "Your Highness, you don't need to worry about the matters here at the Western Frontier. Just leave everything to me and tend to your own matters."

"Oh? Did Aria say something?" Leon figured.

However, General Marquis Hendrick shook his head and said, "Miss Aria just made me realized some things. Your Highness might be the Crown Prince of the empire, but you do not need to feel responsible or pressured to take on everything by yourself..."

"…As the future ruler of the Crawford Empire, you should also learn to use people. Although our abilities and wits might not compare to yours, please don't hesitate to use us where we are needed. Don't let us hold you back." General Marquis Hendrick stated.

After listening to the General Marquis's words, Leon lapsed in silence as he mulled over the person's words.

There was truth in General Marquis Hendrick's words.

If Leon continued to take on every issue in the empire by himself, he would never have time to do what he wants and needed to do.

"Then… I will leave it in your capable hands to discuss with my father, the king, about what needs to be done after the Communication Tower is repaired," Leon said after some time.

General Marquis Hendrick patted his chest and said, "Yes, Your Highness. Just leave it to me."

Once Leon decided not to involve himself further with the empire's issues, he felt like a huge load had been taken off his shoulders.

Nevertheless, his concerns were still present.

Even so, he had no other choice but to believe the others would do an excellent job in surviving the Cataclysm and the threats it imposes.

He truly had urgent matters to take care of.

Shortly after General Marquis Hendrick left, he turned to Faelyn and said, "Can I entrust you and Marquis Haldir the task of bringing the Guardian Spirit over the Great Wall?"

"Mm, I will do my best." Faelyn nodded after giving her busy sister a quick check.

It might be a bit troublesome to get the Elder Tree over the Great Wall, but after listening to the exchange between Leon and the General Marquis, Faelyn also wanted to do her best to help in any way she can.

Nevertheless, she asked doubtfully, "but will the Guardian Spirit listen to me?"

"Hmm…"

Leon and Faelyn's gaze slowly shifted into the distant field.

The Elder Tree could be seen slowly wandering in the vicinity. From time to time, it would spot a surviving mutated rat hidden within the piles of carcasses before stamping it to death with its roots.

Needless to say, the Guardian Spirit was still diligent in the task of hunting rats Leon had given it, even after the battle was over.

"The mutated rats are becoming intelligent in their berserk state…" Leon muttered with a frown.

If the mutated rats were changing like this, the same should be expected from the other berserk beasts throughout the Wildlands.

Nevertheless, that was something for them to worry about another time.

Leon shook his head before he said to Faelyn, "Don't worry, the Guardian Spirit will definitely listen to you once I talk to it."

"Mmm." Faelyn nodded.

Once Leon communicated with the Guardian Spirit via divine sense, the Elder Tree began making its way over to the Great Wall.

Shortly after, some roots curled around Faelyn and lifted her up into the skies before placing her on its crown.

Faelyn was surprised as she was carried away before she noticed Leon's odd gaze. Glancing down, she realized her panties were flashing before she pressed down on her blowing skirt in embarrassment.

Leon turned away and scratched his cheeks wryly after being caught.

"Well, I will be leaving too, young prince." Supreme Elder Haldir spoke.

"Un." Leon nodded.

Shortly after everyone left, Leon saw Aria returning to his side before his lips curled into a helpless smile.

"You know you didn't need to…"

"Someone had to do it. Otherwise, when will you be able to do your own things?" Aria said with a shake of her head before slipping into Leon's arms and resting her head on his chest.

Leon smiled lightly.

He held Aria firmly in his arms before caressing her head dotingly with a sigh, "Sure enough, you understand me best…"

'…Or she understands me best.' Leon thought with a trace of sadness before it was hidden in the depths of his heart.

His eyes flickered with determination.

He believed Aria White still exists somewhere inside Aria. As long as there was even a trace of her left, he will do everything he can to bring her back!

Chapter 538 - Cultivating In The Sky

After some time, Leon and Aria separated.

"Don't waste any more time and go cultivate. Those thunderclouds won't stick around forever." Leon urged after glancing up at the sky.

Aria glanced up before she nodded, "Mm!"

After giving Leon a peck on the cheek, she flew back into the thunderclouds on her ice-lightning sword to cultivate.

Meanwhile, Leon pondered for a moment before also leaving the field of carcasses for the soldiers to scavenge and clean up.

Using the pendant device around his neck, Leon soared into the sky and shot back into the stratosphere layer located above the high clouds.

However, Leon was dissatisfied with the stratosphere layer and continued to soar higher until he reached his limit.

Above the stratosphere layer was the mesosphere layer, which was also the coolest layer among Gaia's atmospheric layers.

At that moment, the air was still hot from the solar flare, and traces of Wrathful Demonic Energy filled the entire sky.

After Leon entered the mesosphere layer located roughly 150-thousand feet above the surface, he felt the pendant device trembled due to the pressure of the suppressive force in the airspace.

"Seems like this is the limit of the pendant device," Leon muttered.

He did not dare to climb higher.

The suppressive force in the mesosphere layer would crush him once the pendant device's invisible protective barrier is broken.

"Never mind, this place will do. However, there's too much Wrathful Demonic Energy in the surrounding air. It seems I will have to clear them first." Leon mused with a slight frown.

In any case, he needed to restock on his reserve of Wrathful Demonic Energy for Life Energy conversion during emergency situations.

After swallowing a Tier 3 Spiritual Replenishment Pill to restore 30% of his Mental Energy over a set period of time, Leon drew the surrounding Wrathful Demonic Energy towards him with Divine Will.

The Wrathful Demonic Energy was quickly gathered in empty pill bottles before they were safely stored inside the Worldspace.

At the same time, hidden within the Worldspace, Maya witnessed the empty pill bottles disappear from the Worldspace before they dropped back inside, filled with Wrathful Demonic Energy.

Looking at the Wrathful Demonic Energy bottles, Maya immediately hissed like a cat with all its fur standing on end.

Nevertheless, she did not take any action.

After Leon filled all his empty pill bottles with Wrathful Demonic Energy, he frowned at the remnant Wrathful Demonic Energy in his surrounding.

"It seems I will have to absorb these Wrathful Demonic Energy for myself before I can cultivate with Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy in peace…" Leon mused.

Whenever he recalled the dreadful gaze, Leon could still feel fear in the depths of his heart. Even so, he must not succumb to fear—he cannot let fear stop him from moving forward.

After taking in a deep breath, Leon closed his eyes and spread out his divine sense and Divine Will before drawing Wrathful Demonic Energy into his body.

The sliver of wills hidden in the Wrathful Demonic Energy gathered, forming a terrifying eye that glimpsed at Leon, freezing his body once again.

However, it only last a moment before the Wrathful Demon Energy and slivers of wills was devoured by the Black Vortex Space and refined into tamed Demonic Energy and law fragments.

Even so, a moment was all it took for Leon to break into cold sweats.

"Haiz, I don't think I can get used to this feeling…" Leon sighed before shaking his head shortly after, "Never mind, I just have to suck it up and do what I need to do."

Once the immediate surroundings were cleared of Wrathful Demonic Energy, Leon shortly entered a state of higher meditative concentration to absorb Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy whilst perceiving the laws within them.

The two types of energy were divided like Yin and Yang; Temporal Energy flowed in Leon's body from the right side, while Spatial Energy flowed into his body from the left side.

Eventually, the two types of energies converged towards the center of his body before they flowed through the set of circulation routes according to the [Hegemon of Primal Chaos].

Once Great Pseudo-Grandmist Energy was refined, they were deposited into the Black Vortex Space's energy ring circulating around his soul core.

Leon gradually shut off his senses from the outer world and focused whole-heartedly on refining Great Pseudo-Grandmist Energy.

Not only were they needed for Body Cultivation, but they were also required for repairing Duna and Lumi's damaged body.

But before that, he still needed to review the [Soul Dive] method recorded within the Archive and make all necessary preparations before attempting such a delicate yet risky technique.

Such rigorous attention to detail was a must for anything pertaining to the soul, for a single mistake could lead to irreversible damages.

As Leon continued to cultivate in the mesosphere layer 150-thousand feet above the surface, the sun gradually set on the western horizon of the Wildlands.

It was not long before the skies finally darkened at the welcoming of nightfall. With the absence of sunlight, the temperature quickly dropped, and the world became cooler.

At this time, the world seemed more alive than it was during the day as people left their shelters and busied themselves in dealing with the aftermath of the Cataclysm's eruption.

Capital, Royal Palace.

Seeing the skies have darkened, Elizabeth strapped a few metallic accessories on her body before she swept the few necessities before her into the Interspatial Ring.

"Are you heading out now?" Heinrich asked his wife, who was preparing to depart for the Western Frontier.

Elizabeth nodded.

"The Western Frontier cannot be contacted since our son left in that direction. The situation at the Great Wall is unclear since the last messenger arrived with the request for reinforcements. I have no choice but to head out and see myself." Elizabeth said.

"I'm sorry for leaving this matter in your hands, my dear." Heinrich apologized.

However, Elizabeth shook her head.

"Don't be. I'll just treat this as a trip to see how our son is doing in the west. Also, I'll be taking Darlene with me. On the other hand, I feel sorry for you instead, my king. You'll be stuck here to deal with the mess in the Capital." Elizabeth said.

Being reminded of the Capital's issues he was burdened with, Heinrich immediately felt a headache before he chuckled bitterly, "Sometimes, I wonder if life will be simpler if we were just commoners."

Chapter 539 - Consolidating Viscera

Within the mesosphere layer, Leon continued to refine Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy into Great pseudo-Grantmist Energy.

Compared to cultivating on the surface, Leon's Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy's gathering speed in the sky was many folds greater.

In fact, the difference was so significant; it was like the difference between heaven and earth, literally.

Even so, no matter how much greater Leon's gathering speed was within the mesosphere layer, there was still a limit.

This limit is set by the rate Leon expended his Mental Energy to gather Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy with Divine Will.

After all, Temporal Energy and Spatial Energy were types of energies from Great Laws that did not exist in tangible forms. They cannot be gathered through breathing techniques like the Primary Laws.

Leon also realized this problem.

If he cannot solve this problem, he would not be able to cultivate in the sky continuously and be forced to return to the surface before his Mental Energy is depleted.

'But how can I gather Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy without using Divine Will?'

While he pondered this problem, he did not stop refining Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy before they were deposited into the central region of his Black Vortex Space.

His eyes suddenly flickered.

The Black Vortex Space was a subspace within his sea of consciousness with especially powerful Spatial Laws pertaining to Black Holes with traces of Nihility Law at its center.

If he could control its suction force and expanded outside his body, not only would he be able to cultivate continuously, he would also be able to increase his cultivation speed further.

'But if I want to achieve this, I must learn how to control the Black Vortex Space… if I want to do that, I must further my comprehension of Spatial Laws and Nihility Laws.' Leon mused.

Spatial Laws should not be difficult to comprehend.

He had some foundation in Spatial Laws when he used to be in the Divine Origin Realm, even though he had only achieved such a cultivation base through the assistance of pills, and his foundation was not stable.

Nevertheless, some foundation was better than none.

The most important task he needed to do was to deepen his comprehension of the Nihility Law. Without doing so, he will never be able to breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm.

Leon felt a headache while thinking about this point.

Nevertheless, his gaze became decisive in the next moment before taking out a Soul Enhancing Pill and ingested it, boosting his Soul Strength by another 20 Soul Points.

It had been some time since he took one. It should be fine to take another one.

With the boost in Soul Strength, his Mental Energy Capacity also increased, allowing him to continue cultivating in the sky for a more extended period.

Shortly after, Leon resumed the refinement of Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy.

The Nihility Law was still out of reach for him unless he finds a source of nothingness to aid his comprehension.

'How can you sense something in nothingness when there is nothing to sense at all?' Leon mused wryly with a helpless expression.

Finding a source of nothingness that can be comprehended was just wishful thinking.

The systematic way to understanding the Nihility Law was to follow the practice of the [Hegemon of Primal Chaos] and learn all the prerequisites laws first.

At this moment, he had gained comprehension of the Great Laws of Space and Time.

He was still missing the Profound Laws of Life and Death, and the Supreme Laws of Destruction and Creation.

While it seems like it was an impossibly long way before he comprehends any of these laws of a higher order, he was much closer than he thinks.

'If I continue to absorb law fragments from the Wrathful Demonic Energy, I might just be able to comprehend the Destruction Law. I don't need a great understanding of it. Even just a superficial understanding is enough…'

'The Profound Law of Life can be comprehended from the [Divine Book of Life]. As such, I am only missing a method to comprehend the Profound Law of Death and the Supreme Law of Creation, huh?'

Leon silently pondered.

Time slowly passed before a sizable quantity of Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy was refined and accumulated within Leon's Black Vortex Space.

Seeing the accumulated amount, Leon nodded, 'Time to patch up my first and foremost weakness.'

Shortly after, Leon reviewed the [Dragon God Consolidating Viscera Method].

Once he completely understood the steps of the first volume, he immediately put them into synchronized practice with the [Godfiend Body Forging Method].

Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy was transformed into countless needles before they drilled into his profound veins, his meridians, his heart, and the rest of his organs.

Waves of sharp and nerve-wracking pain assaulted Leon, but it was not like something he had never experienced before.

He gritted his teeth and endured the tempering process with veins protruding on his arms, legs, and face while sweats oozed from his pores.

At the same time, he felt his untempered viscera consolidating at an alarming rate after being tempered by Great pseudo-Grandmist for the first time.

First times always experience the most significant rate of improvement!

Within a matter of moments, the defensive strength of Leon's viscera soared to 10-thousand jin. However, this was only the beginning.

It was hardly anything compared to his fleshly defense of 500-thousand jin!

The ideal state is when his outer and inner body defense reached a delicate balance of equilibrium. Only when his body is well-rounded would he have no weaknesses!

From 10-thousand jin, the viscera's defensive strength began to soar to 20-thousand jin… 30-thousand jin… 40-thousand jin…

It was not long before Leon's viscera reached a defensive capability of withstanding 100-thousand jin worth of force!

'Not yet! This is far from enough! I still have plenty of refined Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy! Even if I run out, I will refine more and continue!' Leon gritted while his body was already drenched in sweats.

'I won't stop until I advance my strength by leaps and bounds!' Leon decided resolutely.

Before reaching Transcendence, Body Cultivation will be his primary source of strength!

Chapter 540 - Heinrich's Headache

After confirming the [Dragon God Viscera Consolidating Method] could indeed be practiced in its early stages, Leon continued to consolidate his viscera with Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy.

During this time, the Western Frontier was bustling with activities.

Torches were lit throughout the region, and many surviving citizens evacuated with soldiers and their families as they cleared the area for the Elder Tree.

For a period of time, the Elder Tree appeared much taller than usual as it crossed over the Great Wall in a tip-toed-like manner.

The region was filled with loud rumbles due to its movements.

Apart from the noise caused by the Elder Tree, the source of sound within the region came from the smithies within the Military City and the building's reparations.

Even after being moved to the Western Frontier, Duke Ignis and the blacksmiths never rest their metalworks in the forge.

Meanwhile, the elven tribe's camp was shifted away from the marshy field outside of Military City after the Elder Tree entered the Human Domain.

After the Elder Tree rooted itself on a grassy plain further away from Military City and off the main road, the elven tribe pitched their camp around their revered deity tree under the Supreme Elder's leadership.

"Will we be setting up our new home here with our Guardian Spirit, Your Highness?" An elf boy asked as he tugged Faelyn's sleeve after she descended from the Elder Tree's crown.

Faelyn lowered herself for their eyes to meet before she rubbed the boy's head with a smile, "Definitely not. The Crawford Empire has vast plots of empty lands. There will be many places for us to choose our home…"

"…However, it seems like the Guardian Spirit will not be moving from this location. If people like to stay here with the Guardian Spirit, they will not be forced to move."

"Is there something special about this spot specifically, Your Highness? Why did the Guardian Spirit choose to be rooted here?" A middle-aged male elf asked with doubt.

"This…" Faelyn hesitated slightly with uncertainty before she answered with a shake of her head, "I am not sure either. Perhaps, we cannot only wait for the Savior to communicate with the great Guardian Spirit before we get a definite answer."

The Elder Tree had followed Faelyn's instructions as Leon promised it would.

However, after they had reached their present location, the Elder Tree had rooted itself on the spot without following any further instructions from Faelyn and the Supreme Elder.

As such, Faelyn was helpless.

It was uncertain whether the Elder Tree favored the area or because of other reasons that forced it to choose this particular stretch of grassy plains.

Back in Military City, the Communication Tower was quickly repaired and cleaned up before General Marquis Hendrick checked the communication devices' conditions.

There were no spares for these ancient relics that were retrieved from the underground ruins. If they were damaged beyond functional, they would not be able to contact the Capital through it.

Fortunately, that was not the case.

General Marquis Hendrick was quickly connected with someone on the other side of the communication device within the Capital.

In a short moment, the initial receiver passed hands before another person spoke through the communication device, "General Marquis Hendrick? How is the situation in the west?"

"The Great Wall had almost been overrun by mutant rats, but fortunately, we have succeeded in repelling the mutant rat tide, Your Majesty. Also, the elven tribe's people have arrived and pitched their camp outside of Military City along with their tree." General Marquis Hendrick responded.

On the other side, Heinrich attempted to peer into the darkness in the western direction outside of his balcony.

A vague but towering shadow stood tall in the distance could be seen.

"Un, I can see it. What about my son? How is he? He hasn't caused any issues for you in the west, has he?" Heinrich inquired casually.

General Marquis Hendrick quickly shook his head while on the call.

"Not at all, Your Majesty! On the contrary, His Highness has contributed largely to our victory with Miss Aria and the Transcendent-level silver wolf. We could not have done it without their help. Even the tree listens to His Highness."

Heinrich was surprised like he had heard something wrong before he asked for confirmation, "Can you repeat that?"

After General Marquis Hendrick repeated his words, Heinrich was even more surprised.

"You're telling me that ever since my son headed into the west, he was able to tame the Skysilver Beast King of the Skysilver Beast Tribe and the revered deity tree of Elvengarde?" Heinrich queried with twitching lips.

When was it so easy to tame these two behemoths?

Either of these two beings was much stronger than Heinrich himself! After all, he had yet to reach the Transcendent Realm!

"Yes, Your Majesty. More importantly, what should be during this Cataclysm? What are your plans, Your Majesty?" General Marquis Hendrick inquired.

"Haiz, no need to tell you about this now…" Heinrich responded with a sigh, still in shock from his son's feats before he said, "My Queen is headed for the Western Frontier. You can discuss the matter with her when she arrives."

"Yes, Your Majesty," General Marquis Hendrick responded.

Shortly after, the call ended.

Heinrich had his hands full in dealing with the Capital's problem while issues from other cities were pouring onto his table one after the other.

He simply could not handle them all.

Heinrich considered assigning some ministers to share some of his burdens. However, there were not many talents in the empire for him to select from.

The 17 years tragedy had not only frozen the empire's development, but it also regressed instead—the education system included.

Knock, knock.

A few knocks were heard on the door to the study room before Heinrich saw the maid Lily and gestured for her to enter.

"What is it?" Heinrich asked.

Lily curtsied respectfully in greeting before she said, "A few more letters have arrived from Blackrock City, Redsand City, and Stillwater City, Your Majesty."

Heinrich immediately felt a headache before he sighed helplessly, "Alright, I understand. You can leave them on the table over there, Lily."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Chapter 541 - Equilibrium

Back in the mesosphere layer, Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy flowed towards Leon's body, refined, merged, and transformed into Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy, then consolidated his viscera.

At that moment, Leon's entire body was drenched in sweats while popping veins were seen everywhere. However, a serene expression was shown on his face.

This was not to say that the pain of tempering his body had disappeared. No, the pain was still present at its usual intensity.

Leon's level of tolerance has been raised to endure it.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open after reaching a certain threshold of viscera consolidation and roared at the skies.

His voice shocked the heavens and threatened to tear the skies asunder like the mighty roar of a divine dragon.

500-thousands jin!

His viscera has been consolidated to withstand the force of 500-thousand jin, the same as his fleshly body! He has reached equilibrium!

Blood surged through his body in tandem with the rhymic beat of his heart as Leon felt like he was overflowing with power.

Despite the feeling of attaining 500-thousand jin in defense, his personal brute strength has not increased after he consolidated his viscera according to the [Dragon God Consolidating Viscera Method].

But while his had not increased, his consolidated viscera had increased his natural lifespan, raised his poison immunity, improved his speed, and heightened his five senses!

"Is this what it feels like to have a dragon body…?" Leon muttered before shaking his head shortly after with a soft chuckled, "No, this is still far from that."

While his viscera was far from being comparable to dragons, he could still agree that it had become less human.

A dragon's body was simply far superior to the fragility of humans.

This is the result of tempering his body according to the [Dragon God Consolidating Viscera Method].

"Given enough time and Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy, I can continue to consolidate my viscera to 1-million jin defense. Beyond that, it will be difficult without any dragon blood, however…" Leon mused.

The same could be said for his fleshly body.

It will be difficult to progress beyond the 1-million jin mark without the aid of divine turtle blood for his [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard].

This was not to say that there would be no more improvement after reaching the 1-million jin milestone.

It just simply means that his rate of improvement will decrease significantly without the supplementary bloodline.

"Where on earth am I going to find dragon blood and turtle blood? And high-grade ones, nonetheless." Leon frowned in question.

Nevertheless, Leon did not ponder too deeply.

Now was not the time for that. He had to make use of all his time to quickly raise his strength as much as possible.

"My fleshly body and viscera have reached a defensive strength of 500-thousand jin, but my own physical strength falls short by a large…" Leon pondered his next practice steps.

If he wanted to raise his physical strength significantly within a short time, he would need to temper his bones.

"What bone forging method should I use?" Leon wondered.

Within his Archive, hundreds of incomplete methods related to the primordial age of gods and devils were recorded.

However, it was had to say which method suited him best.

When Leon could not figure which bone forging method was best suited for him, he began to think from a different view.

"Considering the fact that I am already practicing two body forging methods pertaining to two different divine beasts, I should not pick bone forging method relating to turtles and dragons…" Leon mused.

If he cannot find any turtle or dragon blood to cultivate his [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard] and [Dragon God Consolidating Viscera Method], practicing another method relating to the two would be the same as shooting himself in the foot.

"I should practice a variety of methods to give myself a higher chance of finding a matching bloodline." Leon decided.

Shortly after, he browsed all the bone forging methods in his Archive before settling on a single method, the [Suanni Lion Bone Forging Method].

"Although I only have the first volume of the [Suanni Lion Bone Forging Method], I only need to practice the first volume for now…"

Suanni Lion was a mythical divine beast that looked similar to the hybrid of a dragon and lion. It was known for its mighty strength and fierce appearance.

Although paths lead to the same source in the end, practicing the [Suanni Lion Bone Forging Method] will give him the most significant physical strength improvement within the early stages.

Once Leon settled on his bone forging method, the first volume of [Suanni Lion Bone Forging Method] quickly broke down into particles of light before flowing into his mind.

Strings of information quickly engraved themselves firmly into his memory after reviewing and familiarizing himself with the [Suanni Lion Bone Forging Method].

Shortly after, he commenced practice immediately.

"Grr—ahhh!" Leon quickly roared.

If tempering flesh was akin to the grating and consolidating viscera was akin to prickling with needles, then bone forging was akin to hammering.

The Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy was transformed into heavy pellets with dense mass before they slammed against his bones repeatedly like being hammered.

The bones fractured on a microscopic level before the energy was partially absorbed into the bones and reformed.

The process repeated as such, causing Leon to fall into a vicious cycle of having his bones repeated broken before they were reformed.

The pain inflicted upon him was naturally more significant than the consolidation of his viscera.

One can only imagine how much more painful the cleansing of his bone marrow would be once he commenced that phase.

Although the pains were great, gains were even greater!

Under the repeated cycle of destruction and creation, the bones became tougher and stronger! Thus, allowing him to exert more power!

From 50-thousand jins, it soared to 100-thousand jins!

In a short instance of a few breathes, Leon had broken through Rank 5 Body Tempering Realm and advanced to Rank 10 Body Tempering Realm directly!

Even so, this was only the beginning!

"Grr—raaaah!" Leon howled in pain as he continued to forge the rest of his bones with bone-breaking Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy.

He gritted his teeth so tightly they could be heard grinding against each other. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before!

Even so, he will press on bravely!

"Soldier on, Leon! There is no gain without pain! The greater the pain, the greater the gain!" Leon told himself as he tried to convince himself that it would all be worth it in the end.

Ka-cha!

The elusive sound of breaking through another threshold of strength was imagined within Leon's mind as his physical strength soared to 150-thousand jins!

If the Human Domain knew how rapidly Leon's physical strength was growing, they would be shocked beyond belief!

Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy was simply this heaven-defying! It was hard to imagine how much more heaven-defying True Grandmist Energy would be!

Even if it was not present, Leon caught a glimpse of the grandeur that once existed back in the primordial age of gods and devils.

"Keep going! Don't stop!" Leon roared with red eyes.

At that moment, veins popped all over his body while his flesh glowed with redness from the color of his blood pumping.

The newfound vigor of his viscera worked in overdrive and made them hot-blooded.

Take the pain to discipline the mind and temper his will! Create a truly indomitable spirit! Unbending, uncowering, firm, and solid in the face of adversaries!

Ka-cha!

Leon's physical strength soared again!

His strength quickly reached 200-thousand jins, a grand 100-thousand jin greater than the average Rank 10 Body Tempering Realm Body Cultivators!

He had entered the Half-step Body Transformation Realm.

The soft bottleneck of Rank 10 Body Tempering Realm was easily broken, making it almost non-existent!

However, this was not attributed to the [Godfiend Body Forging Method] nor the [Suanni Lion Bone Forging Method].

No, this was attributed to Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy alone.

Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy was not the only source to temper the body, but it is the greatest source below True Grandmist Energy and those in between.

Whether it was fire, lightning, wind, water, earth, gravity, or any element, any medicine for that matter. They can also temper, enhance, refine, and improve the body.

But unlike Grandmist Energy, these methods were more ordinary and will definitely experience the soft bottleneck that is Rank 10 Body Tempering Realm.

Since Leon was using the source of the beginning, the power of gods, why should he be subjected to mortals' woes?

Time quickly flew.

Eventually, Leon achieved his desired, hard-earned, hard-struggled physical strength of 500-thousand jins after much suffering.

His eyes slowly opened before they flickered with sharpness and indomitability that only lasted a moment before they disappeared.

"Fuuu…" Leon exhaled a deep breath of foul air as he relaxed his body after much toil and bathed in the moonlight of the night sky.

This sort of heaven-defying growth in strength would draw the envy of many, but now, he had the power to tackle problems as they come.

At the very least, he was much stronger now.

Not only did his outer and inner body defense reach equilibrium, but even his defense and strength also did so as well.

"That's enough rest. Now, I need to refine some more Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy for Duna and Lumi's recovery." Leon thought out loud before he resumed gathering Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy.

At the same time, he divided a part of his consciousness and delved into the [Archive] to review the [Soul Dive] technique.

Chapter 542 - Into The Dreamworld

In the mesosphere layer, time quickly flew by.

By the time Leon became aware of his surroundings, the world had reached the peak of nighttime, dropping the temperature below freezing point

Frigid winds billowed and battered against Leon's formless barrier while Wrathful Demonic Energy and burning hot temperatures of the day had seemingly all disappeared.

It was like the Cataclysm had never erupted, but in truth, it was just the darkness of the night obscuring everything.

"I should check on the situation below..." Leon mused after he had completely understood the [Soul Dive] technique.

It was a special method of manipulating spiritual senses to inject one's consciousness into the deep consciousness of others.

In his case, it was the manipulation of his divine sense. Divine sense was also a type of spiritual sense, except it is far superior to ordinary spiritual senses.

"Still, I never knew spiritual senses could be used like this..." Leon muttered.

He had always used divine sense in a simple manner, projecting it outward to understand his surroundings.

However, the [Soul Dive] technique required him to condense his divine sense after it is projected outward.

"Now that all preparations are done, I shouldn't waste any more time. The longer it takes to treat Duna and Lumi, the greater chances of unexpected variables coming into play…" Leon pondered.

After checking the surroundings, Leon shortly entered the Worldspace with his true body, leaving nothing behind except a vague book that can only be subtle felt of its existence and not be seen.

Bound to Leon's soul core, the [Divine Book of Life] existed in a different dimension that runs parallel with reality.

Inside the Worldspace, Maya immediately jumped upon seeing Leon's appearance and hissed at him dangerously.

"No need to be alarmed. I won't be dumping anymore Wrathful Demonic Energy into the [Universal Life Conversion Array] for now," Leon chuckled lightly.

"For now…"

Maya picked up the specific words from his mouth. After hearing that, she did not dare to relax and continued to glare at Leon observantly.

"I'm watching you!" She spat.

Leon shrugged nonchalantly.

Shortly after, he made his way over to the ice bed within the small Yin-biome where the slumbering Duna and Lumi's body was placed.

Leon placed at their peacefully sleeping face briefly before sitting down beside the ice bed and closed his eyes in meditation.

Waves of divine sense quickly gushed out from his body before they congregated towards a single point and condensed themselves, forming a miniature avatar of Leon.

There was a reason why Leon had never attempted to condense his divine sense before.

Not only was it self-restricting in scanning the area, but it was also dangerous and put Leon in a vulnerable state.

Leon's soul core would only be hurt slightly, akin to a jolt in the head if his divine sense was in their widespread state.

However, if his divine sense was attacked in their condensed state, his soul core would suffer so badly he might just turn into a vegetative person.

After all, the condensed state of divine sense was akin to the soul leaving the body.

Nevertheless, the Worldspace was completely safe to carry out the [Soul Dive] technique. It was his holy land. No one can attack him here.

"Let me see what you are dreaming about in your slumber…" Leon muttered shortly after the spiritual avatar was condensed from his divine sense.

His complete consciousness was transferred to the spiritual avatar before he slipped into Duna and Lumi's body, heading straight for their soul core.

Once his spiritual avatar contacted Duna and Lumi's soul core, his consciousness's sense of sight turned into complete darkness like he was sailing through the void for a period of time before he eventually saw the light.

The light expanded rapidly and encompassed his entire vision.

Before Leon knew it, he had already entered the world of dreams that existed within Duna and Lumi's consciousness.

Shortly after, he realized his spiritual avatar was floating in the skies.

"This is…"

Leon subconsciously gazed down at the surface before realizing he was in the sky with his spiritual avatar.

"This is the Capital…?" He muttered.

There was something different about the Capital before him. It was not the same Capital he recognized in his memory.

No, the Capital before him appeared to be in its earlier development stages after the city was founded.

"If I recall correctly, Lumi became a vengeful spirit over 400 years ago. Does that mean this is what the Capital looks like in the early year 100s of the Human Restoration Era?" Leon contemplated.

The early year 100s of the Human Restoration Era was a period after the Hero King Aldrich passed on his throne to his son before vanishing from the face of the earth.

At that moment, the skies were dark, and lights could be seen brightly lit all over the Upper District. Comparatively, the Lower District was much darker and almost swallowed in complete darkness.

"I wonder what the specific year is…" Leon wondered before his spiritual avatar descended towards the Capital below.

Shortly after his feet landed on solid ground, his gaze shifted around at the hustle-bustle of the Upper District's nightlife.

Numerous aristocrats and nobles chattered and laughed as they walked past Leon, while some even phased through his spiritual avatar before they continued on with their business.

No one seemed to have taken notice of Leon's presence.

This is because he did not exist in this time period, or more specifically, he did not exist in this world that seemed to be a reconstruction of the past from Lumi's memories.

"Since I am taken here in this specific time and place, Lumi should also be hidden somewhere around here… I should start looking for her," Leon contemplated.

However, after a few steps, he suddenly paused.

"This is a good chance to learn about Lumi's past and deepen my understanding of the special relationship that is shared between Lumi and Duna…" Leon thought.

If he finds Lumi, would he also find Duna? Or just Lumi alone? In that case, where would Duna be? And how did she come to share Lumi's body?

These were questions worth looking into.

Chapter 543 - Lumi's Past (1)

The Capital of the past had a strong resemblance to the present Capital when Leon had been observing from the sky. But after he descended on the ground, the surroundings did not give him a single sense of familiarity.

"Where am I? Considering where I landed, this should be somewhere in the Upper West District…" Leon gazed at his surroundings with a lost expression.

The Upper West District should have been the most familiar of the four Upper Districts to him, considering traveled through the Upper West District every time to reach Crawford University.

However…

"Nothing looks familiar at all. The span of 400 hundred years is enough to change many things, huh? The lifestyles of mortals cannot be compared to the lifestyles of Divine Practitioners in the Divine Realm…" Leon casually spoke to himself as he tried to feel the rough surface of a stone pillar.

Without any surprises, his hands phased through.

Nevertheless, Leon appeared unconcerned about this as he continued with his train of thought, "Mortals know their time is limited. As such, they make the most out of their time, leading to significant changes. In comparison, thousands of years can go by in the Divine Realm without a single change except its inhabitants…"

Due to abundant resources, Divine Practitioners spend most of their lifespan in quiet cultivation, leading to fewer interactions between Divine Practitioners and slower advancement of the cultivation civilization.

"Fewer struggles, fewer interactions… no surprise that there could be thousand-year-old young masters with the mentality of spoiled kids, while in comparison there could be kids with the maturity of adults on Gaia."

Shortly after, Leon smiled wryly, "I'm kind of glad I didn't turn out like one of these whiny useless young masters from the Divine Realm…"

After pushing the matter to the back of his mind with a shake of his head, Leon eavesdropped on the conversations in his surroundings.

…

"Hey, have you heard? Another beast tide has begun attacking the Great Wall?" A nobleman spoke on the second floor's balcony of a nearby tea shop.

"Ah, yes, I have heard about this matter." Another nobleman sitting opposite of the first nobleman nodded before asking casually, "What about it?"

"You're not concerned in the least?" The first nobleman asked with surprise. "That's the beast tide we are talking about!"

"Don't we have the Great Wall?" The second nobleman said nonchalantly before adding, "We are no longer the same helpless people we were during the Cataclysm. With the Great Wall's protection and our weapon advancement, even commoners can kill some beasts if they are equipped. There's nothing to worry about."

"True, but we can never be too careless with this matter, no? If the Great Wall falls, the rest of humanity will not have an easy time against the beast tide."

"I see your point, but it has been over a hundred years since we enjoyed the protection of the Great Wall. If those beasts can breach the Great Wall, they would have already done so. Besides, there are other people who take care of this stuff. Thus, we don't need to worry about anything else fattening our own pockets."

"I suppose so…"

As the two noblemen continued to converse, Leon decided not to stick around further and left with a sneer.

He had heard enough.

"It was people who think like this that reinforcement came so late when the Great Wall needed them most, resulting in the tragedy of the Crimson War," Leon muttered.

Shortly after, he concluded, "It seems this should be around the year 118 H.R…"

Year 118 H.R, the year of the Crimson War, the day in which the bodies piled mountains and blood flowed like rivers in humanity's desperate attempt at defending the Great Wall against the beast tide.

Leon remembered his history lessons.

The Crawford Kingdom paid a painful price for their complacency and negligence after enjoying peace and prosperity for a hundred years.

Suddenly picking up the faint stench of blood in the air, Leon slowly shifted his gaze towards the distant western direction.

"It seems the event of the Crimson War is already occurring as I speak…" Leon muttered softly before glancing at the nobles and aristocrats and chattering and laughing in ignorance. "And yet these people still don't have a clue what is going on."

Shortly after, Leon shook his head again with a melancholic sigh.

Even in history lessons, the exact death toll of the Crimson War was never mentioned. All he knew was that the Crawford Kingdom experienced a steep plunge in its population.

"Where was Lumi during this time?" Leon pondered with a frown while finding his way towards Lost Isle Alley.

Although it was the location of Lumi's tragedy, it was a start to finding Lumi's whereabouts, her home, and her family during this time period.

Even so, finding Lost Isle Alley was a hassle.

Where there were supposed to be vacant plots of land, there were buildings. And where there were supposed to be blocks of buildings, they were vacant plots of land.

Leon felt like someone was messing with his head as he navigated his way to Lost Isle Alley in accordance with his memory.

After much struggle, he arrived before the entrance of Lost Isle Alley.

"At least these three buildings are exactly the same as I remembered… No surprise there. These buildings were left abandoned and haunted for 400 years."

While searching the area, Leon frowned.

Before Lost Isle Alley was haunted, it existed under a different name; Gallagher's Hidden Market, as written on the entrance board before him.

However, when Leon searched the depths of his memory, he recalled that Lumi's family name was also Gallagher.

"Considering the Gallagher family is wealthy enough to own this entire area, it's strange that I have not heard of any other existing Gallagher family. Such a prominent family wouldn't just vanish during the past 400 years without a cause."

Leon furrowed his brows.

"After Gallagher's Hidden Market became the haunted Lost Isle Alley, their properties were sold at low prices to the noble families of the scions that killed Lumi… Of course, these noble families were shortly killed off by Lumi or Duna after, but did they also killed off their own family too?"

While Leon pondered, a weakly young girl suddenly fell to the ground after getting kicked out of the store in front by a fierce man.

Chapter 544 - Lumi's Past (2)

Leon's gaze slowly focused on the fallen girl before he quickly recognized the person to be Lumi Gallagher when she was still alive.

"Lumi—" Leon called out before he suddenly remembered that she would not be able to hear him.

She was not the right Lumi Gallagher he was looking for. The one before him was just a distant memory that existed in Lumi's past.

Shortly after, Leon frowned.

The current Lumi Gallagher appeared to be roughly 16 years old, a tender and delicate age for a young lady. It was the age when they begin to sprout into true dazzling beauties.

However, Leon could not see any of those qualities on the current Lumi Gallagher before him.

Instead, all he could see were cuts, bruises, scratch marks, and scars on her fleshly body while an ominous and deathly aura surrounded her entire being.

It was definitely the traces of abuse—and not exactly a short-term one.

No, judging by the sheer number of scars accumulated on Lumi Gallagher's body, Leon could definitely determine with his medical expertise that Lumi Gallagher had been a victim of child abuse and bullying for many years!

Perhaps, the abuse already started since the day she was born!

The difference between the current living Lumi Gallagher and the vengeful spirit Lumi, who he had always known without her blemishes, was such a clear contract that Leon was utterly shocked by the discovery.

"Just what sort of hatred is needed for Lumi to be ill-treated like this? Does it have something to do with her deathly aura?" He frowned with wonder.

Leon watched the situation unfolded to learn more about Lumi's story, for he can do nothing except watch.

He cannot change something that had already happened and only exists as a memory.

Even so, he could never have imagined Lumi's past would be so tragic even before the incident of her death.

…

"I told you that I didn't want to see your face! How many times must I repeat myself?! Go! Get lost! If you don't disappear from my face right this instance, I will beat you death!" The fierce man roared hysterically.

A few people immediately rushed out of the nearby stores before they hurriedly stopped the fierce man from following through with his words.

"Master, contain your rage! Do you really have the hearts to kill her?!" One of the servants spoke before quickly urging, "Quickly take the young miss away! Who brought here?!"

Under the servant's urgings, the other servants quickly picked the young Lumi up and gently spoke with urgency, "Let us leave quickly, young miss."

Lumi glanced back at the fierce man reluctantly with a face filled with tears despite quivering in fear of getting hurt before the servants quickly dragged her away to safety.

Compared to the scars and wounds on her body, her heart hurt more.

"Do I have the hearts to kill her?! Of course, I do! I want to kill her every time I see her face! Even in my nightmares, I want to kill her! She deserves to die!" The fierce man thundered as he shot the departing Lumi a furious glare filled with deep hatred.

"But she is your only daughter! Your only kin, master! That child is innocent! You can't keep blaming her for what happened back then! She has never done anything wrong!" The middle-aged female servant continued to hold the fierce man back.

As it turns out, the fierce man was Lumi Gallagher's father, Yahir Gallagher, a small but successful baron who owned the entire Gallagher's Hidden Market.

At that moment, Leon still could not tell why a father would hate his own child so much. However, seeing Lumi receiving ill-treatment in such a state caused his heart to ache.

"Innocent? Never done anything wrong?! Wouldn't my wife still be alive then?! You were the one who delivered that accursed child! Have you forgotten how gruesome my wife's death was? How much pain she was in before she died?! That accursed child didn't just kill her mother, but also her twin sister in the womb!" Yahir Gallagher barked.

Whenever he recalled how his wife cried in pain during childbirth while her body rotted and dried up like an empty black husk, he would have nightmares the same night!

The sight was simply too horrifying and without precedence! What else could his daughter be except cursed?!

"Be that as it may, that child is innocent! She might have been born differently, but she has never done anything wrong!" The middle-aged female servant became choked full of tears.

During the early years after Lumi Gallagher's birth, she was just like anyone else, shocked and filled with dread towards Lumi Gallagher's unexplainable existence.

However, things changed over time as she slowly realized the child was still human like everybody else.

"I delivered that child with my own hands! And watched her grew up step by step with my own eyes! Despite all the ill words and unjust physical violence you've thrown at her, she had not once developed any resentment towards you, nor had she misbehaved! Even when she is so afraid of being beaten by you, don't you know she still longs for your fatherly love?!" The middle-aged female servant argued back.

Yahir Gallagher's heart quivered ever so slightly. Even so, he remained stubborn in his attitude towards his own daughter.

"I do not want to give her hope! It is better if she dies! The world will not accept her existence! No, they will reject her! Don't you know what they talk about beyond these buildings?! Why must you all stop me at the most crucial juncture every time?! It is too cruel to let her experience a lifetime of suffering!"

"And it is even crueler that she had never known the love of her father from the day she was born! Instead, she was despised, abhorred, and abused! Even if the world rejects her existence, isn't it the father's duty to shield her from the winds and rains of the outside world so she could live a good life?!"

Yahir Gallagher's heart trembled at the servant's words.

Seeing that the master fell silent, the middle-aged female servant took the opportunity to hammer the final nail in the coffin, "I didn't plan on speaking about this, but I can't remain silent any longer. Back then, you saw your wife's pain but did you see her determination?"

"You… what do you mean by that?" Yahir Gallagher's heart shook with a bad feeling.