The Heart

"Hmm, the food isn't half bad." With his mask raised slightly, enough to send the spoon into his mouth, Blade assessed the taste and texture. Unlike him, Athena didn't eat nor drink, not risking the chances of being poisoned.

Just like how humans don't need to eat or drink for a few hours, as a Martial King, staying perfectly fine after lacking food or water for a few months was perfectly fine. Since appearing in this place, the duo had settled down and also gained something important.

Information! Overhearing something interesting, Athena now waited with anticipation for the so-called Auction to take place the next day. As for the reason they even bothered to go to something like an Auction...

'The poor girl wants a break. Well, traveling with me, the chance of losing your mind is high... Hehe, am I a devil...?' Blade chuckled as he finished his meal. The next thing was to book a room in an inn and he had an interesting idea.

Luckily, Athena was a walking treasure trove with enough Spirit Stones to support a family for the rest of the generation.

...

...

Click!

The door to a bedroom opened and two masked figures then entered. Taking her mask off, Athena made her way to one of the two beds. Mentally, she was exhausted.

It wasn't just sustaining the energy for the shuttle for two hours, but the bloodbath that had taken place previously too, it all accumulated and drained her mental spirit.

Anyway, there were two beds in the room, so she didn't expect anything to happen...

Oh!

Suddenly, Athena felt her body unable to move. Her half-opened eyes glanced toward Blade who rested his chin on her shoulder with a slight grin etched on his face.

During the whole trip, she was constantly teased by this young man, by now, just placing his chin over her shoulder wasn't going to make her blush.

Ah!

But, unexpectedly, Blade drew closer to Athena and bit her earlobe. He didn't stop there as a suction force made Athena's mind momentarily enter cloud nine.

'Come, little girl, you're too simple. My experience from my home world is rich in this field. So what if you've grown a resistance to my close... I just need to break it down.'

...

...

Sitting in a meditative posture, Blade calmly assessed the changes after breaking through. Since he was very different, with three Laws, he didn't want to do this when Athena was awake or had any chance of being awake.

Three hours of what he had just done with her, coupled with her already exhausted mental energy, even if the world was ending, she may not be awoken!

Closing his eyes, he focused all his attention. Immediately, he felt an unimaginable change compared to when he was a Martial Lord.

'My body!'

Thrum!

Shocked... Blade, at this moment, whether it be his muscles, tissues, bones, veins, organs, blood, everything that took place inside, all that was inside his body was laid bare..!

His focus was drawn toward a particular organ. For him, the sensation was him being forcefully pulled into his heart. Not near it, or in front of it but, inside of his heart.

Thrum!!

It was inside his heart that he found a misty realm. Along with the misty realm which he was very familiar with was a football-sized golden core. This core, he instantly understood what it was.

"My dantian..." Next to the golden core which was recognized as his dantian, Blade saw an almost transparent figure who seemed the same as himself. The only difference was, between the brows was a golden infinity symbol instead of a black and red sword symbol.

"My soul..." Shocked, he instantly understood what madness was taking place. His dantian and his soul were shockingly merging!

Thrum!!!

Due to his Cultivation Method which was already perfectly mastered to a degree that he was always cultivating, the merging process was faster than normal. As soon as this merging finished, Blade understood that he would be officially, a Martial Emperor.

Of course, there were some prerequisites before he could become a Martial Emperor. The most important being, his Law mastery had reached a certain threshold.

His energy reserves would also need to have a breakthrough, but this was something secondary as absorbing Life Energy has never been a troublesome matter.

Opening his eyes once more, if he focused alone on his cultivation method and breathing technique, speeding up the process of the merging, Blade felt the soul and dantian's speed of merging multiply.

As it did, he could feel his strength rise. But, it was by so little, it was almost imperceptible. The speed, even after being multiplied, was also incredibly slow.

"The most important thing now is my heart. Or maybe, my soul and dantian had always resided inside my heart but I didn't know... Tsk, boy oh boy, my master sure is useless..." Secretly promising if he ever had disciples, he'll never treat them like this.

It wasn't that he was kind, it's just that he felt anyone would plot against their master if they were treated like this. He didn't want to die, especially from a betrayal. That was pathetic!

Hah...!

Breathing out, he assessed the room. By now it was already midday. Instead of going out to the city though, he submerged himself under the shared blankets. It wasn't good to remain so exposed for too long after all.

Next to him was Athena as he pulled her body closer toward him, into his embrace. With a grin on his face, he thought.

'And by doing this, when she's awake, she'll be in for quite the shocker. Then, the memories of earlier this morning will floor into her mind... As soon as she wakes up, all she can think of is me...'

Seeing the blood-stained sheets, he chuckled before closing his eyes. Honestly, this was a very rare fun moment. He did enjoy teasing this girl...

...

...

The Auction House was one of the more luxurious structures in the city. It was also one of the largest structures, comparable to the City Lord's Mansion. Above the pavilion were two figures floating in the skies.

It was at night and the two didn't have their mask on. At this time, Blade felt free and comfortable as even though he stood next to Athena, she needed to actively watch him with her eyes to feel his presence.

Though she was surprised, she didn't bring it up. Though they were blatantly flying in the city, it didn't matter. As Martial Kings, it didn't matter but if they didn't want to be sensed, none in this city would sense their aura.

Martial Kings and Martial Lords were on a whole different scale. Martial Emperors and Martial Kings were on a whole different power level.

And it continued as this the more one grew. This was the norm hence Athena's fear when facing the Pseudo Beast Emperor. Blade's existence bent this rule.

"Why did we come to this place again?" Athena questioned. Her voice held a tinge of annoyance as she was excited for round two, only to be disappointed by Blade's desire to visit the Auction House.

"Nothing important... Keke, I just thought that the setting was similar." Blade replied. His words were not understood by Athena's brain.

"Setting...?" Athena confusedly mumbled. "Yes, but if what I think will happen is to happen, you'll understand anyway. Don't think too much, I just wanted to make sure of something."

Oh!

As he finished his words, a compass-looking object vibrated. At the same time, a scroll lit up as that exited his space ring and appeared on his right palm.

"What, another treasure, and this time... A Fire Attribute one!" Athena grew in excitement seeing this. A smirk etched onto her face capable of dazzling any man, even some women.

While she beamed in excitement, Blade's attention was honed in on the compass in his hand. The needle was spinning in a circle crazily at a speedy pace.

Kekeke...

After a peal of creepy laughter, Blade gazed at the whole city. "Oh boy, something interesting will surely happen wouldn't it... Am I going to have to slaughter again...? No, I shouldn't call it slaughter, painting this place in crimson is the work of an artist."

He didn't want to... Definitely! Well, at least, he hadn't intended to. Slaughtering all the residents of this city wasn't his goal because it didn't come with a proper reward.

For the work he'll need to do to slaughter all these people, not much would change. He may not even be able to level up the system by a level.

The stronger he got, the fewer points a weaker creature gave him. So this was why he had no intention of killing the people of this city... But, that'll all change if there is an equal reward.

His expectations continued to rise as he gestured for Athena to follow as they disappeared, heading back to their stay, about to battle a few more times, this time with much higher energy compared to the last time.