624-634

Chapter 624 - Mysterious Stone Golem

Back inside the unburied section of the Desolate Crow Clan, Duna silently and subtly hopped off from Leon's back before circling around to his front.

Looking at Leon standing on the spot with his eyes closed, Duna could not help but give him a look of wonder and interest.

"How strange…"

Slowly, her eyes shifted to the nape of his neck with a hint of bloodthirst before she frowned and peeled her gaze away, no longer concerning herself with Leon's matter.

"He will be fine on his own since there isn't anyone around to bother him. I, on the other hand, need to finish recovering," Duna muttered softly.

Her hands have been restored, but the gaping hole in her chest was rather unsightly to look at. She did not want to continue looking like this.

After finding herself a spot on the ground away from Leon, Duna entered seated meditation with her eyes closed and refined the remaining True Grandmist Energy in her body.

…

Meanwhile, Leon continued musing on the Great Way of Earth, unaware of the Transcendent Phenomenon forming in the skies outside.

His divine sense slowly spread out before sinking into the earth and subconsciously fusing with it.

In that instance, Leon's divine sense expanded infinitely, easily covering the entire Desolate Crow Clan's territory, allowing Leon to sense the countless lifeforms moving on the surface, as well as those living deeply underneath.

However, the new experience gave Leon a different feeling to divine sense.

While the range was great, it also came with many limitations.

He could sense the movements of all beings in the depths of the earth, but only their forms. He could not make out their image clearly as he would with divine sense like he was looking at them with his own eyes.

As for the beings on the surface, it was even more limited. He could not even tell their forms, only feel their movements.

'What kind of ability is this? It's like my consciousness had entered a whole different world...' Leon wondered.

He was astounded by the discovery, even feeling a little overwhelmed. The numerous life he could sense within his range was like countless ants gnawing on his consciousness.

'Although this detection ability is not as detailed as divine sense, just its range alone has far exceeded the level granted to Divine Practitioners at the Divine Origin Realm...' Leon ruminated.

Even at his peak, it was impossible for his divine sense to stretch this far.

'The divine sense of Divine Practitioners at the Divine King Ream might not necessarily be better than this either...'

Leon had a feeling that if he fused his divine sense with the earth and increased his connection further, the range of his detection could also increase even further.

'I can increase my detection further, but I fear the load will overburden my consciousness and collapse my mind...' Leon contemplated the risks.

'This ability isn't something a Transcendent should have... Heck, Celestials shouldn't be this impressive either.'

As Leon pondered the reason behind the situation he was experiencing, his mind suddenly lit up like a light bulb.

'No. Ordinary Celestials might be incapable, but a Celestial Ruler is a different story entirely...'

It was said that Celestials could fuse with Celestials Bodies to achieve absolute power within their domain and live as long as the sun and moon.

'I'm afraid this ability has already entered the territory of gods, even if it is only sensing the earth...'

'But for me to have this ability, does that mean I've become the Celestial Ruler of Gaia?' Leon wondered.

Alas, the thought only lasted a moment before Leon scratched the idea from his mind. It was ridiculous just thinking about it.

The detection ability was considered an earthen ability.

However, his Earth Law has yet to reach the level of Transcendents, let alone Celestials. It was impossible to suddenly become the Celestial Ruler of Gaia.

'Not unless the Celestial Realm was not the prerequisite for fusing with Celestial Bodies, but something else?' Leon suddenly thought, bringing himself back to the topic.

'For example, one's soul perhaps? If it's my soul, which is that of a Divine Practitioner at the Divine Origin Realm, it might be possible?'

Shortly after, Leon could not help but mentally shake his head and sigh, 'All this thinking is getting me nowhere.'

'If I want answers, I need to completely fuse with earth to find out. However, that might be a path of no return..." Leon mentally frowned.

He could sense an inexplicable force pulling his consciousness towards the center of Gaia as if it wanted to devour him whole.

When Leon focused his sense on the subterranean world below, he could not help but feel amazed and dreadful at the same time.

'I knew that the subterranean world exists and that it is extremely vast. Still, it is much more boundless than I had anticipated...' Leon pondered.

Using his new earth sense ability, he could feel the layout of each underground floor.

He had only been to the third floor at most. But at this moment, he could sense far, far beyond that.

After every nine floors, the gap to the next floor was almost equal to the previous nine floors combined.

In other words, every nine floors represented a layer, and the subterranean world had multiple layers, leading ever closer to the deepest depth of the world.

'To think that that the subterranean world expanded this deeply... It might just reach all the way to Gaia's core,' Leon mentally frowned before adding, 'Unfortunately, I can only sense up to the third layer...'

Even so, the number of lifeforms he detected in the first two layers of the subterranean world left him breathless.

'How can there be so many lifeforms living underneath the earth? This layout almost makes it the same as the fabled 18 layers of Hell...' Leon thought.

Suddenly, the inexplicable force Leon sensed in the depths of Gaia spiked dangerously, wrestling Leon's consciousness away from his body and beyond his control!

He could not resist!

'Shit!'

His expression changed instantly.

Leon was forced out of his earth sense state and into his astral body form as his consciousness got dragged straight towards the center of the world.

The sight was akin to like traveling at lightspeed in the void.

Everything was a blur of darkness with countless stretched lines of light, making Leon unable to gauge how many floors and layers he was passing.

However, it only lasted a single instance before the brightness of light intensified to the point of turning his world into blinding whiteness.

Shortly after the brightness dimmed, Leon was already in a strange new world with his consciousness before he knew it.

"Where is this? The center of Gaia? This is not how I pictured it to be," Leon commented, full of doubts as his eyes wandered around.

The world around him was filled with a plethora of plants and exotic herbs, which should have painted the place in lush green colors.

Unfortunately, most of them were dead.

"This place is like a land of death..." Leon muttered with a frown while looking at the wilted plants and herbs that made the land look barren and desolate.

However, the place was not completely barren and dead, thanks to a single holy tree keeping it alive, albeit barely.

"To think there was a World Tree here... But then again, I'm not exactly sure where 'here' is or why I was brought here. What is happening to this place?"

The sky was crimson, but there were no clouds. Instead, there was a dome-shaped barrier keeping out the molten-hot liquid, which was the source of the crimson light illuminating the foreign land with a World Tree within the dome.

Amidst the wilted plants and herbs across the land, Leon discovered the black and brown ground was not made of regular soil nor sand, but iron dust.

Glaring red veins spread across the foreign land like roots, sucking out all life from the plants and herbs, even the ground itself.

"Are these red veins the main cause of this dying world?"

Leon's eyes traced the red veins to its source, which lead him towards circling around the dying World Tree.

On the other side, he found a beautifully carved female stone golem and the World Tree's roots intertwining around a glaring red crack in the dimension.

"A spatial rift? No, a spatial rift shouldn't be red like this—or red at all, for that matter. What the heck is it?" Leon frowned with a grave look.

He could not come up with a guess for the grim-glowing red crack at a glance, but it gave him an ominous feeling.

"Look at the positioning of the World Tree's roots and this female stone golem; it looks like they were working together to seal this red crack..."

Leon began analyzing.

"An inestimable amount of time must have passed since the sealing of this red crack that it has begun weakening and break out from the seal—Hm?"

Leon suddenly noticed the female stone golem opened her eyes before gazing back at him.

"You've finally come... Hm? No, you are not the one who I have been waiting for. You are simply too weak!"

The female stone golem's words rumbled in Leon's ears as if they were the laws of the world itself.

"Wait, I have some quest—"

"Begone!"

With a single word, Leon's consciousness was banished from the unknown land and sent straight back to his body in the next instance.

His eyes immediately snapped open before patting himself, filled with goosebumps and cold sweats.

"What the hell was that? I thought I was going to die just now.... How terrifying!" Leon shivered with lingering fear.

Chapter 625 - Authority Of Earth

Unexpectedly, that female stone golem was so powerful! Each of its words was like the mandate of heaven, brimming with the power of inviolable laws!

Leon was like an insignificant existence in front of such an almighty being, helpless to put a shred of resistance.

"Why was I brought to that place? Was that really the center of the world, the inner core?" Leon muttered with a frown.

If it was, then who or what was that female stone golem? Although Leon could faintly make a guess.

In the diary of Arden Gilardi, it was recorded that even during the peak of the Nova Empire, where their interstellar civilization span across the stars, the Celestials only looked for distant stars to refine.

Leon refused to believe that not a single Celestial wanted to refine planet Gaia and become its Celestial Ruler.

"Perhaps, the reason why Gaia had no ruler was not that no one wanted to, but because no one could... There was already a ruler." Leon muttered.

If the Celestial Ruler had always been slumbering in the depths of Gaia, it would not be strange for people to not know about it.

"But what was that red crack?" Leon frowned.

At the very least, it must be the leading cause for the dying planet.

The planet was never revitalized despite its having a Celestial Ruler because all energy was focused on stopping the expansion on the red crack...

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Leon noticed something different about himself. There were some changes to his soul core.

"My Earth Ability upgraded to the Transcendent level?" Leon uttered with surprise. "What a pleasant surprise!"

He could feel his Earth Law had strengthened on its own, and there was even a subtle absolute authority over it.

"This ability is rather bizarre... it's like I have been a certain level of control over all the Earth Element of Gaia..." Leon muttered while analyzing.

The Earth Seed inside his soul core was seemingly brimming with an endless source of energy.

"Is this a portion of the Celestial Ruler's power? Did I gain a bit of her authority over the earth when the stone golem's words blasted my consciousness away?"

Or perhaps it's due to his powerful soul be on the level of the Divine, which was of a similar level to the Celestials, thereby allowing him to control a part of the Celestial Ruler's authority over Gaia while it is preoccupied with sealing the red crack?

"I put aside these thoughts for now..." Leon frowned.

He had questions but no answers—at least not for now, he did not. When there is another opportunity, he will revisit the stone golem to get his answers.

"For now, I should check on the others. I wonder how much time has passed..." Leon muttered while glancing around at the deserted quarter of the Desolate Crow Clan.

Duna was spotted some distance away.

As if sensing his approaching presence, Duna opened her eyes and gazed back at Leon. Her body was mostly recovered as Leon failed to notice any wound at a glance.

Swoosh~!

Duna suddenly shot herself at Leon's chest, tackling him to the ground—not with her own strength, but because Leon did not resist, nor did he wanted to injure her by doing so.

"What's up?" Leon asked.

Duna moved her lips close to Leon's ears before she whispered seductively, "I want it."

"What? Right here?" Leon was stunned for a moment before he suddenly started coughing in the next moment.

He was still affected by the same variant disease plaguing the Desolate Crow Clan.

"I want it now!"

"Let us head into my Worldspace first."

Leon picked Duna up like a princess before the both of them disappeared on the spot. There was no way he was going to do it in such a dirty place.

He was already sick. He did not want his little brother to become ill as well. That would be quite a tragic sight.

Half an hour later, Leon and Duna reappeared on the same spot in the Desolate Crow Clan prior to their disappearance.

Alas, Leon wore a disappointed look while Duna licked her lips with satisfaction. What she wanted was his blood, not what he was hoping for.

That half an hour was spent curing himself before he allowed Duna to drink his blood. It was a necessary step he needed to take to prevent Duna from being a carrier of diseases.

Although it would not affect Duna herself, the disease on her body could spread to other people around her, turning it into a troublesome mess he would need to clean up.

"Let's go meet up with the others."

Leon spoke while shaking his head with a sigh when Duna suddenly grabbed his wrist, "I don't mind If you really want to do it, you know?"

"Maybe next time," Leon smiled wryly before saying, "There's a lot of people that currently need saving. Let's not delay any more time than we already have."

"Are you really going to turn down my offer like that?" Duna uttered with surprise before teasing him, You know there might not be a next time, right~?"

"As much as it pains me, I can only abstain for the greater good," Leon stated with a crumpled expression before pinching her soft cheeks, "So stop seducing me and making me aroused, you little temptress."

Pah!

Leon's hands were shortly slapped away before Duna snorted, "It's not my problem if you can't resist it, you horny animal."

Leon secretly cussed at Duna for being unreasonable. It was like burning a house, then blame it for burning.

...

Outside, the remains of the Holy Water were completely consumed before all the clansmen could receive their fair share of it.

One water fountain of Holy Water was simply not enough for everyone in the Desolate Crow Clan.

"Your Highness! More than half of our clansmen have yet to receive their temporary treatment via the Holy Water," Jorn began recounting what he learned from his subordinates.

"Although we have given priority to more severely ill clansmen, the ones left untreated have already started losing their mobility due to weakness."

"Didn't the aristocrat families hoarded all the healing medicine in the clan, Uncle Jorn? Have them distribute it to the rest of the clansmen. It might not be as effective, but it will buy them some time." Lilith instructed.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Shortly after Jorn left to carry out his task, Lilith's brows begun creasing deeply with concerns and uncertainties.

As the sole member of the Desolate Crow Clan's royal family, she had to remain strong in order to lead her clansmen.

She could not show weakness.

However, she was not made for leadership roles. The situation forced it upon. If she did not have Leon's support, she would not have known what to do.

Suddenly, an intense itch in Lilith's lungs and throat caused her to start coughing violently before her complexion paled slightly, and her body staggered with a hint of weakness.

On the side, Aria extended a hand and supported Lilith from falling before she inquired out of concern, "Are you alright, Lilith?"

"Mm, for now. It seems that I have also caught the disease," Lilith smiled wryly. She should have seen this coming.

"Don't worry. Everything will be resolved once Leon is done with his breakthrough," Aria spoke while throwing a glance at the sky.

The Transcendent Phenomenon had already dissipated, but Leon still needed time to consolidate his cultivation—or at least that was what Aria thought.

Little did she know, Leon was not required to do anything at all.

He had directly stepped into the Earth Transcendent Realm like he was casually sipping water. It happened spontaneously, perhaps due to his body's constitution or unique cultivation technique.

"You've called?"

Leon's voice was suddenly heard, causing Aria and Lilith to turn around before their eyes brightened with pleasant surprises.

"Leon! You're here!"

"You transcended again?"

Lilith and Aria exclaimed before Leon nodded, "See for yourself. Though, this isn't wholly my own strength but a part of Gaia's strength."

While the weakened clansmen were being tended and cared for on the outskirts, the abled warriors and Transcendent clansmen removed the countless rat carcasses from the mountain and burned them in a different pile.

Leon sensed the earth with his divine sense before he raised one hand.

Rumble!

In the next moment, the whole mountain of carcasses shook with movements before the billions of carcasses were pushed out of the buried Desolate Crow Clan.

"This…! What is happening?! The mountain is moving!"

"Holy Sh*t! The rats are being mowed by the earth!"

The warriors exclaimed while many lost their balance by the sudden movements.

Sometime later, the entire mountain of carcasses was moved away, revealing the hidden Desolate Crow Clan buried underneath.

What could have been many days of work was finished in several minutes.

"Incredible…"

"This must be the work of gods!"

The clansmen were awe by the spectacle while Aria and Lilith looked at Leon with shock, awaiting his further explanations.

"Is this still within the realms of Preliminary Accession-stage Transcendent Awakeners?" Aria muttered.

Leon smiled before shaking his head, "No matter how I wrap my head around it, I am also amazed myself. There's no precise explanation for this inexplicable amplification in earthly power."

"The Cataclysm has been nothing except full of danger and unexpected discoveries."

"It's like you have suddenly received Gaia's favor and became the favored Son of Heaven," Lilith commented.

"The favored Son of Heaven, huh?" Leon smiled self-deprecatingly, wondering just how many near-death experiences and hardships one had to overcome before they even reached this step.

Shortly after, Leon shook his head and said, "Let us figure this out later. Everyone's treatment comes first. If I'm not wrong, you should have been affected too, right?"

"Mm.." Lilith nodded.

Chapter 626 - Process Of Recovery

"Take it. It'll help you feel better for a while," Leon offered a Tier-1 All-Purpose Healing Pill.

Lilith glanced at the pill for a moment before she shook her head, "My symptoms are mild at present. I can wait. Please help my clansmen who are in direr need of your medicine and treatment."

"Do you think I am lacking in medicine to treat everyone or something? Take it. They will also get their share." Leon casually tossed the pill directly over.

Lilith immediately panicked. She caught the pill with both hands before she heaved a sigh of relief.

Shortly after, she gave Leon a disapproving glance for treating precious medicine carelessly. But perhaps it was as he said. He did not lack medication.

"Thank you..."

Lilith plopped the pill in her mouth without further objections after expressing her gratitude.

Leon waved his hand nonchalantly, expressing it was not a big deal for him before he said, "Alright. Let us deal with this plague once and for all."

"Un." Lilith nodded

"Have the able warriors continue cleaning up the tribe. After all, we will still need a place to stay after everyone is recovered."

"I'll arrange it."

After receiving Lilith's reply, Leon shot off into the distance and pushed the mountain of rat carcasses further away from the clan before lighting it up on fire.

Once that was settled, Leon flew over to the location of the Desolate Crow Clansmen.

"Divine doctor, please bless us with more of your miraculous medicine!"

"I don't care about myself, but my family... I beg of you to help my family at least, Divine Doctor!"

"Divine Doctor..."

The sick clansmen greeted before making their countless pleas and requests for Leon to save them.

The situation was a little chaotic due to their desperation, but none of them were able to reach Leon while he floated in the sky.

"Don't worry. I will do my best to save everyone." Leon voiced his promise, which was like music to their ears, while he looked at their countless expressions calmly.

When resources are limited, harmony will be broken, unity will shatter, and infighting becomes the only way for survival.

Leon did not doubt that the Desolate Crow Clansmen who fight among themselves for the limited medicine on their hands once they reach that breaking point.

There was nothing good or evil about fighting for one's survival. Being good was a luxury, but it was also a luxury that only Leon could afford.

"Please make room."

Once Leon made his request, the sick clansmen quickly mustered whatever strength they had to retreat some distance from the ground he was hovering above.

Leon made the clansmen back off even further before utilizing his many elemental abilities of earth, fire, and nihility to form a clean pool of water, the size of a lake, in the location after cleansing the filth and bacteria in the area.

Shortly after, Tier-1 Spirit Herbs were taken out of the Worldspace, en masse, before Leon extracted all their herbal essence with fire and dumped them into the small lake one after the other.

If it were Tier-3 Spirit Herbs, Leon might have hesitated to use them extravagantly for treating the Desolate Crow Clansmen.

Tier-3 Spirit Herbs were the highest quality spirit herbs in his possession.

Not only do they take a whole month to grow, but many of them were also on their way to becoming Tier-4 Spirit Herbs.

But if it was Tier-1 Spirit Herbs that he was using, Leon would not even need to think twice before using them all.

They all came from easy-to-procure seeds in the Human Domain and only took a single day to grow into Tier-1 Spirit Herbs after germinating.

It was not long before the clear water exuded a soft green hue and sparkled with holiness and pleasant scents, making the clansmen feel better just by sniffing it—even if it was only an illusion.

"Wah…?"

"What..?"

"How the…"

Man clansmen exclaimed.

As the Desolate Crow Clansmen watched Leon prepare the medicine, their eyes widened in shock and awe at the number of quality spirit herbs popping out of seemingly nowhere.

"Interspatial Artifacts!"

Some of them had not noticed it before, but now that they get to observe Leon carefully, they realized that he was in possession of one.

Many clansmen immediately expressed their interest in such a fascinating and inconvenient tool while several aristocrat members shone with greed in their eyes.

However, it only lasted a moment before their greedy glints disappeared.

They can be envious and jealous all they want, but if the treasure does not belong to them, they will never have it.

"Haiz... Wonder when I will have the fortune to possess an interspatial artifacts of my own..." Some aristocrat members shook their heads with a sigh.

They have all witnessed Leon's ability to move mountains with a wave of his hand, putting him on the level of gods in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Leon did not pay attention to the thoughts of the clansmen, nor did he care.

"Huh?"

Lilith uttered with doubt.

After the Holy Water was prepared, Leon suddenly took out his Tier-4 Bone Spear and sliced his own wrist.

Swoosh~!

Aria and Lilith quickly flew over to Leon's side before attempting to stop him from mutilating himself further.

"What are you doing? Why are you cutting yourself, Leon?"

"Even if you can't completely cure the disease, there's no need to take it out on yourself like this, right? I won't blame you, so please, don't do this."

Aria and Lilith spoke with concerns, causing Leon to be stunned.

After taking a moment to recover, he quickly shook his head, "You have both misunderstood me."

"I am using my blood to create the cure for the variant disease," Leon explained.

"Huh?"

"What?"

Aria and Lilith expressed their confusion.

Seeing that neither of them understood, Leon softly sighed before he further explained, "You see, I was also infected with the disease. Except, I've already treated it."

"Now, my blood contains the antibodies for the disease. I need to mix my blood with medicine to produce even more antibodies. Although I will lose some blood essence, it will save me inconvenience—not to mention my blood essence can be replenished."

"I see… So it was just a misunderstanding…" Lilith patted her chest before saying, "I thought you were becoming emo after realizing you could not live up to your words…"

"…"

Leon was speechless.

"Did I always seem so weak-minded to you?"

"Well…no."

Lilith smiled awkwardly.

After Leon's arm was released from Aria and Lilith's grasp, he continued to let his wrist bleed before he gathered the blood and infused it with Wood Energy—making use of the Wood Energy's proliferating properties to multiply the antibodies contained in the blood.

Once the infused blood dropped in the lake of Holy Water, Leon formed a whirlpool at the center, mixing the two together until the color began to undergo a subtle change, becoming a slightly darker shade of green.

After the cure was produced en masse, Leon nodded with a satisfied look.

"It's done."

"It's done?"

"Un." Leon nodded.

After receiving Leon's confirmation, Lilith quickly beamed with a bright smile, completely putting her faith in Leon's claim without a shred of doubt or question.

"That's great! The clan can be saved now!" Lilith exclaimed with joy.

Leon smiled slightly and said, "I'll leave it up to you on how you want to distribute the cure to your clansmen. Do take note that each person only needs a mouthful to be cured."

"Understood, Leon. And, thanks a lot! I owe you big time!" Lilith gave Leon a sudden peck on the cheeks before rushing off to distribute the medicine.

Aria furrowed her brows before floating closer to hug Leon's arm and check on the wound—only to notice that the bleeding had already stopped, completely healed.

Shortly after, her nose twitched with a few sniffs.

"The air around here is quite clean," Aria suddenly mentioned, noticing there was no unpleasant scent from the rats despite not be far off from the ground—while enjoying Leon's gentle caress at the same time.

"Nothing to be surprised about. I was purifying the area while I was creating the lake to contain the medicine," Leon explained casually.

On the field, filled with scattered flesh and blood from the rat tide, the area around the lake was considered an oasis thanks to Leon's Nihility Law removing all the foulness from the region.

Some True Grandmist Energy was gained as a result.

No matter how useless the rat blood and chunks that filled the region with a pungent stench is, they can still be turned into something useful like True Grandmist Energy, albeit so infinitesimally small, it was not worth mentioning.

A sudden sense of lethargy made Leon wavered slightly, but he was held closely by Aria before she asked with concern, "Is everything alright, Leon?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I just lost a bit more blood than I initially thought," Leon smiled wryly before adding, "I'll be fine once I replenish some blood."

It seems he will have to start taking note of how much blood he loses. Otherwise, one day, Duna will simply suck him dry.

Sometime later, the cure was evenly distributed to all the Desolate Crow Clansmen. Even Soft Feather and Darlene were given a portion.

During that time, Leon flew around the vicinity of the Desolate Crow Clan and purified the area with his Nihility Law.

Whether it was remnant bacteria from the variant disease lingering air that could not be seen by the naked eye or the Wrathful Demonic Energy in the atmosphere—everything was removed without exception.

Afterward, Jorn led all the warriors and regular clansmen back into the Desolate Crow Clan to rebuild the clan.

All in all, the entire Desolate Crow Clan was in the process of recovery.

Chapter 627 - Expressing Gratitude

"I know you all have just recovered, but unless you all want to sleep on the streets, I suggest you all put your backs into it! C'mon, people!" Jorn barked while carrying a giant piece of broken stone.

"We have a lot of work to do!"

At the same time, many clansmen were also moving rubbles of various sizes based on their strength as they cleared out the ruins of the Desolate Crow Clan.

"Did ya hear that? Brother Jorn said to put your backs into it!"

"I don't need your reminder! I've heard it loud and clear!"

"Haa! I ain't planning to sleep on the cold floor tonight!"

"Ouuu—!"

The warriors and clansmen talked and exclaimed in high spirits.

After drinking the blood-mixed Holy Water, not only did the clansmen fully recovered, they even felt invigorated and energetic.

It was like finally being lifted up after taking off all the weights dragging them down.

Needless to say, they were highly motivated to put their bodies to good us.

"Clear the sites quick! Once the first task is done, we need to gather the food and keep an inventory! What can be kept, must be kept! What can't be kept, must be thrown away!" Jorn added after tossing the giant building piece to the side.

"We need to understand how long our food can last us!" Jorn added.

Undoubtedly, the rat carcasses have not only ruined their homes but also spoiled their food reserves!

For a large clan like the Desolate Crow Clan, the importance of food reserves must be stressed. Without food, people will starve to death!

Wars fought for wealth were matters of interest, but wars fought for food were matters of survival! No matter how united the clan was, it will still break apart in the face of hunger!

History has shown this!

Meanwhile, Aria and Leon hovered in the sky while casually watching the busy Desolate Crow Clansmen at work.

"With the mass appearance of frenzied rats sweeping the Wildlands, devastating the plains, and drastically reducing the population, a famine is bound to happen," Leon stated.

"Mm." Aria nodded with brows and continued, "Lilith's Uncle Jorn is right to be concerned about food."

"Many tribes in the Wildlands must be facing the same crisis. Although I do believe the elves' Wood Ability and Crop Cultivation Techniques could resolve their problems."

"If we consider the lifestyle of the beasts and beastmen in the Wildlands, I'm not sure if these meat-lovers will be happy to go vegetarian, though." Leon chuckled at the thought.

Aria giggled in response before she scoffed softly, "They wouldn't have the luxury to be picky."

Sometime later, the two of them descended towards the ground, where Lilith was seen dealing with the aristocrat families.

Just as their feet touched the ground, a commotion immediately broke out as the nearby children flocked over and quickly surrounded them on all sides.

"Divine doctor is here!"

"I found the divine doctor!"

"I found the divine doctor first!"

"No, you didn't! I did!"

"No, I did!"

"Boohoo…"

The children cheered and fought while jumping and skipping around Leon and Aria excitedly before some began crying after losing.

"Where are your manners? Quickly say thank you to the divine doctor for his medicine and benevolence!"

"Ahh…thank you, divine doctor brother!"

"Thank you for saving us, big brother divine doctor!"

The mothers of the children lectured shortly after their arrival before the children followed their instructions and expressed their gratitude obediently to Leon.

"It's fine, it's fine. I was just doing what a doctor should do," Leon waived off his act of grace as a small matter as he smiled wryly.

The children were giving him all sorts of weird names and titles.

"Any doctor can show a small act of kindness to their patients," a normal mother carrying her child shook her head before saying, "However, a doctor who can show his kindness to everyone on the magnitude of an entire clan? I'm afraid there are none besides you."

"You are a noble doctor worthy of our respects. The Desolate Crow Clan owes you a great debt of gratitude that we can never hope to repay. Come, Alicia. Say thank you to the divine doctor," the mother urged the daughter in her arms.

The little girl was shy and hesitant at first before she obediently listened to her mother and said to Leon, "Thank you for saving Alicia, divine doctor!"

"What a cute little girl!"

Aria could not help but reach out her hand and rubbed the little girl's head while Leon simply smiled lightly.

If Aria did not give the little girl a head rub, he would have done so. But since she had done so, there was no need for him to give the cute little girl a head rub as well.

Leon gave the little girl a nod and said warmly, "Alicia is such a good girl. Remember to continue listening to your mama in the future, okay?"

"Okay!"

Alicia answered.

The little girl's mother could not help but smile at this scene, feeling how fortunate it was that her daughter was still alive and healthy.

It was only some time ago that she and her husband feared their daughter would not make it.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out behind her before noticing the other mothers were pulling the children away as a group made their way through the crowd.

Upon identifying the approaching group with a glance, Alicia's mother's expression paled slightly with fear before excusing herself politely.

"We will take our leave first, divine doctor. Once again, thank you for saving us."

"Don't worry about it," Leon responded casually.

Shortly after, he gave a calm glance at the group of aristocrats approaching him before one of them took the initiative to greet, "Well met, divine doctor."

"I am Reuben of the Darkwing family."

"I am…"

One after another, the head of each aristocrat family began introducing themselves to Leon while expressing their deepest gratitude for his benevolence, showering him with praises and tried to get on his good side.

It was clear that they had ulterior motives and hidden intentions.

Chapter 628 - Do You Understand?

Just as Leon wondered what they really wanted from him, Reuben Darkwing pulled a young lady before him.

"My daughter, Catalina, is of similar age to the divine doctor." Reuben Darkwing introduced before suggesting, "If the divine doctor does look down on my daughter, perhaps the two of you can become friends."

After Leon glanced at the other aristocrat heads who similarly brought their daughters and beautiful female servants with them, his eyes immediately flickered with understanding.

These people were seeking to establish a connection with him by using the honey trap tactic!

"Divine doctor, my daughter, Shahla, is also of similar age to you and wants to be your friend!"

"Pah! How shameless of you, Sir Riverick! Your daughter is only 13 years old! How is that similar age, hmm?!" Another aristocrat family head snorted before turning to Leon, "Greeting, great doctor. How about befriending my—"

"Daughter? Holy fuck, dude. Are you sure that she isn't your secret mistress instead?" The other black-winged aristocrat family head, Riverick Blackfeather, immediately took the chance to jab back.

The lady brought forward by the other black-winged aristocrat family head appeared to be at least in her late-30's—old enough to be the divine doctor's young mother.

"What nonsense! Did I say I was introducing my daughter?! This is my little sister!" The black-winged aristocrat family head exploded.

In a short moment, all the aristocrats finished their attempts at matchmaking their sisters, daughters, young cousins, and even servants to Leon.

They knew that if they could bind the divine doctor to their families, their families would be able to enjoy prosperity for many generations to come.

Alas…

Leon took a glance at Aria beside him, who have gone silent with an expressionless look.

Given the relationship they shared, the aristocrat family heads were not giving her any respect by blatantly trying to matchmake her man with their daughters and such.

"Hmph!" Aria snorted.

With a stomp of her feet, a wave of ice-lightning power surged out from the ground with a threatening presence.

"Rank 2 Transcendent!"

The aristocrats all hastily retreated with shock after Aria's reveal of strength, not expecting to see another person with a high-level cultivation base after Lord Bahlzacs's death.

If such a strong person assisted in the previous battle, it would have ended even quicker!

Lord Bahlzacs was simply destined to die!

Just as the aristocrat family heads were about to make an apology, Lilith's voice thundered over with a snarl, "What are you all doing over there! I'm not done with all of you yet!"

Lilith stormed over angrily like a jealous, causing the aristocrat family heads to become stunned at the same time.

Glanced back and further between Aria and Lilith before ultimately shaking their heads with disappointment and wry but bitter smiles.

The competition was too strong!

There was no hope of binding the divine doctor to their family!

"Our apologies, Your Highness. We did not know that the divine doctor was already your lover. We mean no disrespect," Reuben Darkwing took the initiative to speak first, acting like he was the leader of all the aristocrat families.

"W-What? Lover?"

Lilith's stern face immediately flushed with embarrassment, losing all the strong momentum she came forward with.

Nevertheless, after a moment, she recovered slightly before correcting them, "You're wrong! The one you are disrespecting is Aria. Apologize to her, then get back to work!"

"Everyone must contribute to the clan's restoration. The aristocrat families are no exceptions, you hear me?!"

"Y-Yes, Your Highness!"

"Sorry for offending you, Miss Aria!"

Shortly after the aristocrat family complied and made their formal apology to Aria, they left hurried to join the other clans.

Once they were gone from her sights, Lilith heaved a sigh of relief.

Her body quickly felt like jelly as she wanted to melt into the ground and disappear. It was a taxing job to commands those much more powerful than herself.

She was riding on the prestige of her royal family and those who support her for her to successfully contain the aristocrats' circle.

"Seems like you are not having an easy time. Why not take a break?" Leon casually suggested.

"I can't!" Lilith quickly shook her head before saying, "There are too many problems that require my attention!"

"There's the issue of rebuilding the clan, the food, my parents, and even the Desolate Netherbird Tribe to worry about."

Lilith felt a little frustrated just thinking about them all.

"It doesn't seem like your Desolate Crow Clan have any clan elders to help you either," Leon commented casually.

However, Lilith was immediately stunned.

"No, we do have Clan Elders! Six, in fact!" Lilith stated shortly before calling Uncle Jorn over and inquired, "Uncle Jorn, why haven't I see any of the Clan Elders?"

"The Clan Elders?" Jorn repeated.

Shortly after, he quickly sighed with a depressive tone, "Two of the Clan Elders were killed as a warning while the other four were taken away with the Clan Leader and your mother, Little Princess."

"I see…" Lilith muttered with a sad look.

She did not dare to ask which two of the six Clan Elder was killed.

Not only were the Clan Elders the strongest in the clan, second only to the Clan Leader, but Lilith was also even close to some of them.

"Please come with me, Little Princess. There are some things that require your attention," Jorn spoke before Lilith nodded.

"Leon, Aria, I'll head off with Uncle Jorn first. If you two and others need something. Just come find me immediately, okay?"

"Sure." Leon nodded.

Not long after Lilith left with Jorn, Leon stared into space for a moment and muttered, "I will need to make some more teleportation arrays soon and deploy one in Desolate Crow Clan."

"It's almost time for me to check on the other side…"

Meanwhile, shortly after the aristocrat group headed over, Duna had caught up and stopped them in their path.

"Hm? Is there something we can do for you, Miss Duna?" Reuben Darkwing asked humbly, having seen Duna's battle prowess in action.

However, Duna did not reply.

Instead, she silently pointed them, then she pointed at their sisters, cousins, and daughters, then pointed to Leon in the distance.

Afterward, she pointed to a big block of broken stone nearby. Not long after, it quickly disappeared on the spot under the Destruction Law.

"Do you understand?" Duna gestured calmly.

The aristocrats immediately nodded their heads vehemently like obedient dogs while breaking out into cold sweats.

It was a clear warning!

Chapter 629 - Dejected Darlene

Inside the Desolate Crow Clan, Lilith and Uncle Jorn walked together down the streets filled with rubbles from the damaged buildings nearby.

The clansmen did their best to clear out the rubbles and clean up the clan before proceeding with repairs to make it habitable again.

Despite Leon's efforts to move out the rat carcasses with his earthen ability, quite a few were missed and remained inside the clan.

Uncle Jorn quietly observed the clansmen carry the bodies outside before he suddenly furrowed his brows.

"Strange…"

"What is, Uncle Jorn?"

Lilith glanced at her Uncle Jorn, who appeared to be puzzled by some sudden discovery, and waited patiently for him to start explaining.

After a slight delay, Uncle Jorn said, "The rat carcasses are still pungent as you would expect them to be, but their smell hasn't pervaded the entire clan. Air does not seem to be as stuffy as before…"

"No, the air is getting…cleaner by the moment?" Uncle Jorn's eyes flickered with surprise upon his discovery.

However, Lilith did not share the same sentiments.

After listening to her Uncle Jorn's words, she pondered for a moment before she said, "This is probably Leon's doing."

"I see…" Uncle Jorn uttered.

At this point, he should not be surprised by anything the human prince does—for everything the person does is either shocking or surprising.

In other words, he should get used to it.

"Right, Uncle Jorn." Lilith suddenly recalled the berserk humans before she inquired, "Has any of our clansmen experience frenzied behaviors and loss of mental faculty, becoming extremely aggressive since the Cataclysm occurred?"

"Frenzied behaviors and loss of mental faculty? Becoming extremely aggressive?" Uncle Jorn frowned in thought before replying with doubt, "Not that I am aware of…?"

"Is this a big problem worthy of our concerns, Little Princess?" Uncle Jorn inquired.

"There haven't been any cases?" Lilith thought for a moment before she nodded, "That's good then. Most likely, extended exposure to the sunlight will cause it."

"However, the clan has been hidden under the mountain of carcasses, thus, avoiding this problem unwittingly. Since there haven't been any cases, then there's a need for us to worry about," Lilith stated.

Since Leon was helping her cleanse the Wrathful Demonic Energy within the Desolate Crow Clan, the chances of someone going berserk will become negligible.

"Alright then…"

Without clear explanations from the Desolate Crow Princess, Uncle Jorn was confused by the matter she brought up.

"I will tell you more about this matter later," Lilith stated before asking, "What did you need to talk to me about?"

As they two conversed, they continued to walk down the busy street filled with hard-working clansmen. Before Uncle Jorn could answer Lilith's question, a Transcendent-level warrior suddenly arrived.

"Report!" Uncle Jorn stated.

"Yes, Brother Jorn! We have just recovered the first food bank. However, we have discovered rat blood seepage in the area, spoiling the food stored there. What should be done about it?"

"So the thing I feared happened, huh?" Uncle Jorn rubbed his forehead with stress before stating, "Save what can be saved, and throw away everything that can't. Burn all the spoiled food somewhere away from the clan."

"Understood."

The Transcendent-level warrior nodded.

Shortly after the warrior left, Uncle Jorn returned his attention to Lilith.

"Where were we again?" Uncle Jorn asked before he quickly recalled and said, "Ah, yes. As you can see, the clan is quite a bad state after the damages."

"I've estimated that only roughly three-quarters of the clan will be able to sleep in warm environments tonight. But this is not our biggest problem. Food is our biggest problem. Without sufficient food to sustain ourselves, the clan will eventually starve to death."

"I've already started looking into possible ways we can procure more food, but I will need Little Princess's approval before I send the people out to search…"

Uncle Jorn began listing problems after problems related to the clan before he finally moved onto two other important issues, worthy of concern.

"We also need to think of a plan to save the Clan Leader and the other Clan Elders from the clutches of the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince. At the same time, we also need to prepare measures against the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince's retaliation."

"Now that Lord Bahlzacs is dead, it won't be long before the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince realizes what happens here," Uncle Jorn stated.

"Does Lord Bahlzacs send regular updates to the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince via a messenger? Can we fake it to buy more time?" Lilith wondered.

"From what I know, Lord Bahlzacs writes to the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince in a special-coded message. Unless we understand what that special-coded message is, it will not be possible to fake one."

"I see…" Lilith frowned before asking, "How time do you think we have before the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince notices something wrong and sends his people over, Uncle Jorn?"

"I would say no longer than a week, Little Princess." Uncle Jorn stated with a solemn look.

"A week, huh? I see." Lilith nodded.

"How much we can prepare ourselves within this week could very well determine the fate of our clan. At most, the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince could only pressure us. But now that one of his subordinates is killed, he has a legitimate reason to annihilate our clan."

"Little Princess is right. However, we mustn't forget that the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince needs our clan's power to contest with the Crown Prince for the Desolate Netherbird Tribe's throne."

Uncle Jorn reminded before inputting his own opinion, "The Desolate Netherbird Second Prince wouldn't annihilate us, but he can still make our lives more miserable than he previously intended."

"Still, none of us have the means to defend against Rank 2 Transcendents. If there a remote chance of victory, it will depend on the group of friends you brought, Little Princess."

"Will they be willing to help us all the way? If not, I can make some arrangements to guarantee that they will," Uncle Jorn stated.

"What kind of arrangements?" Lilith glanced at Uncle Jorn with suspicions.

"Well, it's like this…"

Uncle Jorn began whispering in Lilith's ears about the details of his idea. Lilith quickly blushed before it quickly turned into a frown shortly after.

"You want to tie them to the clan by sending pretty women and handsome men after them? Don't even think about it. They are friends who have already helped us greatly. How we think about scheming against them?" Lilith rejected the idea.

"You must put aside personal feelings, Little Princess. This matter involves the survival of the entire clan." Uncle Jorn stated solemnly before asking, "Are you prepared to shoulder the consequences in order to uphold your values?"

What he said made him appear as the bad guy, but some things must be mentioned. Furthermore, what he spoke was the truth.

At the same time, he was trying to instill into Lilith the values of a leader—to put the lives of her people above the lives of outsiders.

"Enough. This matter rests here." Lilith ended the discussion with a frown.

"Focus on the problem of food shortage problem first. Uncle Jorn wants to send people out to scavenge for food, right? I permit it." Lilith said shortly after.

"I understand, Little Princess."

Uncle Jorn shook his head with a helpless smile.

She can avoid the matter for now, but not forever. There will come a time when she will be forced to make a choice.

Shortly after, Uncle Jorn left to continue assisting the clan's restoration process.

Lilith looked up at the clear stars in the skies and sighed as her Uncle Jorn's words resounded in her head.

Would she still be firm in her decision once she sees her clansmen dying? She did not know.

The answer can only be left in the future.

…

Meanwhile, Leon absorbed a substantial amount of Wrathful Demonic Energy in the sky above the Desolate Crow Clan.

After he refined all the energy, he descended onto a nearby hill situated outside the Desolate Crow Clan.

At the same time, Soft Feather quickly flew over with Darlene and Aria on her back before they curiously observed Leon's action.

"What are you doing?" Soft Feather failed to keep silent and finally popped the question to satisfied her curiosity.

"I'm crafting a few Demon Gathering Arrays," Leon explained while fiddling with a few ancient bones and other materials he could find in his Worldspace.

"Demon Gathering Arrays?" Aria muttered thoughtfully.

She sensed the similarity with Spirit Gathering Arrays in name before she asked, "These Demon Gathering Arrays are used to gather Demonic Energy?"

"That's right." Leon nodded.

Sometime later, he completed four Demon Gathering Arrays and condensed four Artificial Demon Cores with the Demonic Energy stored in his Black Vortex Space before socketing them into the arrays.

"Can I trouble you to place these around the clan? You should know how to activate them, right?" Leon made the request to Aria, who was knowledgeable about Spirit Gathering Arrays.

The Demon Gathering Array was not only similar in name but also in design—at least to the most commonly used and widespread type of Spirit Gathering Array in the Divine Realm.

"Mmm." Aria nodded.

She accepted the four Demon Gathering Arrays and took off from the hill without questioning its purpose. She was happy to do things for Leon.

Shortly after watching Aria leave, Leon shifted his attention to Darlene, whom he had neglected since returning to the Human Domain.

The person could be seen seated in meditation on Soft Feather's back with a frown on her face. After a moment, she opened her eyes with a sigh.

The atmosphere was too densely packed with various other elements for Darlene to absorb spatial elements and cultivate effectively.

She began to wonder why Leon brought her along when she could not do anything to contribute. She felt very useless. If she cannot keep up, she will be left behind and forgotten.

The thought made Darlene feel dejected.

Chapter 630 - Returning To The Neutral Zone

While Darlene was feeling dejected over her concerns for a possible future where she was left behind and abandoned, a sudden hand gently rested on her head, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Is there something you need, Leon?" Darlene asked with a startled look before doing her best to fix her expression.

Leon already had his hands full of problems to deal with. She could not bring herself to be selfish and ask Leon for his help in making her stronger.

"You've been looking a bit down lately. Why don't you tell me what's the matter?" Leon said while giving Darlene's head a gentle rub.

"Have I?" Darlene hid her emotion with a bright smile before adding, "Hubby is just imagining things. You don't need to mind and just do what you need to do."

"My dear, it's fine to be a bit more selfish, you know?" Leon responded, having seen through her fake smile.

He pulled Darlene up with both hands before he said, "Come with me. I will take you to an interesting place."

"Miss Soft Feather, I will need to trouble you to inform the others not to worry about me if they ask where I went. Tell them to focus on cultivation or help out the Desolate Crow Clan while I am absent," Leon spoke to Soft Feather shortly after.

Soft Feather gazed at Leon hovering in front of her with Darlene in his arms before she curiously asked, "Where are you going?"

In fact, Darlene wanted to ask the same thing, but she decided to keep quiet after Soft Feather was the first to raise the question.

"To the skies, in a place that will be perfect for Darlene to cultivate," Leon casually answered.

Once Darlene heard this, she immediately looked at Leon with a dumb yet cute look of surprise.

"What?" Leon smiled while pinching her small nose and asked, "You didn't think I would know that you were stressing over your own low cultivation because you couldn't do anything to help me?"

As it turns out, Leon had been paying attention to her as well. She just did not realize it. Darlene quickly became emotional.

The kinder Leon was to her, the guiltier she felt at the same time. She wanted to tell him about Chief Valencia's secret task for her to monitor him.

However, she was also afraid that Leon might not want her anymore after finding out about it and abandon her.

"I..."

Darlene found it difficult to speak as she felt choking on her own words.

Little did she know that her thinking was a little naive and the fact that Leon already knew but chose not to say anything.

"Alright, save your words for later. It won't be too late to be surprised after I bring you to the place beyond the normal skies."

"Mmm." Darlene nodded.

She lowered her head and rested on Leon's chest quietly while she tightened her arms around him.

"Well? Can you do this for me, Miss Soft Feather?"

"Alright, alright. You can leave already."

After Soft Feather shooed like Leon was bothering her, he soared into the sky with Darlene.

Swoosh~!

Leon rose quickly, and within moments, he was already thousands of feet in the sky. He continued ascending with increasing speed.

Soon, they broke through the first layer of the sky...

Then comes the second layer and third layer...

Sometime later, Leon reached the end of the third sky layer, the mesosphere.

Darlene knew about the sky suppression force and found it weird that Leon could take her so high in the sky without sensing a shred of it.

At the same time, the discovery shocked her, and the view made her breathless. When would she be able to fly to such a high point on her own?

"We are reaching the end of the third sky layer. There'll be an incredibly powerful barrier obstructing entry into the fourth sky layer, but you do not have to worry with me around."

Shortly after Leon spoke confidently, he raised one hand and summoned the power of the Nihility Law to form a protective barrier around them.

Plop!

The two shortly squeezed into the fourth sky layer, the weightless, zero-gravity neutral zone.

"Whaa—!?"

Darlene quickly exclaimed, feeling her body become light and floated away from Leon's body as he released her.

She reached her hand in a panic but failed to grab hold of Leon, causing her to cry, "Hubby, help me!"

"Relax, this place is a zero-gravity zone. You won't fall here. Try and move around on your own," Leon explained with a smile.

After the initial scare, Darlene quickly calmed down before she threw Leon a dirty look.

"You're too mean! You should have warned me!" Darlene pouted.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry," Leon chuckled in apology before saying, "I wanted to give you a surprise."

"You're not sorry at all!" Darlene grumbled while looking at Leon's grinning expression before she gasped at a sudden discovery.

"Huh? I heard the outer heaven was a vacuum-like empty space with nothing, a complete void of space. How we still breathe and move like this?"

As Darlene raised her questions with doubt, she waved her arms and legs furiously to paddle through the air like she was swimming in water.

For someone with zero flying ability, her action appeared quite comical and cute in Leon's eyes as his lips curved up into a smile.

He could see that Darlene was fascinated by the experience as she seemed to have forgotten the previous thoughts that made her despondent and dejected.

"Like I said, this is the fourth sky layer, a zero-gravity zone. There is still an atmosphere. It's just that some repelling and counteracting force has negated all the gravity in this region of space," Leon explained patiently while watching Darlene play and explore the neutral zone.

"This place is fun! Is this what freedom feels like?" Darlene muttered before she doggy-paddled her way back to Leon's side.

Shortly after, she grabbed hold of the corners of Leon's clothes before pulling herself into his embrace.

"As I thought, this place is still better," Darlene muttered in Leon's arms, making Leon want to pull her cheeks for being too cute.

Shortly after, he shook his head and asked with a slight chuckle, "Aren't you forgetting something important?"

"Something important? Oh...!"

Darlene pondered for a short moment before she quickly felt the abundant spatial element in the region and exclaimed, "This place is so rich in spatial elements!"

"Of course, there is. This is the sky layer closest to outer space after the exosphere layer, silly." Leon smiled and said, "Make use of this chance to cultivate and refine as much Spatial Energy as you can."

"Mm, mm! Thank you, hubby! You're the best!" Darlene repeatedly nodded with excitement before positioning herself.

Once she found the correct meditative position, she closed her eyes and began cultivating immediately.

It did not take long before a stir appeared in the atmosphere, transforming into a powerful suction force that pulled in all the spatial elements in Darlene's surroundings like she was a ravenous black hole.

The tyranny of Darlene's Void Soul Constitution was put on display, showcasing her superior absorption and refining ability that ordinary cultivators can only look at with envy.

'As I thought, Darlene's cultivation speed will be frightening—given the condition that there were enough spatial elements for her to absorb,' Leon quietly observed Darlene.

Shortly after, his brows furrowed slightly.

'It'll be easier for her to cultivate without the hindrance of the Wrathful Demonic Energies in the surroundings,' Leon thought.

He raised one hand and began pulling in the surrounding Wrathful Demonic Energy hidden in the atmosphere before dumping everything into the Black Vortex for refinement.

'I can never have too much Demonic Energy if I want to keep producing Artificial Demon Cores for my rune-engraved creations—'

Leon suddenly felt a pair of eyes spying on him from behind before he quickly turned around swiftly to check.

"Who?!" he shouted.

His strong voice echoed into the distance, causing the skies to reverberate slightly, and even Darlene was roused awake from her concentrated cultivation state.

Leon searched the distant skies with his sweeping gaze, but he failed to discover anything except the silent night.

'Was it my imagination?' Leon frowned.

"Is something wrong, hubby?" Darlene asked with a cautious look, afraid of annoying Leon. The sudden shout had startled her greatly.

A moment passed before Leon shook his head and looked back at Darlene apologetically, "Sorry for disturbing your cultivation, my dear. I sensed someone spying on us just now, but I can't find anyone."

"Might have been my imagination," is what he said.

However, Leon did not really believe it was. He trusted his instincts quite well. Unfortunately, he could not find anything, so he can only put it off as such for the time being.

"If you think you felt someone spying on you, then I think someone really was spying on you," Darlene also chose to believe in Leon's feelings before she asked, "Will it become a problem if we don't find out who is spying on us?"

"Whether it's a problem or not, just let me worry about it." Leon poked Darlene's nose with a smile before saying, "Go back to cultivating. You only need to focus on getting stronger for now."

"Mm… alright."

Darlene nodded solemnly. Only when she is stronger can she share Leon's burden.

Shortly after Darlene resumed cultivation with her eyes closed, Leon took another glance in the direction of the spying gaze that he had sensed earlier and narrowed his eyes.

'Wonder who it could be?' Leon pondered.

He could only think of two possibilities why he could not locate the spy.

One, the person had impressive stealth abilities beyond his means to detect, or two, the person was spying from an inexplicably long distance beyond his sight.

Either way, it did not seem like Leon was their opponent.

Chapter 631 - Celestial Mirror Of Omniscience

Somewhere several hundred miles east of the Human Domain, a beautiful floating island hun in the high skies of the Neutral Zone.

However, no one could marvel at its beauty as it was situated in a place that cannot be seen by the rest of the world.

At the same time, it was equipped with a near-invisible stealth ability encompassing the entire floating island like a protective barrier.

On the beautiful floating island, a tower-like golden temple stood out from the rest of the exquisitely designed infrastructure that surrounds it.

Inside of the golden temple, an old man stroked his long dragon beard while in deep thoughts after using an ancient mirror-shaped artifact to peer into distant places on the surface.

"Interesting... I didn't expect this young man's senses to be so sharp as to sense my gaze from so far away..." the dragon-beard old man muttered on the top floor of the golden temple.

The so-called golden temple was an old observatory that was used in the past by the ancient civilization. But now, it was treated as a holy temple in which only the strongest of humans in the Human Domain can gather and stay.

"Old Kaiser, it's time to switch! It's my turn to use the Celestial Mirror of Omniscience," another old man suddenly spouted upon arriving.

Old Kaiser gave the old man glance for a moment before he nodded. Before he moved away from the big artifact, he swiped his hand and erased his search history.

"Here you go," Old Kaiser casually responded before stepping away, making room for the other old man to use the ancient artifact.

"Hoh? You removed the search history? Why did you do such a thing, hmm? What are you hiding, Old Kaiser?"

"Nothing you to need to be concerned about," Old Kaiser spouted before adding, "On the other hand, it seems like your kingdom will be overrun soon if you don't lend your help, Old Thunder."

"Kek, are you trying to send me off? Nice try. Even without any of us intervening, the Geyser Kingdom will do just fine with the Sea Emperor around," Old Thunder stated calmly.

"Those little fishes will never prevail with their meager strengths. The Geyser Kingdom's might is simply that strong."

"Complacency will be one's undoing." Old Kaiser shook his head as he differed in opinion, "The Boundless Sea is vast and mostly unexplored territory. Who can say there isn't any strong sea monster out there?"

"With the coming of the Cataclysm, it is hard to guess what changes it will bring to the creatures of the sea."

"I suppose what you said makes some sense. But that is not enough to convince me to change my opinion."

Old Thunder stated firmly before adding, "The sea monsters might be getting stronger, so is our human race."

"Since you have said that much, I won't try to persuade you to change your way of thinking further," Old Kaiser said with a shake of his head.

With each passing day, more sections of the Boundless Sea are explored, and more treasures and ancient heritage of the past are uncovered one after the other.

While this was a good thing, they were also encroaching on the territory of potentially frightening sea monsters that rule those waters.

"Good." Old Thunder nodded.

Shortly after, Old Thunder rubbed the ancient mirror and inserted his spiritual sense to use the Celestial Mirror of Omniscience and peer into location within the Human Domain.

The Celestial Mirror of Omniscience was like a gateway to the mirror world. By projecting one's spiritual sense into the other side of the mirror, one would feel like they have been teleported into the selected area, allowing them to see everything happening as if they were there in person.

The destination choice of Old Thunder was a region that belonged to one of the lords in the Geyser Kingdom.

"In my honest opinion, the emergence of the Demon Worshippers is a greater problem to be concerned about. This force had suddenly appeared throughout not only the Human Domain but even the Wildlands."

"Oh?" Old Kaiser paused his steps as he was leaving before turning around to say, "Well, you're not wrong there. I also agree."

"We don't have a single piece of useful information of these Demon Worshippers such as their strengths, their numbers, or even their purpose. Nothing. We don't know anything."

"That's right. If they are truly minions of demons, we must destroy them at all costs and not give them a chance to grow," Old Thunder nodded.

"Demons has always been the bane of all life—or at least, that is how they are portrayed throughout history."

"They sow chaos and kill everywhere they go. If one is discovered, we must eliminate them immediately," Old Thunder stated firmly."

"Un." Old Kaiser nodded before he suggested, "Since you have said as such, why not leave the Celestial Mirror of Omniscience to me and just go down to the surface to hunt them all?"

"F*ck off. The Geyser Kingdom already has able people carrying out the investigation," Old Thunder snorted with rolled eyes.

Old Kaiser simply has no shame for consistently trying to make him give up his observation time.

...

In the Geyser Kingdom's eastern waterfront, battles with the sea monsters are consistently fought off the coast.

Military camps and outposts were set up on offshore islands.

The kingdom's soldiers were permanently stationed to slay the sea monsters in a joint-cooperative relationship with the disciples of the Grand Ocean Palace.

In many ways, the Geyser Kingdom shared a delicate relationship with the sea monsters.

The sea monsters were not only the primary source of sustenance for the people of the Geyser Kingdom, but they are also practice targets for people to temper themselves through battle.

At that moment, a group of Grand Ocean Palace Disciples could be seen fighting the sea monsters on one of the thousand islands spanning across the eastern sea.

Puchi!

The Tier-3 Starfire Sword of a female disciple pierced straight through the vital organ of a 9-star level sea monster before it erupted into flames and died on the spot.

With a strong flick of the female disciple's wrist, the blood was removed from her red sword.

Shortly after, the female disciple rejoined the other 4 fellow disciples to finish off the remaining 9-star level sea monsters that left the advantage of its waters to hunt humans.

The 4 fellow disciples of Grand Ocean Palace all used water-elemental abilities in their attacks. It was only the female disciple who wielded a sword of fire to fight.

"Once we finish off these last four Sea Crawlers, we can bring their bodies back and finish off the mission!" The sword-wielding female disciple spoke.

"Yes, senior disciple-sister Lina!"

"Ahh, I can't wait to take a bath in hot water after this!"

The two junior disciple-sisters chimed while the other two junior disciple-brothers responded with their actions, killing the 9-star level Sea Crawlers faster.

Swish~!

Lina quickly hacked out with her Tier-3 Starfire Sword from behind a 9-star level Sea Crawler and directly sliced off its head.

Shortly after, the other 3 9-star level Sea Crawlers were also cleaned up by Lina's junior-disciple brothers and sisters.

"Great! We're finally done!"

"Mm, mm! That went unexpectedly well!"

The junior disciple-sisters exclaimed excitedly at the completion of their 9-star mission to hunt 20 9-star level sea monsters.

"Of course, it did! Who do you think we have in our team?!" One of the two junior disciple-brothers finally spoke.

Lina waved her hand and collected the bodies of the 9-star level sea monsters into her interspatial ring while the other junior disciple-brother watched with envy.

"Sigh! I wonder when I will be lucky enough to own an interspatial tool of my own? The convenience is unimaginable!" The junior disciple-brother sighed.

"If you're lucky enough to become the disciple of the Venerable Pill Master like senior disciple-sister Lina, you might also receive an interspatial ring as a gift!" A junior disciple-sister spoke optimistically.

However, her words only served to make the junior disciple-brother even more depressed.

"How is that even possible? Senior disciple-sister Lina was chosen because she has a rare wood-elemental ability... But, me? I have a water-elemental ability!"

The junior disciple-brother complained before continuing, "Ahh, it's so frustrating! I was scolded simply for seeking apprenticeship from the Venerable Pill Master!"

"Hahaha, I remember! At that time, the Venerable Pill Master barked, what do I need water-element aligned disciples for?! Do you want to drown my herbs or make herbal soup out of them?! Hahaha!"

One of the junior disciple-sisters laughed, causing the junior disciple-brother's expression to wince painfully in recollection of the memory.

"Ahh, don't remind me of the Venerable Pill Master's word for word! I could die from embarrassment!" The junior disciple-brother complained.

"Hahaha!" The other junior disciple-brother laughed and patted him in the shoulder, "It's your own fault for not checking the Venerable Pill Master's requirement before seeking apprenticeship from him."

"Alright, alright. Enough chit-chat. Let us wrap up and head back," Lina Greene stated before warning, "The Boundless Sea is much more dangerous at night."

"Mm, mm!" One of the junior disciple-sister nodded in agreement and said, "I heard that the chances of encountering Early-rank 1 Transcendent level sea monsters in a 9-star level zone increase a lot at night!"

None of them were Transcendents. If Early-rank 1 Transcendent Sea Monsters appeared, they would not be able to win. Not only that, they might even get wiped out!

They were all 9-star Ranked Awakeners, but the difference to Transcendents was huge!

"The winds are blowing stronger. Let us leave now."

"Yes, senior disciple-sister Lina!"

Chapter 632 - Starlight Archipelago And Moonlight Island

The four junior disciples were very well-behaved and followed under Lina's leadership obediently without a hint of arrogance or complacency for their mission completion.

No matter how proud they were, it was not enough for them to believe that five 9-star Ranked Awakeners can take on an Early-rank 1 Transcendent.

It was simply suicide.

It was a team of 30 genius 9-star Ranked Awakeners, then perhaps, it might be doable. However, that was not the case.

Thus, when their senior disciple-sister Lina suggested returning to the Grand Ocean Palace, they were more than happy to oblige.

"I wonder how talented one would have to be to challenge Early-rank 1 Transcendent sea monsters at the 9-star Rank Awakener Realm…" A curious junior disciple-sister could not help but wonder.

At the same time, the group was on their return journey from the 32nd island, Blackcoral Island, within the 9-star level zone of the Starlight Archipelago that exists in the Boundless Sea, east of the Geyser Kingdom.

The group rode on a steel ship comparable to a Tier-2 defensive treasure and used water-elemental abilities to sail their ship through the waters quickly like a speedboat.

"Challenge a great realm beyond one's cultivation level, huh?"

One of the two junior disciple-brothers overhead before mentioning, "I heard there are demon-level geniuses in our Grand Ocean Palace that can challenge three sub-realms above their cultivation level. But challenging a great realm beyond is simply unheard of."

"I don't think anyone can challenge a great realm beyond one's cultivation level. The sheer difference in power is not something that can be easily overcome with high-level battle skills and high-quality weapons alone," the other junior disciple-brother added.

"That's exactly right. Even if it is possible, it wouldn't be your turn to challenge one, so don't have any funny thoughts in trying," Lina Greene lectured her junior disciple-brothers and sisters.

"Successfully challenging a great realm beyond would give you unprecedented fame and glory, but it's not worth risking your life over it. After all, we only have one life, understand?"

"Yes, senior disciple-sister Lina. We will listen to you," the junior disciple-brothers and sisters answered obediently.

Although they all had the same cultivation level and 6-8 years younger than their senior disciple-sister Lina, they were not arrogant enough to believe that they were more talented than she was.

After all, they had started cultivating from a young age, but their senior disciple-sister Lina only took a few weeks to catch up to their level.

It was clear who was more talented between them.

Of course, being the Venerable Pill Master's third direct disciple played a part in their senior disciple-sister Lina's swift rise in cultivation.

However, that was her fortune.

Roughly three hours later, the Tier-2 Steel Ship passed through several islands of various sizes before the group reached the first island, Moonlight Island, the westernmost island of the thousand islands existing within the Starlight Archipelago.

The steel ship was docked at the Moonlight Island's port before the group hopped off, and the steel ship disappeared into Lina Greene's interspatial ring shortly after.

"Let us head to the Mission Hall and turn in the materials to collect our rewards," Lina Greene suggested.

"Yes, senior disciple-sister Lina," the junior disciple-brothers and sisters agreed before following Lina's lead.

The group quickly passed the stone entrance with intricate runic engravings and entered the military outpost before making their way over to the Mission Hall.

Inside of the Mission Hall, Lina Greene made her way to the counter and handed over a wooden plague with words and numbers engraved on it while the junior disciple-brothers and sisters waited outside.

<9-star mission: Hunt 20 9-star level sea monsters>

Shortly after the mission clerk accepted the wooden plague, Lina followed the clerk's instruction and dump the 20 9-star level carcasses in the designated containment area for review.

"Un. That is 20 9-star level sea monster carcasses," the mission clerk nodded before passing a bag of Redstones to Lina, "Here is the mission reward. Please count if it is the right amount."

"60 Redstones exactly. It is the right amount," Lina spoke after counting the Redstones in the bag before she nodded with a smile, "Thank you."

"No, thank you for the hard work, senior disciple-sister Lina," The mission clerk smiled back.

Shortly after, soldiers arrive to deliver the 9-star sea monster carcasses to the processing plant, where they will debone and separate the bodies into useful materials, food, and even medicinal ingredients.

Outside the Mission Hall, the eyes of the junior disciple-brothers and sisters immediately lit up and hurried over after seeing their senior disciple-sister Lina exited the building.

"How'd it go, senior disciple-sister Lina? Did you receive the full payment for our mission? The Mission Hall didn't try to cheat us, did they?"

"The Mission Hall is stingy and sometimes shortchange the disciples when they do not carefully check the rewards. Even if they come back later, they have no proof to demand compensation from the Mission Hall."

A junior disciple-sister and brother spoke anxiously before another junior disciple-sister inquired, "Did you check properly before leaving, senior disciple-sister Lina?"

"Don't worry. I was meticulous enough to check already," Lina Green smiled slightly and distributed the Redstones in the leather pouch she received, "There's a total of 60 Redstones as per the mission reward stated, enough for everyone to receive 12 Redstones each."

Redstone was the primary source of currency that circulates throughout the Geyser Kingdom.

The mineral contains a particular source of energy with various usage, including but not limited to cultivation, growing herbs, and rune-crafting.

"No one would dare to cheat the disciple of the Venerable Pill Master," a junior disciple-brother stated before saying, "If we had started earlier in the day, we could have done a few more missions."

"Unfortunately, the rule of the outpost states that disciples and soldiers can only accept one mission at any given time. Otherwise, we could have easily done a few dozen missions a day."

The main problem was the travel time between the first outpost and islands further inside the Starlight Archipelago, and the curfew before dangerous sea monsters reign the night sea.

"Can we join your party next time you decide to go hunt too, senior disciple-sister Lina?" a junior disciple-sister inquired with a hopeful gaze.

Lina smiled and nodded, "Of course—"

"Yo—! If it isn't the Venerable Pill Master's new disciple?" An unpleasant voice suddenly interrupted Lina.

Chapter 633 - Heavenly Flame

Lina's expression quickly turned into a frown after recognizing the voice before turning to see the familiar yet annoying person approach.

If there was one person in the entire Grand Ocean Palace that pesters her, but at the same time, not afraid of her status, it can only be the disciple of the Venerable Forgemaster.

Venerable Pill Master and Venerable Forgemaster were long-time rivals within the Grand Ocean Palace, and their statuses were not inferior to the Palace Master.

"Senior disciple-brother Jukh," Lina greeted politely, not failing to show proper etiquette to a senior disciple in the Grand Ocean Palace.

"Junior apprentice-sister Lina," Jukh acknowledged with a nod before he said, "I heard that you went out and only killed 20 9-star level sea monsters with your party. Well, guess what? My party killed 20 Early-rank 1 Transcendent Sea Monsters today."

"Good for you, senior disciple-brother Jukh. Are you proud of beating a girl? Not to mention someone who is your junior and cultivated for a lot shorter time than you?" Lina casually asked with a calm expression.

She was already used to the person's constant pestering since she became the Venerable Pill Master's direct disciple.

At the same time, her words immediately made senior disciple-brother Jukh feel embarrassed. When she put it like that, it was not really something to be proud of.

"Ahem, maybe not." Senior disciple-brother Jukh shook his head before saying, "What I really wanted to say is that my master has better foresight in picking disciples than your master."

"Oh?"

Lina's expression immediately crumpled with a deeper frown. An insult to her was something she can ignore. However, an insult to her master was something she can keep quiet about.

She owed all her present achievements to her master for nurturing her.

"Whether the Venerable Forgemaster has better foresight than my master, the Venerable Pill Master, or not, it's not your place to comment. Do you think you can escape punishment after saying the Venerable Pill Master's foresight is bad?"

"That… that was not what I said," Senior disciple-brother Jukh was taken aback before he said with an abrupt change in expression, "You are twisting my words, junior apprentice-sister Lina!"

"Am I?" Lina glared at him.

"Junior apprentice-sister Lina, you're back!" another male voice was suddenly directed at Lina.

However, the person's voice was evidently warm, a clear contrast to Jukh's tone when he called out to Lina.

The person was Lina's eldest senior disciple-brother Neron, the Venerable Pill Master's first direct disciple.

Neron was also someone in the Initial Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent Realm, one of the top genius disciples of the Grand Ocean Palace.

"Is something wrong, junior apprentice-sister Lina?" Neron quickly discovered Lina's foul expression before noticing Jukh's presence. "Is this person pestering you again?"

"Apprentice-brother Neron speaks too seriously. I was just having a small chat with junior apprentice-sister Lina. Since you are here, I will take my leave first."

Shortly after Jukh spoke, he quickly entered the Mission Hall building to turn in his mission objective and collect his reward before fleeing the area swiftly.

Nevertheless, Lina's expression did not ease.

"Just now, senior disciple-brother Jukh was speaking badly about our master, the Venerable Pill Master, saying how our master's foresight is not good," Lina explained.

Neron's expression darkened immediately.

"You came back at the right time, junior apprentice-sister sister Lina. Master just returned from his trip and is now looking for you. You should go see Master first. I have something else to do."

Swoosh~!

After informing Lina, Neron quickly disappeared in the direction that Jukh previously left. If nothing unexpected happens, someone was going to get hurt really bad.

Lina felt slightly better after knowing what fate was awaiting Jukh for annoying her and disrespecting her master.

Shortly after, she bid farewell to her junior disciple-brothers and sisters before heading towards the center of Moonlight Island and taking the long shaft down in the undergrounds.

The Grand Ocean Palace was located underneath Moonlight Island—or more precisely, it was situated underwater on the seabed below the island.

It was not long before the narrow tunnel of the shaft leading downward expanded into a wide-open space, revealing the city-size Grand Ocean Palace at the bottom, protected by a clear dome that warded out the seawater.

At the same time, the place was illuminated by beautiful multicolored light coming from various glowing objects and runic tools that prevented the underwater space from becoming a dark and gloomy place.

After some twists and turns, Lina arrived at the Medicine Hall and went around to her master's private courtyard.

"Welcome back, Master," Lina greeted upon finding the Venerable Pill Master meditating in the open courtyard before inquiring, "I heard from senior apprentice-brother Neron that you were looking for me?"

"Un. Come take a seat beside me, my disciple." The Venerable Pill Master patted the ground with his hand for Lina to take her seat there.

Shortly after, the Venerable Pill Master began mentioning, "With your talents, you could have entered the Transcendent Realm already."

"Do you know why I forbid you from breaking through to the Transcendent Realm on your own, forcing you to stay at the 9-star Ranked Awakener Realm for so long?" The Venerable Pill Master asked.

"To stabilize my foundation and erase future problems that may arise as a result of my swift increase in cultivation to the 9-star Ranked Awakenerr Realm?"

"Wrong."

"To teach me humility and not become complacent?" Lina made another guess, uncertain of the answer that her master was looking for.

"Also wrong again."

Lina immediately expressed her confusion after guessing wrongly again.

The Venerable Pill Master shook his head before revealing his burning white flames that danced on the palms of his hand. "You should know what this is, at least, right?"

"Yes, Master. This white flame is a type of Heavenly Flame that was tamed by Master," Lina answered before her brows wrinkled in confusion shortly after. "But what does this have to do with me, Master?"

"To be a good alchemist, you cannot rely on your wood ability alone. You also need the accompany of a good flame—and there are no better flames than the Heavenly Flames that have their own sentience."

"Master found a suitable Heavenly Flame for you. However, Master does not want you to simply refine and tame it."

"Then what should I do with the Heavenly Flame, Master?" Lina asked with surprise.

Chapter 634 - Wood Law's Limitation

"Master does not want you to follow in Master's footstep and become another Wood Transcendent with a tamed Heavenly Flame." The Venerable Pill Master shook his head and stated, "I want you to surpass me and become someone even greater than that."

"Master, you're someone who has already taken half a step into the Paragon Realm. If nothing unexpected happens, you are bound to become a Paragon in the future!" Lina spoke with shock.

Shortly after, she added, "How can I possibly surpass you? Would that mean I have to reach the legendary Celestial Realm? Is that even possible?"

"You definitely can, my disciple. Master strongly believes you can reach the Celestial Realm and beyond. On the other hand, the Paragon Realm will be the limit of Master's attainment."

"How can Master be so sure?" Lina wrinkled her brows in doubt.

"Once you reach Master's level, some things just naturally become clear like a veil of fog that suddenly disperses, allowing you to realize many things that were previously hidden in plain sight."

The Venerable Pill sighed before he began explaining, "The world is dying, and the laws are unbalanced. If plants cannot thrive, the Wood Law will be vague, and its mystery difficult to comprehend, making further advancement increasingly difficult."

"In this world, spirit herbs that can reach Tier-4 quality are pretty rare, let alone Tier-5 Spirit Herbs. Perhaps the number of Tier-5 Spirit Herbs in this world can even be counted with one's hands. Master is already fortunate enough to be stepping into the Paragon Realm in the near future."

As Lina listened, her eyes suddenly flickered with a sudden realization, "Could this be the reason why Wood Awakeners are rare?"

"Yes, and no. Among humans, definitely. Humans, by nature, do not usually have a high affinity with wood elements," the Venerable Pill Master proceeded to explain patiently to his disciple.

"In fact, humans are very destructive and destroys nature instead. Other races with high affinity with wood like the elves would have no trouble birthing many Wood Awakeners. It is just that the bar for humans, which was already high, became higher."

"However, this isn't a bad thing from another perspective," the Venerable Pill Master suddenly added before continuing, "It would mean that all the natural Wood Awakeners have high talents and affinity with the Wood Law."

"Natural Wood Awakener… like me right, Master?" Lina suddenly realized why her Master invests a lot of effort and resources into nurturing her.

It was because she had very high talent as a natural Wood Awakener.

Natural Wood Awakener, exactly as it sounds, were people who awaken to the wood element naturally without preparations.

On the other hand, Unnatural Wood Awakeners requires comprehensive studies of wood and regular medicinal baths rich in wood elements to raise their affinity for a chance of awakening the element.

"That's right." The Venerable Pill Master nodded.

"Master wants me to use the power of the Heavenly Flame to alter my Wood Cultivation to Fire Cultivation and embark on the path of Fire Transcendents?" Lina made an educated guess after everything was said.

Unfortunately, she was still wrong.

"No, not at all. That would waste away your talents for the wood element." The Venerable Pill Master shook his head and said, "However, you weren't far off the mark. What I was is for you to fuse the Heavenly Flame with your Wood Seed and dual cultivate wood and fire, becoming a Dual-element Transcendent."

"I have already devised a method for you. Once you obtain your Heavenly Flame, you can begin practicing it immediately. Get plenty of rest tonight, my disciple. Tomorrow, Master will take you to the secret earth realm to obtain the Purplelotus Heavenly Flame. The trip is estimated to two weeks."

Upon hearing how long the trip was going to take, Lina did not respond and fell into a daze, lost in thought.

"Hm? Is there a problem, my dear disciple?"

"Ah, I'm very sorry, Master. I will have to let you down," Lina quickly apologized after snapping out of her daze.

The Venerable Pill Master furrowed his brows before he asked, "What's the matter? How will you let Master down? You don't want to come with Master to gain a Heavenly Flame?"

"Of course, I want to… It's just that I've been waiting for Master to return so I can ask to leave for a while," Lina said before explaining further, "It's been some time since I left home. Since the Cataclysm erupted, I have been feeling uneasy."

"If I don't go back to check on my parents and make sure that they are doing fine, I don't think I can continue to cultivate wholeheartedly with peace of mind."

"So, it's like this. Your parents were also natural Wood Awakeners, weren't they?" The Venerable Pill Master stroked his beard for a moment before suggesting, "Why don't you go bring them over here? You can take your senior brother along for protection."

"Master won't stop me from leaving?" Lina asked with surprise.

"Why would Master stop you? There's no rush at all. The matter of the Heavenly Flame can wait." The Venerable Pill Master chuckled slightly without a shred of disappointment before suddenly saying with a solemn look, "On another note, mental demons must be taken seriously."

"If Master forbids you from leaving, and it becomes a lifelong regret, not only would it sour our master-disciple relationship, but chances of a mental demon forming and obstructing your cultivation progress is very likely."

"With that in consideration, how can Master stop you from doing what you wish to do?" The Venerable Pill Master rubbed Lina's head dotingly before saying, "Master will only remind you to take note of the time."

"The world is ever-changing, and danger is constantly growing. It is not good to delay cultivation for too long. Remember, only strong people have the ability to control their own fates."

"Thank you, Master. This disciple will remember your teachings," Lina bowed to the Venerable Pill Master gratefully.

"Un." The Venerable Pill Master nodded before casually asking shortly after, "When do you plan to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning if possible."

"That soon, huh?" The Venerable Pill Master softly muttered after hearing his dear disciple's honest answer.