"You..." Fierce Blood's expression distorted into shock. The images of the Phoenix and Dragon roared at him, before crashing down at his figure in a form of a palm strike. Clenching his fists, his figure halted before punching at the two God Beasts.
As the two fists collided, the resulting sound was akin to the heaven's thunder striking out. The earth itself trembled and all the houses around them collapsed in the ensuing shockwave. Caitlyn took advantage of the shockwave and propelled herself backward in retreat.
As the dust that flew in the air returned back to Earth. Visibility returned and a shadowy silhouette could be seen sprawled on the ground. Fierce Blood's expression looked pale and his apparition like body became somehow tangible. Staring at the descending duo, he weakly said, "Just who the hell are you two..."
Dan and Charlotte descended. Their expressions looked pale and exhausted. Their faintly trembling figures indicated the cost of using such a strong technique which directly defeated Fierce Blood. Staring at the sprawled man, Dan took his Desert Eagle, aimed it at his head and said, "A ghost doesn't need to know the identity of those who killed him..."
With a pull of his trigger, Fierce Blood's body limped as life came out from his body. With the arrival of a system notification that signified his death, Dan collapsed on the ground along with Charlotte who also lost consciousness.
The expenditure and the sacrifice that they made for that last burst of strength thoroughly exhausted them. But as they fell onto the ground, a smile filled with confidence and satisfaction lifted on their lips.
An unknown amount of time passed and Dan's consciousness finally returned to his body. Standing up, the System told him that the System Assisted Recovery completed its task, followed by a Quest Complete notification.
[Quest Reward Can now be claimed, do you want to claim the reward? Y/N]
"Of course, why would I decline," He chuckled and the system notification dissolved into nothingness.
[Reward Obtained!]
[Barret M82 1x]
[Skill Coupon 2x]
[ASP: 1000]
Dan's expression gaped upon witnessing the series of notifications that materialized before him. He couldn't hold his excitement that he even leaped in joy inside the small room that he was in. Tapping in the air, he opened his Virtual Inventory and found his shiny, .50 caliber Barret M82. He didn't expect that the System would give him such a bountiful reward.
Taking the skill coupons out from his inventory, Dan activated them and he received two new skills in return.
[Skill Name: Clone Technique]
[Skill Effect: Summons a clone with half the user's capabilities, the user can switch locations with the user at will.]
[Skill Cost: 20% of the User's Qi]
[Skill Cooldown: 12 Hours]
What greatly excited him was the passive skill that he obtained,
[Skill Name: Assassin's Focus]
[Skill Effect: As an aspiring Assassin, you possess a bearing and an aura which can impose itself upon anyone. Upon the user's will, the skill will suppress the target. The effect depends on the difference between the target's Int Stat and the User's Int stat. Increases Charisma towards the opposite sex.]
[Skill Cost: 2% of the User's Qi]
Dan knew that not only he could use the Assassin's Focus as a tool for flirting, he could also use it in negotiations and some matters that needed him to express his dominance. Calming himself down, he stood up and walked outside.
There, the members of the Tyrannical Jollibee Gang stared at him with weird and ashamed expressions. When Dan left them, they had assumed that it was due to his cowardice and ungratefulness. But when he returned and assisted him in killing the Fierce Bulls Leader, they felt incomparably ashamed and embarrassed in staring at him.
Dan nodded his head when he saw the men before proceeding towards Caitlyn's room. Upon knocking on the door, Dan entered and found Charlotte staring at him with a slight smile on her face. At this moment, Charlotte clad in a pure white robe looked majestic and gorgeous. Paired with her purple hair and the sweet smile on her face, Dan's figure froze for a moment.
'Was she really this beautiful?' He mumbled, and Caitlyn lightly coughed, "What do you think? She looks pretty beautiful, right?" Caitlyn interjected and Dan's mind regained its clarity. Charlotte startled for a moment before furiously blushing, glancing at Caitlyn in indignance.
Darting her gaze at Charlotte, she spoke in an ambiguous tone, "Since I feel like I will become a third wheel if I stay here, I'll be going out for a bit..." She lightly chuckled and Charlotte's expression looked tragic as she stared at Caitlyn.
Dan who saw her expression couldn't help but inwardly smile upon witnessing her cuteness. Taking a wooden stool, he sat down but Caitlyn suddenly stuck her head from the door, "Be careful not to break the bed, it's quite old after all." She then disappeared from their sight.
Charlotte took a pillow and covered her expression with it while Dan heaved a sigh. Staring apologetically at Charlotte, he said, "Don't think too much about Miss Boss' teasing, it's not real anyway and you will be the one that will suffer," Charlotte lifted her face away from the pillow, but a crimson hue still shone on her cheeks.
"Ermm," Dan scratched his cheeks, looking somehow fidgety as he said, "Thank you for the help at that time," If not for Charlotte lending a hand, he wouldn't be able to recover that fast. Because she gave half of her Qi Reserves to him, the two of them managed to activate their own Divine Arts and combine them together into one.
When Charlotte heard his words, a complicated expression shone on her face. When she remembered the time where their power combined. She realized that her Divine Art was compatible with him and this realization caused her embarrassment.
Dan also knows about that matter and even though the idea of cultivating with someone whose Divine Arts was compatible with you would be the same as dual cultivation. And it should only be done with your Dao Companion.
"It's fine, at least now, we finally repaid our debt with Caitlyn..." She said in a low tone and Dan replied with a wry smile, "About that since it looks like she helped us recover, it seems like we now owe her once again..."
"Yeah, right," Charlotte chuckled and the room where they stayed in became filled with an ambiguous atmosphere as the two discussed to each other.
Meanwhile, at the Wilderness Bazaar located at the extreme western side of the Great Wilderness of Torb, atop a mountain peak, there stood a luxurious mansion where the people that approached it would offer their respects towards the one that lived there.
Inside that mansion, the figure of Natalie could be seen feeding her small daughter. Her parting with her husband changed her countenance. From the timid looking young woman, she transformed into a domineering and charismatic young woman with an air of nobility around her.
Raising her spoon towards Juliet's mouth, her movements looked graceful and if one looked closely, they would find that the energy waves that undulated her body belonged to a Middle Staged Organ Tempering Realm Practitioner.
The power that she possessed was the results of her tireless cultivation and her consumption of the pill that Mathias gave. After eating that pill and enduring the scorching pain that enveloped her body. Her physique along with her talent, improved and her cultivation surged by leaps and bounds.
"Are you done, Juliet?" She spoke in a small and enticing tone as Juliet lifted her head and sweetly smiled in response. Witnessing the smile of her daughter, her cold heart somehow thawed as she stood up and took the bowl towards the kitchen.
Beside the kitchen was a hidden forging compartment where the figure of Takemikazuchi could be seen tirelessly pounding on the anvil. The material that he used shone in a brilliant light which illuminated the entire room as beaded sweats formed on his forehead.
Despite his exhaustion, an excited smile constantly leaked on his lips along with his eyes that were filled with constant expectations about the result of his forging. Charlotte quietly entered the room and Takemikazuchi noticed her presence as he lifted his head and said, "Oh, It's time for breakfast now? Time really flows fast..." He lightly chuckled and took the bowl of congee that Natalie handed.
After Takemikazuchi finished his meal, he said, "Lil' Blackie told me that there's some kind of a strange activity going on at the Desert Wilderness Bazaar, he wants me to take a look at it but well as you can see, I'm quite busy..." A small smile lifted on his lips and Natalie stared at him with a premonition in her mind.
Upon seeing her strange look, Takemikazuchi lightly chuckled before saying, "This old man will not deceive you anymore, here, take this," He threw a small Formation Plate at Natalie and when the latter received it, her hands collapsed on the ground just from the sheer weight of the Formation Plate.
"Just what is this thing, Senior?" Sweat formed on her forehead as she struggled in carrying the Formation Plate, Takemikazuchi's lips leaked a teasing smile before saying, "That's a Heaven Grade Spatial Tunneling Formation..."
"Spatial Tunneling Formation?" Natalie repeated his words in shock, "And it's even a Heaven Grade, one?"
"Yeah, Lil' Blackie seems to be extremely concerned about the annihilation of the second-tier Gang that he manages, and after receiving news that two holders of powerful Divine Arts emerged in the Desert Wilderness Bazaar, he wants me to take a look and possibly eliminate those two..." Takemikazuchi chuckled, "But as a Divine Soul Practitioner, it would be an overkill to do that and I don't really wanna become a notorious old man among the Senior Generation..."
He bitterly chuckled and Natalie knitted her eyebrows, "Eliminate? What does he mean?"
"What does he mean, you say? Of course, that would be killing..." Takemikazuchi casually said but his words shook Natalie to her core. Even though she pledged to herself that she would definitely do whatever it takes to see her husband again, she didn't expect that the first assignment that she would have was an Assassination assignment.
But still, she hardened her resolve and her expression turned frosty. Takemikazuch witnessed her change as he sighed in his heart. Staring at Natalie, he opened his mouth to speak but still shook his head in the end. As a member of the Senior Generation, he didn't want his words to influence her actions, after all, one could only grow after experiencing mistakes...
"Activate that Formation Plate and it will take you directly at the Black Wing Gang Branch inside the Desert Wilderness Bazaar, also take this Jade Token, Lil' Blackie gave this to me as a sign of authority, just show this to them and they will submit," Takemikazuchi threw a Jade Token engraved with a black image of a hanging spider with a golden mark on its stomach.
Natalie wordlessly nodded her head before saying, "I will accept this job but I hope that Senior will take care of my daughter while I'm gone..."
"Of course, after all, I accepted Lil' Mathias' payment and I treat Juliet as my granddaughter already..." He gave a small laugh and reassured her as Natalie revealed a grateful smile disappeared from his sight.
After putting her daughter to sleep, Natalie activated the Formation Plate as a jet-black hole manifested in the air. Inside the hole, a foreign scenery could be seen. Hardening her resolve, she stepped forward and disappeared from the room.