Chapter 1011: The End
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the Crow God's projection faded away, Feng Li pressed his hand to Xiao Mo's shoulder in an attempt to take him away. However, he sensed a silhouette flash by at a high speed.
In the next second, he felt his left arm that he stretched out go numb. He realized that the portion below his left elbow had been severed and blood was spurting out of the wound.
Almost at the same time, the Crow Spirit in his hand disappeared.
Feng Li was only stunned for a moment but he soon snapped back to his senses. Instantly, he knew who had done this to him.
"Lin Xie!"
He sensed everything within the range of his territory in an attempt to look for Lin Huang. However, a voice came behind him.
"Are you looking for me?"
Lin Huang appeared less than 20 meters behind Feng Li. He hovered above the rumbling Tranquil Ocean with a little white cat sitting on his shoulder. The little elephant that had fought head-on with the Crow God's projection earlier was on his left while the Crow Spirit version of Xiao Mo, whom he had taken away from Feng Li earlier, was on his right.
At the moment, Xiao Mo was unconscious while his body hovered in the air. Lin Huang held onto his shoulder to adjust his posture.
"Lin Xie, give me the Crow Spirit!" Feng Li did not attack right away. He was even a little terrified of the Ninetails Lynx that had severed his arm earlier.
He did not really care for the Destructive Divine Mammoth because he did not see it fighting the Crow God's projection head-on earlier, so he had no idea that this God Figurine's Combat Soul was as dangerous.
"I'm sorry, he belongs to me now." Lin Huang waved his hand and the Ninetails Lynx sent Xiao Mo into its alternate dimension.
"I'm telling to you to give him to me. Trust me. You don't want to mess with us." Feng Li's severed arm was regenerating at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. However, his eyes that exploded from looking at the Crow God through the Detective Eye did not have any signs of regenerating. Under the golden mask, his eyes were hollow and bleeding.
"What? You don't even dare to say your organization's name?" Lin Huang did not care about the regeneration at all. "The Commander of God Bless's Division 3 branch, Mr. Feng Li."
Feng Li frowned under the golden mask. He did not expect his identity to be exposed in such detail. Not only did the person he was speaking to know about God Bless, but he also knew his position and name.
"You know too much." After a moment of silence, Feng Li lifted his head slightly while aiming for where Lin Huang was with his hollow eye sockets that were filled with blood.
In the next second, he pointed his fingers in a black god relic glove and launched his attack on Lin Huang.
He was charging with full Divine Power as the black force coming from his fingers shot out like bullets but tens of times faster.
The force that was almost 100 times faster than the speed of sound arrived before Lin Huang in the blink of an eye.
At the moment, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped in the air. An invisible force pushed out, annihilating the force coming from Feng Li like a rumbling wave.
The Tranquil Ocean below seemed to be hit by a meteorite whereby massive waves rumbled and tumbled like a waterfall.
When the water fell, the explosion coming from the collision of the force faster than the speed of sound echoed like a clap of thunder.
Feng Li's expression turned grim beneath his mask when his test attack was destroyed right away. Lin Huang's ability was beyond his expectations.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang who stood across him summoned his third God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Nightmare Tapir. He then gave his order, "Don't kill him. We'll see what to do after retrieving his memory."
As he issued the instruction, the Ninetails Lynx on his shoulder disappeared.
The Destructive Divine Mammoth took action as well, leaping and charging at Feng Li.
The Nightmare Tapir stayed by Lin Huang's side. He would only take care of the battle when Feng Li was crippled.
Although Feng Li was on perfect-stage demigod-level, he was still a demigod after all, so the Nightmare Tapir would be able to penetrate his soul and read his memory when he was beaten and exhausted.
The collaboration of the two God Figurine's Combat Souls made the defeat a piece of cake no matter how many god relics Feng Li had with him.
He completely became the two God Figurine's Combat Souls' toy.
It was a repeated game of the Ninetails Lynx scratching him while the Destructive Divine Mammoth whipped him with its trunk. They were having so much fun.
In less than three minutes, the Divine Power in Feng Li's body was completely drained. He could not even summon his god relic armor any longer.
Noticing that, Lin Huang stopped the duo from playing and got the Nightmare Tapir to take over.
The Nightmare Tapir extended its trunk and pressed it against Feng Li's head. Without any strength to fight back, he was dragged into dreamland.
In less than a minute, the Nightmare Tapir had retrieved everything that could be read in his memory. He then nodded at Lin Huang.
"Kill him." Lin Huang responded to the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth.
The Ninetails Lynx stretched its claws and severed Feng Li's head in one fell swoop.
Almost in the next second, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped and turned Feng Li into mush.
A few god relics that he had refined came out. There were a black glove, a battle armor, and a shield.
With a wave of his hand, Lin Huang put the three god relics that were now ownerless away. He also conveniently took the Emperor's Heart Ring on Feng Li's finger.
Yang Ling, who was watching from far away, said nothing. He did not even ask for the god relic battle bow from Lin Huang. Instead, he appeared directly before the Detective Eye that was completely contaminated above the altar.
"You'll take the person and I'll take the eye. Deal?"
"Sure." Lin Huang shrugged.
The people from the Purple Crow and God Bless were still fighting kilometers away. They did not notice that the battle on the main battlefield had ended and even the loots had been distributed.
Just when Yang Ling stretched his hand to retrieve the eye, he noticed a silhouette shoot out of the ocean into the air. The silhouette had a golden sword in its hand and was coming after him.
At the same time, ten silhouettes appeared before Yang Ling and charged at the incoming silhouette.
Within the short two to three minutes, the Purple Crow Leader Yan Ping was killed by the ten demigods and died on the spot.
Yang Ling then retrieved the eye while watching a demigod puppet pilferage for loot on Yan Ping.
At the moment, Lin Huang flashed and appeared on the airship platform.
A couple of demigod puppets immediately blocked him before Yang Ling with their guard up when they looked at Lin Huang.
"Step aside. He's my friend," Yang Ling ordered, so the demigods obeyed.
"Do you have anyone to recommend me for unlocking services in the future?" Lin Huang asked while smiling.
"I do know a girl who has a great character and skill. I can send you her contact. Just tell her that I gave you her contact, but don't look for her if you're unlocking storage equipment from other worlds. She can't do it," Yang Ling said with a smile, "I'll send you my number in the great world as well. I can only contact you with the communication device from the great world."
"I have one more question." Lin Huang nodded as he listened but he could not help but raise a doubt, "Do you really have feelings for Hong Zhuang? Or were you just acting?"
"You can consider it real." Yang Ling fell into silence for a moment before giving his answer. "I really like her, but I know she has no feelings for me."
"Perhaps I shouldn't talk behind people's back, but Hong Zhuang isn't as simple as you think. You'd better watch out if you plan to spend a long time with her." After some hesitation, Lin Huang could not help but warn Yang Ling.
However, Yang Ling smiled when he heard that. "She's actually a very simple lady. You guys only see what's on the outside."
Lin Huang raised his brow when he heard his response, but he did not bother arguing.
The duo chatted for a while before summoning a dimensional portal and stepping into it one after another.
Just a giant airship platform and a bloody Tranquil Ocean which sea level had dropped by 1,000 meters remained.
After a long time, a monster's head popped out of the Tranquil Ocean below the airship platform all of a sudden. It stared toward the direction where the duo disappeared.
The monster that looked like a sea snake was Lu Dong's demigod-level imperial monster. Its body was severely lacerated but a bloody light flashed through its four pupils. It flew towards the airship.
A moment later, Lu Dong opened the airship door as he sensed the imperial monster's aura that survived. He let it into the airship.
"Ah Hai, you're still alive. That's great!" Lu Dong was excited. He previously sensed that three of his four imperial monsters had lost contact. Never had he thought that the Sea Demon who had lost contact a long time ago would appear all of a sudden.
Lu Dong hugged the Sea Demon's head with a thrill. At that moment, a bloody glow flashed in the Sea Demon's four pupils again. A gush of black fog came out of its body, entering Lu Dong's mouth and nose quietly.
In the span of a couple of breaths, a red glow flashed through Lu Dong's eyes. He let go off the Sea Demon's limp carcass while his face looked ferocious. "I, the Majesty, will remember the both of you. You wasted my massive amount of Divine Power and forced me to use a demigod who has no elevation potential to be my vessel!"
Chapter 1012: Counting the Loot
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang returned to Wanbao City and checked into a hotel. Only then, he got the Ninetails Lynx to release Xiao Mo from its alternate dimension. However, Xiao Mo was still unconscious.
Although his combat strength remained on imperial-level purple gold-rank, his aura was close to demigod-level. Fortunately, his aura did not extend very far, so only people within 100 meters could sense it. As a result, he did not cause chaos.
Looking at Xiao Mo who was lying on the couch, Lin Huang summoned the Nightmare Tapir again and got him to transfer the information he had retrieved from Feng Li's head to Bloody.
A moment later, Lin Huang asked when Bloody was done arranging the memories, "Is his consciousness still there? Or has it been replaced by the Crow God?"
"Looking at Feng Li's memory, the talisman he used on this young man was a disposable soul-type god relic whereby it can block the user's soul for a short period of time. This god relic must've blocked the outside of his soul. That's why the Crow God's projection did not take over his body completely. After all, the god relic held up a defense which even the Crow God's projection's ability could not penetrate within a short period of time. That was why he was so mad in the end."
"So, why is he still unconscious?" Lin Huang asked rather confusedly.
"Feng Li activated a double shield to make the capture easier. Not only does it block the Crow God's projection from taking over the body, but it also locked the young man's consciousness in the soul space," Bloody explained, "However, this disposable god relic will only work for a maximum of 24 hours. Even if it's not being attacked, it will break on its own in 24 hours. This young man should wake up automatically by then."
Lin Huang was relieved to hear the answer. He was still a little worried that the Crow God might have done something else to Xiao Mo.
"Is there anything useful in Feng Li's memory? Is there anything about Chan Dou?" Lin Huang pried again.
"There's nothing about Chan Dou. We know about the capture more than he did. He only knows that it was done by people in the Division 1 branch," Bloody proceeded to say, "There's nothing much that's useful. The core information about Division 1 branch is blocked by some unique seal. It's a technique of at least virtual god-level. Even the Nightmare Tapir can't break it.
"Nevertheless, the mission this time is quite informative. Feng Li and the rest wanted the Detective Eye for their Master God who's like the Crow God whereby they need a representative for the former. This young man became their second target because they think he must be special since he's been chosen by the Crow God. He can be the Master God's representative candidate too.
"We also learned about the eye's function. This thing isn't only a communication tool but also a temporary teleportation tool. The eye allows us to communicate with powerhouses in the great world which crosses realms. The powerhouses from the great world can even create a projection of their will and stay here temporarily through the eye.
"The higher the combat strength of the projection of their will, the more sacrifice it'll take to maintain the opening of the eye and the shorter it can stay. Therefore, most powerhouses will keep the combat strength of the projection of their will at beginner-stage virtual god-level which is Virtual God ranks-1 to 3. Keeping it at Virtual God rank-3 drains four times more energy than Virtual God rank-1. However, if one were to project mid-stage virtual god-level which is above Virtual God rank-4, it would drain at least ten times more than onVirtual God rank-3. High-level virtual god-level which is Virtual God ranks-7 to 9 will drain even more energy — at least ten times more than Virtual God rank-6.
"Also, as soon as a projection of their will enters the eye, the combat strength can't be changed. Changing the combat strength will only cause a disruption in the energy wave, causing the temporary tunnel to collapse. Therefore, one can only perform the combat strength adjustment before putting a projection of their will through the eye."
"I see. I thought the Crow God's projection's combat strength is only Virtual God rank-3 because his combat strength is low." Lin Huang just realized that they managed to beat the Crow God's projection over and over again because he did not even show his real ability.
"Apart from that, the temporary tunnel the eye builds can teleport items both ways, even living things. It's possible as long as the energy wave of the items or living things that are being teleported don't exceed the tunnel's load limit," Bloody continued, "In other words, Yang Ling can go to the great world through the eye as long as he manages to build the tunnel."
"It can be used as a dimensional portal as well?!" Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he heard that revelation.
After they were done talking about the eye, Bloody proceeded to give a short description of the rest of the useful information and shared the memory that it had categorized with Lin Huang directly.
Lin Huang looked through the memory in his head. After a short discussion with Bloody, he then put aside the matter about God Bless.
He used his Divine Telekinesis to carry Xiao Mo and put him in one of the guest rooms. Then, he returned to the living room and began looking through the loot he gained this time.
First was the four god relics — a black glove, a battle armor, a shield, and a battle bow.
Apart from the battle bow that came from Yang Ling which he had shamelessly taken, the other three came from God Bless's Division 3 branch Commander, Feng Li.
However, Lin Huang deserved Yang Ling's battle bow. If he had not extended help twice, Hong Zhuang would have definitely died while Yang Ling might not have been able to obtain the eye. It was him who helped during the critical times and turned the tables around. Yang Ling clearly gave him the god relic battle bow to reward his assistance.
Trading a god relic for an eye that he desired, Yang Ling was not considered to have lost anything in this deal.
Apart from the four god relics, Lin Huang also got a demigod-level golden mask which he had grabbed from Feng Li's face. As soon as one put on the mask, it could block the user's aura completely and even prevent a demigod-level from detecting it. It was a magnificent item.
As for Feng Li's Emperor's Heart Ring, although Lin Huang had yet to open it, there were many useful stuff in there according to Feng Li's memory. There were at least two god relics and more than ten demigod relics.
After all, he was the Commander in God Bless's Division 3 branch so he would have much more inheritance compared to the ordinary demigods. What he possessed was comparable with a prominent family's inheritance through generations.
Apart from the loot he got from Feng Li, he had the storage equipment that he had asked Yang Ling to unlock earlier. Among the over 280,000 storage equipment that could be unlocked, over 50,000 of them had nothing useful in them since it had been too long. Lin Huang gave the remaining demigod relics, ancient-level relic equipment, and materials to the Warlord to make and modify his mechanical army.
Among the over 220,000 pieces of storage equipment, Lin Huang found over 100,000 demigod relics and equipment, minerals, and spirit stones of many varieties, elixirs, elixir materials, equipment materials, various methods, a massive amount of miscellaneous items that could not be identified, and currencies from mini worlds and some from the great world.
Yang Ling even helped Lin Huang transfer the accounts that had stored information and currencies into a great world storage ring. Apart from the sea of stored information from various worlds, Lin Huang also obtained over 80 million Divine Stones in total. They were worth eight trillion Life Crystals in a gravel world. Those excluded the currencies from up to a hundred mini-worlds. After all, they came from hundreds of thousands of supreme geniuses and were sufficient to purchase up to a hundred expert-grade god relics.
Among the loot, the methods were the ones that Lin Huang had the most interest in. Supreme geniuses from all major organizations cultivated the most prominent methods in the cultivation systems of their worlds.
There were tens of thousands of methods in the storage equipment and stored information. There were up to 1,000 sword skills alone whereby each of them was above legendary-level. More than 100 pseudo-god-level sword skills and seven god-level sword skills were also among the sword skills he obtained. They greatly enriched Lin Huang's sword skill inventory.
Chapter 1013: Xiao Mo Awakens
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Wanbao City was chilly in the middle of the night.
It was June and it was early in the summer in Wanbao City. It was almost 27 degrees Celsius during the day but the temperature dropped to 20 degrees at night. Nonetheless, it was a comfortable kind of coolness for most people.
In a hotel room, the balcony door that was facing the living room was completely open, so the breeze blew in with fresh air.
The light in the living room was still turned on. A young man with short, puffy hair in a white printed t-shirt and thin beige linen pants sat on the couch barefooted while crossing his legs.
He seemed to have just taken a shower as his hair was still damp. A pair of bright, black eyes peered out from under the few strands of wet hair. A square screen was reflected in the eyes at the moment.
There was a little white cat sleeping on the young man's shoulder. Only half of his back was leaning on the couch while his body was leaning forward slightly as he looked down at the projected page on his Emperor's Heart Ring.
There was a monster that looked like a young sharp-toothed tiger sleeping on the couch on his left. With a pillow under its head, its trunk leaned on the young man's thigh.
Naturally, the young man was Lin Huang. However, he did not disguise as Lin Xie at the moment; he was in his own skin now.
He would usually sleep in the room after he was done practicing his sword skills and had taken a shower. However, it was past 12.30 a.m. now and he was still reading the news on the living room couch. There was no other reason why he was doing that. The 24-hour period of Xiao Mo being unconscious was coming to an end and he would awake anytime soon.
He had the Nightmare Tapir and the Ninetails Lynx with him mainly to defend Xiao Mo just in case his consciousness was replaced by the Crow God.
Lin Huang smirked all of a sudden when it was 12.42 a.m. He sensed Xiao Mo's finger moving a little in the living room within the range of his territory.
A moment later, Xiao Mo opened his eyes slowly.
The surroundings changed from blurry to clear as he looked around in confusion.
"Where is this place? Aren't I being transformed by the Crow God?" Xiao Mo soon recognized that he was in a hotel room. Moreover, it looked like an expensive, luxurious hotel and he guessed that he was not in the master bedroom.
'Could the transformation be completed and I'm officially the Crow God's Crow Spirit now?' The thought flashed in Xiao Mo's head after he sensed that his body had improved many times while his combat strength had elevated to perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank. However, he dismissed the thought a moment later because he did not sense the slightest hint of a Crow God's will remnant in his body. He looked horrified. "Could the final integration have failed?!"
He shot to his feet immediately. He just realized that he was wearing beige pajamas and had a significant change in his height and body size.
He took a step and arrived before the full-sized mirror to see a completely different self.
The young man in the mirror was approximately 1.85 meters tall with a slender body. Although he was still a little skinny, he could clearly see the lean muscles on his arms.
The biggest change was on his face. His old face that was once so ordinary that one would not notice him among a crowd had sharp features now. It complemented his rather tanned skin and he now looked like a tough, mature man. He even had stubble growing on his cheeks and above his lips.
Xiao Mo touched his own face in excitement. "Is this me? Man, I'm so good-looking now!"
Looking at the muscles on his arms, he could not help but pull his pajamas up. He soon saw eight packs bulging in the mirror.
"Is this really me?" Xiao Mo thought it was a little unbelievable. All of a sudden, he seemed to have recalled something. He pulled his pants down even further while flushing a little. When he looked down between his legs, he could not help but exclaim, "Gee, it's huge!"
Xiao Mo, who was a little upset because of the failed integration with the Crow God, soon became happy again after seeing that his body had undergone a significant change.
"Delighted, are we?" A voice came to Xiao Mo's ears all of a sudden as he was drowning in joy.
He turned his head immediately to see a young man in slippers looking at him while leaning against the cabinet at the door.
He had his guard up as soon as he saw the person. However, his expression subsequently changed to one of surprise. He recognized Lin Huang immediately even though three years had passed.
"Lin Huang?!"
"It seems like you still remember me, little guy." Lin Huang smiled while nodding.
"Aren't you dead?" Xiao Mo soon snapped back to his senses and could not help but take a step back. He looked terrified as he stared at Lin Huang. "You're Lin Huang's ghost…"
Lin Huang could not help but chuckle out loud. He did not expect Xiao Mo to have such a reaction.
"If I'm a ghost, would I have a shadow?"
Xiao Mo held his head down immediately and looked at the ground. He noticed Lin Huang's shadow.
"There's a shadow! So, you're really not a ghost?" Although he saw the shadow, Xiao Mo was still unsure.
"You're on imperial-level now. Although you still have no Life Palace yet, you should have Territory sense now. Sense with your Territory, then you'll know whether I'm a human or a ghost," Lin Huang continued.
Xiao Mo got familiarized with his body and soon expanded the range of his territory. He sensed Lin Huang and the two God Figurine's Combat Souls.
He then widened his eyes as he looked at Lin Huang. "You're really still alive?!"
"I didn't die. I faked my death so that I could leave the Purple Crow," Lin Huang confirmed while smiling.
Xiao Mo walked to him slowly but he still had disbelief written all over his face.
Lin Huang knew he was unsure, so he stretched his hand. "You'll know whether I'm alive by shaking my hand."
Xiao Mo walked to Lin Huang hesitantly. He stretched his hand out slowly, scared and ready to bolt anytime.
As Lin Huang held his hand, he felt how real and warm his palm was. He was very relieved.
"So, do you believe me now?" Lin Huang let go of his hand and asked while smiling.
Xiao Mo then nodded.
"I know you have many questions. Let's talk in the living room." Lin Huang turned around and brought Xiao Mo to the living room.
Xiao Mo looked around anxiously when he arrived in the living room. "Where's this place?"
"It's the hotel that I'm staying at." Lin Huang gave a short explanation.
"Where are the rest of them from the Purple Crow? Where's Master Crow God?" Xiao Mo knew he and Lin Huang were the only ones in the hotel room.
"The Purple Crow's Crow Ceremony failed and the Crow God's will projection collapsed. Crow Leader Yan Ping is dead. I suppose the rest of them have returned to the Purple Crow headquarters," Lin Huang explained, "I'll tell you more about the details of what exactly happened later."
Xiao Mo was overwhelmed with anxiety when he heard what Lin Huang said. He had never thought the Crow Leader would be dead or that the Crow God's will projection would have collapsed.
"You've been unconscious for a day. Let's get some food. We'll talk later." Lin Huang brought Xiao Mo to the couch.
Chapter 1014: Pillow Talk
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was almost 1 a.m. and all the food delivery services were basically closed. Lin Huang took out the instant food the hotel had prepared in the refrigerator and heated it up. He got Xiao Mo a drink too.
Lin Huang only asked when Xiao Mo was done eating, "Do you feel anything off in your body?"
"The Crow God transformation is pretty successful to me. My height and body have undergone a major change. My body and soul have elevated so much that it's unbelievable. Even my combat strength has attained perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank now. I feel like I can even fight a demigod!" Xiao Mo was excited as he talked about this after he was fed.
"Do you feel any Crow God's will remnant in your body?" Lin Huang picked up the cup and drank the tea while asking casually.
"No, that's what I find strange. According to what the Crow Leader told me, the Crow God's will remnant should be integrated with my consciousness when the integration is done. However, I don't feel any Crow God's will remnant in my body, not even a tiny bit," Xiao Mo said while frowning, "You told me that the Crow God Ceremony failed. Did the integration fail because the Crow God's will remnant isn't compatible with my body?"
'Seems like the Crow God's will remnant is really dead…' Lin Huang thought to himself. Then, he explained to Xiao Mo, hiding the truth, "Yan Ping lied to you. To the Purple Crow, the Crow Spirit's existence is just to be the Crow God's vessel. He transformed your body so that you can take in the Crow God's will remnant. As soon as the transformation is completed, the Crow God's will be integrated into your body. Meanwhile, your consciousness will be wiped away and your body will be taken over. Your body will be his temporary shell. There's no such thing as sharing your consciousness with him."
What Lin Huang said was completely the opposite of what Xiao Mo had been told earlier. He had been taught by the Purple Crow all this while that being the Crow Spirit and sharing his body with the Crow God was the highest honor. Never had he thought this would be the truth about being a Crow Spirit.
"The Crow God Ceremony failed not because you aren't compatible with the Crow God, but because the eye that he used to project his will was contaminated. The teleportation tunnel was cut, so his will projection collapsed automatically."
"I was worried that a portion of his will remnant might have been left in your body and he would take over your body whenever he can. It seems like he completely disappeared before he could do anything to you."
"Are you telling the truth?" Hearing what Lin Huang said, Xiao Mo looked at him solemnly.
"You can spend some time verifying it if you don't believe me." Lin Huang arched his brow. "The upper echelon of the Purple Crow and many other underground organizations know about the Crow Spirit. This isn't a secret at all. Also, the Purple Crow isn't the only one among the underground organizations that are doing this. I heard the Saints also perform a similar vessel ceremony too."
Xiao Mo stared at Lin Huang's eyes to see if he was lying. However, he soon realized that what he said was most probably the truth.
"I have a question. Why am I in your hotel room?" Xiao Mo finally asked the enigma that had been bothering him since the beginning.
"The people from God Bless wanted to take you away when the Crow God's projection disappeared. I took you away from them," Lin Huang said and he proceeded to tell him what happened earlier.
Xiao Mo was in disbelief when he heard that. "So, they wanted to take me as their vessel too?"
"That's my speculation, but only people from God Bless's headquarters in Division 1 will know what the exact use is." Lin Huang nodded.
"Can you tell me more about this God Bless?" Xiao Mo asked.
Lin Huang did not hide anything and told him everything he knew about God Bless, including their plan to take the eye and Xiao Mo. He also told him about them blending in other organizations, capturing Chan Dou and so on…
After Xiao Mo listened, he thought the Purple Crow was nothing compared to God Bless.
"This organization is so scary! They've got the ability to plot all these and blend in secretly. I suspect they're also in the Purple Crow's upper echelon. Otherwise, it's impossible for them to have known the exact coordinates of the Crow God Ceremony."
"Speaking of the Purple Crow, you definitely can't go back judging by your current situation," Lin Huang reminded, "I advise you not to return. Although the eye has been taken away, the Purple Crow might have some other backup communication tool. If you go back, you might face the Crow God Ceremony for the second time. By then, you would have your consciousness wiped completely and you'll become the Crow God's vessel."
Xiao Mo fell into silence again. He only lifted his head to look at Lin Huang. "But where can I go if I don't return to the Purple Crow?"
Now that Lin Huang thought about it, he remembered that Xiao Mo was not only an orphan, but he was also a Descendant of the Sin. None of the union organizations would accept a sinner from the Descendants of the Sin. Xiao Mo could only join other underground organization if he did not return to the Purple Crow. Furthermore, he would be homeless if he did not join any underground organizations.
If Xiao Mo was still on white flame-level like he was before, he could do no harm to other people if he was left alone. However, he now had the ability close to a demigod's and he had the potential to elevate to Virtual God. He could join any underground organizations he liked. By then, he might be a larger threat to this gravel world.
Lin Huang made up his mind after some pondering. "Why don't you stay with me? You can be my bodyguard for the time being. Later on, we'll find an organization of our own and I'll ask some trustable friends of mine to join."
Lin Huang had discussed establishing an organization with Bloody before. It was Bloody's idea. This was especially because fighting organizations like God Bless alone would be impossible. Moreover, no matter how powerful he was, his ability was limited. It would be better to start a team and get everyone to perform what they were best at.
As a God himself, even Mr. Fu could not fight the Union Government which was a big organization. If he had founded an organization of his own back then, he would not be in the rut that he was in right now. The people from God Bless might not dare to attack him through the Union Government.
Mr. Fu's situation was the reason why Lin Huang was determined to establish his very own organization.
Xiao Mo's eyes lit up when he heard that Lin Huang wanted to establish his own organization and even invited him. Indeed, he dared not go back to the Purple Crow after learning the truth about the Crow Spirit. Facing a bunch of strangers by joining other underground organizations would only make him uneasy.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang was someone that he was familiar with. He had even saved him before. To him, joining Lin Huang's organization gave him a sense of relief more than joining other organizations.
"I'll stay if it's no trouble for you."
"It's just one more mouth to feed," Lin Huang smiled as he said. After all, he had the money to feed one more person.
After confirming where Xiao Mo would go, the duo began talking about their experiences throughout these years.
Lin Huang could tell that Xiao Mo's life was a tough one.
After Lin Huang faked his death, Xiao Mo was treated the same old way whereby he was bullied almost every day in the Purple Crow training camp. However, he did not allow that to continue. He fought back again and again and stood up over and over again. Though slow, he toughened up firmly.
After he graduated from the training camp, he had been placed in an awkward position. His teammates would put him on the bench time and time again. However, he did not give up just yet. He spent more time practicing battle skills when he had insufficient cultivation resources. Slowly and surely, he finally proved himself in the Purple Crow.
Since he elevated to transcendent-level, his sinner's nature was activated. He obtained a memory inheritance of his bloodline. He had also activated his gifted superhuman strength and powerful defensive ability. In a short span of time, he managed to elevate his ability to supreme genius, hence he was selected as a Crow Spirit candidate.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang told him about some minor events. Even so, Xiao Mo indulged in his stories, envious of his experiences.
Just like that, the two old roommates talked until the next morning.
Chapter 1015: Two Missions
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was the beginning of summer and the sun rose in the east of Wanbao City before 6 a.m.
Watching the sky turn bright outside the window, Lin Huang and Xiao Mo realized that it was already morning.
"Let's take a walk outside and have breakfast," Lin Huang suggested after looking at the time and realizing it was not even 6 a.m. and since both of them were not sleepy at all. "There's this breakfast place nearby that's run by a couple. They have really good fried buns and fried dumplings that are absolutely delicious and really popular. There'll be people queuing past 7 a.m. every day. They begin the preparations at 6 a.m. Let's wash up and it'll open when we arrive."
Naturally, Xiao Mo had no objection to that. He hardly had the opportunity to go out. As a Purple Crow member, he would basically stay in when he had no mission. He would focus on the mission whenever he was out, so he had no time to enjoy the view outside at all. Now that his identity was different and it was his first time in Wanbao City, it was only natural for him to be so excited with all the fresh and new sights.
After quickly washing up, Lin Huang brought along the Nightmare Tapir, the Ninetails Lynx, and Bloody when they headed out.
Many cultivators brought their pets out in Wanbao City. Most of them were not Imperial Censors; they merely spent money to buy pets that had already been tamed. The two God Figurine's Combat Souls that Lin Huang brought along did not catch any attention. However, Nightmare Tapir's rather unique appearance would attract some occasional stare.
The breakfast place that Lin Huang talked about was less than a kilometer from the hotel that he was staying at. They arrived in a couple of minutes as they conversed along the way.
The couple had just opened the store. Even the pots had just been put on the stove. They had worked out their specific responsibilities. One was filled the buns while the other wrapped the dumplings.
Lin Huang picked an al-fresco table casually outside the store and sat down. He and Xiao Mo were their first customers.
"Why are you so early today, young sir?" greeted the lady boss while smiling. Lin Huang was clearly a regular here.
"Oh yeah, we woke up early today." Lin Huang smiled and nodded.
"You brought a friend today." The lady boss peeped at Xiao Mo. She smiled happily when she noticed that it was a handsome man.
"That's right. I told him that you guys have delicious fried buns and fried dumplings, so I brought him here."
"You guys are too early today. You might need to wait for a while," said the boss, feeling a little bad.
"Don't worry about it. We're not in a rush."
Lin Huang chatted with the couple for a while after he ordered. Then, they began cooking.
Xiao Mo lowered his voice and asked while feeling a little confused, "The boss and lady boss are ordinary people, am I right? Do you usually talk to them like this?"
"More or less. They usually have many customers. It's rare for us to talk so much today. We usually only make small talk," Lin Huang answered, "Is there anything wrong?"
Xiao Mo fell into silence for a moment before speaking again, "We basically don't talk to ordinary people."
Lin Huang recalled that they did indeed teach the members of the Purple Crow training camp that they should keep their distance and not communicate as much as possible.
"The Purple Crow limits the members' contact with the outside world except when they're on a mission. It's mainly to prevent the members from being influenced by the outside world to have their perceptions changed. Now, what you need most is to change your perception. You don't have to tie yourself down with the Purple Crow's values."
"But most of the information you get from talking to them is largely useless." Xiao Mo habitually analyzed and categorized the information from the conversation following the Purple Crow standard.
"If people only speak 100% useful information with nothing unnecessary, how boring would it be?" Lin Huang said while smiling, "The useless information makes the conversation colorful and warm. It makes people's relationships rich and interesting."
Xiao Mo was confused about what Lin Huang said. "How is that interesting to you?"
"You'll be living and working with other people from now on. Don't decline communication. If you don't know what to say, then listen to what they've got to say. It's good to be a listener. Slowly, you'll learn the fun in communicating." Lin Huang patted Xiao Mo's shoulder.
The lady boss served them three plates of fried buns and two plates of fried dumplings while chuckling as the duo chatted. She then brought them two bowls of porridge.
The serving was not considered large with ten pieces per portion.
The fried dumpling was crispy while the fried bun was filled with juicy soup. Lin Huang, the Nightmare Tapir, and Bloody preferred the fried buns but Xiao Mo and the Ninetails Lynx preferred the crispy fried dumplings.
Lin Huang only ate half the portion of the fried buns and left the rest for Xiao Mo, Bloody, and the two God Figurine's Combat Souls.
Xiao Mo had four servings of fried dumplings alone and was a little embarrassed when he was done.
Seeing his expression, the lady boss said while smiling, "You're still growing, young man. It's normal to eat a lot, so don't be embarrassed."
"The lady boss is right," Lin Huang teased with a grin.
After they were done with breakfast and had paid, Lin Huang brought Xiao Mo to the park nearby.
It was almost 6.40 a.m. at that moment. There were some aunties and uncles exercising at the park.
Lin Huang ambled down the little path with Xiao Mo toward the park.
Xiao Mo thought that the weird exercise the aunties and uncles were executing was rather new to him.
Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction upon noticing his curious expression.
He strolled in the park with Xiao Mo. Soon, there were more and more people in the park. Xiao Mo began to feel uncomfortable as he was still not used to crowded places.
They walked around until approximately 7.30 a.m. before returning to the hotel.
Lin Huang asked Xiao Mo when they returned to the hotel room, "How do you feel after that stroll in the park?"
"I felt uncomfortable, especially when it's so crowded, but there're some things that are pretty interesting," Xiao Mo answered.
Lin Huang was basically satisfied with his answer. He was a little worried that Xiao Mo might not have the interest to blend into normal life. Now, to his relief, it seemed like he was not as close-minded as he thought he would be.
"I'll begin my closed-door cultivation from today onwards. It might last for more than a month. Within this one month or so, I've got two missions for you. I hope that you can complete them.
"As the first mission, I'll give you a brand new method. I hope that you can build a whole new cultivation system in your body with this method. This method can help you break through from imperial-level purple gold-rank to virtual god-level. My request is that you cultivate this brand new cultivation system with this method as much as you can until you reach holy fire-level."
Xiao Mo was rather anxious to hear the mission. He thought it would be difficult since he spent three years to break through from iron-level to white flame-level.
Naturally, Lin Huang noticed his concern and added immediately, "You already possess a powerful cultivation base now. You should be quick in building a new system. Don't worry too much about your progress. You can ask Bloody if there's anything that you don't understand. I'll leave it to accompany you."
Lin Huang shook his left hand as he spoke, then Bloody came out of his sleeve.
Xiao Mo was astonished to find out that Lin Huang had a summoning beast hidden in his sleeve all this time.
Lin Huang proceeded to speak after giving a simple introduction on Bloody, "The second mission is to go to the park that I brought you to earlier every day. You'll have to spend at least an hour there. Also, you'll need to talk to at least three people every time, even if it's just one sentence. You can go there anytime between seven in the morning to seven at night, but you must spend an hour there. If you don't do it, you'll have to spend double the duration on the next day and double the number of people that you talk to. Bloody will monitor your progress during that period. This is a basic lesson for you to learn to communicate with your future partners. I hope that you'll take this seriously."
Xiao Mo looked even more nervous now after hearing the second mission. He thought this mission was even more difficult than the first one.
Chapter 1016: Perfect-Stage Immortal-Level Rank-10!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Of the two missions Lin Huang assigned to Xiao Mo, the first one might have been very difficult for ordinary people, but Lin Huang figured it should be easy for him.
Although he was assigned to cultivate a different cultivation system, to an imperial-level powerhouse, it was easy to elevate to transcendent-level. The difficult thing was to break through transcendent-level. Getting him to cultivate a brand new cultivation system was a practice for him to master his power again. After all, he did not get to his current combat strength by himself. He needed a certain time to familiarize with his power.
As for the second mission, Lin Huang noticed through their conversation that most of Xiao Mo's values influenced by the Purple Crow. The one that influenced him the most was interacting with people.
If Xiao Mo were to maintain the old habits he had when he was with the Purple Crow, it would be a disadvantage no matter whether it was to him as a person or to the organization Lin Huang would be establishing in the future.
Therefore, Bloody suggested Lin Huang do this. He could get Xiao Mo to talk to harmless, ordinary people to give him a brand new view to learn about this world and break the strange values the Purple Crow had instilled in him.
The reason why Bloody suggested that was because it had actually gotten the Nightmare Tapir to read Xiao Mo's memory secretly. It had done so earlier to take precaution against this unknown little guy who might be dangerous. After learning about Xiao Mo, Bloody realized that this kid had a naive nature because he had been living in a terrible environment which affected him.
However, Bloody hid the fact that it had checked on Xiao Mo earlier from Lin Huang.
The ancient cultivation method Lin Huang gave Xiao Mo was called the Unrivalled Combat God. It was a combat cultivation method which happened to be compatible with Xiao Bo's body. Moreover, there was a combat skill set called Unrivalled in it.
Apart from this method, Lin Huang also picked thousands of close-range combat skills in his head and shared them with Xiao Mo.
"You'll be focusing on the Unrivaled Combat God throughout this month. Of all the combat skills, just focus on Unrivaled. The remaining battle skills are mainly for your reference. You can learn them if you come across any that you're interested in, but know what to prioritize."
After Lin Huang was done making the arrangements, he left Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx behind while he got to a cultivation room to focus on his closed-door cultivation.
He had gotten the last three God Figurines much earlier and even completed the integration.
However, considering that the visualization would take a long time, he had been putting visualizing the last three God Figurines into True Spirits aside.
He finally had some time to do this.
The first among the three God Figurines was the Coffin Carrier.
This monster was entirely red with bulky muscles all over. Its body looked like a skinned bullfrog that had just been scooped out of a spicy hot pot. It looked slightly humanoid but its head appeared like a combination of a dog and a bull. It had sharp fangs and two buffalo-like horns on its head. Its feet had hooves but its hands had sharp claws like a devil.
It had two thick, black chains behind its shoulders, and a black coffin was tied at the very end of the chain. The coffin was clearly heavy since its back was hunching a little from the weight.
The monster was a fallen Abyssal Protoss. Even the stone tablet was a little surprised when it saw this monster manage to form into a God Figurine. It was the stone tablet's first time seeing a dead Abyssal Protoss being consolidated into a God Figurine.
The stone tablet had explained the True Spirit's choice to Lin Huang earlier.
He decided to follow the stone tablet's suggestion which was to visualize this Coffin Carrier as a Death Butterfly.
The Death Butterfly mastered the Yin Yang Gate. Only such a True Spirit could travel freely within the material and spirit realms when it was on true god-level.
Although its beginning combat strength was not considered powerful compared to other True Spirits, it had great potential for growth. According to the stone tablet, it was one that was worth training among the True Spirits that mastered the Death Rule.
After finding the Death Butterfly in the True Spirit Guide, Lin Huang crushed an Epiphany Card and soon fell into visualization mode.
Lin Huang finally visualized the Death Butterfly successfully after 13 restless days. By then, he had officially consolidated his eighth God Figurine.
After a day of rest and adjusting himself, Lin Huang went into the second round of visualization.
The God Figurine took on the form of a lady.
The lady wore a thin purple dress that was almost semi-transparent while hovering in the air barefooted. Her jade-like skin that was vaguely exposed underneath the thin, purple dress made her seem like she had a great figure. However, she had long, black hair that touched her waist but no face or features. She was horrifying to look at.
Her long, black hair that looked like countless little snakes with their own consciousness were writhing in the air. They were moving without any wind and they looked gravely menacing.
This monster was called the Hair Demon which was an evil spirit among Protosses and mainly mastered the Sealing Rule.
According to the stone tablet, the monster that had the highest compatibility was the Shackle Serpent. It was a formidable sealing-type of True Spirit. Legend had it that the ancestor of the Medusa Tribe, who had the most powerful sealing ability among the Protoss, obtained the ability from a Shackle Serpent.
Soon, Lin Huang found the Shackle Serpent in the True Spirit Guide. He crushed an Epiphany Card and went into visualization mode immediately.
The visualization went on for a total of 12 days before it was completed.
After a day of rest, Lin Huang looked at the last God Figurine in his body.
This God Figurine looked like a toy doll. It had short limbs and its face looked like a clown with makeup on. Its tummy was made of a mechanical clock. Not only the hour hand, but the minute hand, the second hand, and the timescale that could be seen clearly, and even the big and small gear wheels within were also clear.
It was a Time Spirit, a unique species among the Protoss with a limited number. This monster mastered the Time Rule and it would control the flow of time in a specific area and even stop time.
The True Spirit Lin Huang wanted to visualize through this Time Spirit was called the Creation Clock.
Legend had it that such a Creation Clock was the world's stopwatch. By changing the hour hand on the clock, It could control the life and death of all creation. Such a True Spirit could even control the speed of time.
The Creation Clock was on the first page of the True Spirit Guide. Lin Huang had seen this True Spirit information more than once when he flipped through the guide. Now, he finally had the chance to officially visualize it.
As he crushed another Epiphany Card, Lin Huang soon went into visualization mode.
The visualization of the third True Spirit lasted for a total of 18 days. It was the True Spirit that took the longest time to complete the visualization among the ten True Spirits that he possessed.
Lin Huang let out a long sigh of relief when he saw the tenth God Figurine's Combat Soul that had finally consolidated into a True Spirit.
However, the consolidation of ten God Figurine's Combat Souls was not the end.
Lin Huang took out a sea of soul crystals and began feeding his last three God Figurine's Combat Souls. He spent almost half a day to finally feed them until they reached imperial-level white gold-rank.
Since he was unsure if the remaining soul crystals could elevate an imperial-level white gold-rank Combat Soul to imperial-level purple gold-rank, he put aside the elevation of Death Butterfly that was poor in battles compared to the rest.
He took out the last two demigod-level soul crystals he had and fed the Shackle Serpent and the Creation Clock respectively. The duo then elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank.
Subsequently, Lin Huang fed the remaining soul crystals to the Death Butterfly. When the sky was turning dark, the Death Butterfly finally elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank after digesting a massive amount of soul crystals. At the moment, less than 1,000 soul crystals were left in Lin Huang's storage space.
At that point, all ten of his God Figurine's Combat Souls had elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank while he had finally arrived on perfect-stage immortal-level rank-10.
Chapter 1017: Xiao Mo's Challenge
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was the first day since Lin Huang went into closed-door cultivation 45 days ago.
Xiao Mo was reading the Unrivalled Combat God in his head. The method was a completely new cultivation system. After flipping through it roughly, he realized it should be an ancient cultivation method. According to Lin Huang, this method should allow him to cultivate all the way to virtual god-level.
With excitement and anxiety thrumming in him, he began the level-1 of the Unrivalled Combat God's cultivation.
This method was special whereby the first three levels were about integrating the power into his body, strengthening his flesh, organs, and bones to its maximum capacity for a human. On level-4, the method would begin using the sea of power to break through his body limit. If that was successful, it would mean that he would get to holy fire-level and become transcendent.
Xiao Mo cultivated level-1 of the Unrivalled Combat God following the Life Power in his body. It was much more successful than he imagined. Under normal circumstances, not many people could complete the level-1 full rotation in the first cultivation. However, he spent less than three hours completing one full rotation.
It was just a trickle in the beginning and it accumulated into an energy stream when the first rotation was done. A complete circle was formed. Just like that, he built the foundation of the level-1 energy like a piece of cake. Even he found it a little unbelievable.
After he completed level-1's cultivation, Xiao Mo did not begin level-2 just yet. Instead, he proceeded to rotate level-1, adding more energy from his Life Wheel into this new energy circle.
The stream was growing while the speed of the flow was accelerating. Xiao Mo was performing the rotation with his energy over and over again at an accelerating speed.
The next morning, he shortened the rotation time to within a minute. The initial energy flow was so powerful that it was now a massive surging river.
"I'm pretty much done with the level-1 cultivation for now." Xiao Mo pulled his senses out of his body and realized that it was the next morning now.
Bloody's voice came loud and clear at the moment. "It's almost seven now. Although Master said you can pick any time within 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. to complete your mission of interacting with people for an hour, I personally suggest you go there after breakfast."
"Would there be any difference if I go at a different time?" Xiao Mo asked rather confusedly.
"Morning is usually the new beginning of a day. After a good night's sleep, people have the best energy in the morning and they're happiest in the morning too. Therefore, that's the time most people are friendliest to others," Bloody explained while smiling.
Xiao Mo thought to himself and realized he did have the best mood after getting out of bed in the morning. "It seems like it."
"Go wash up now. We'll take a walk in the park after breakfast. After strolling for an hour, you'll return to cultivate with an ease of mind."
Although Xiao Mo was unwilling to go to the park, he nodded anyway. He got up and washed up in the bathroom. It was almost 7 a.m. when he was done.
He then went out with Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx.
Bloody transformed itself into a little cat and sat on Xiao Mo's shoulder just like the Ninetails Lynx always did. Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx walked on its own, refusing to interact with anyone else except Lin Huang.
Xiao Mo had no idea what to eat, so he went to the fried bun store Lin Huang brought him to yesterday. It turned out there was already a queue there. Just when he was going to leave after seeing the fully seated tables and the crowd at the queue, the lady boss saw him and called out to him, "Young sir, you're here!"
Xiao Mo stood where he was feeling awkward, but he nodded at the lady boss.
"You're not late today. There are only two people queuing before you," the lady boss updated while smiling. "Just give me a moment. It'll be your turn very soon."
Xiao Mo nodded, feeling helpless, and he queued behind a man and a woman.
Soon, it was his turn. He ordered two servings of fried dumplings for himself and two servings of fried buns and fried dumplings for Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx.
However, he realized there was no vacant seat when he turned around after he placed his order. He stood where he was, clueless about what to do.
At that moment, Bloody hopped off his shoulder and jumped onto a seat that had just been vacated.
However, there was a girl sitting at the table.
Xiao Mo had never shared a table with any strangers before. He was stunned to see what Bloody did. Bloody's voice came to his ears at that moment. "Sit here. We can only share tables now. There'll be more people later if you don't take this seat now. It's still early now, so we can leave as soon as we're done eating."
Xiao Mo walked to the seat Bloody reserved without having a choice.
Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx hopped onto the bench and glanced at the girl across it. It did not go to the table.
The girl, who was eating a fried bun, asked in excitement when she saw Xiao Mo with two cats sitting across her, "Such beautiful cats! Are they yours?"
Xiao Mo felt troubled when the girl talked to him. He wanted to prevent such a situation, which was the reason why he was unwilling to share the table with a stranger.
Just when he was going to ignore the girl's question, Bloody's voice came to his ears again. "Don't reject interaction. I'll teach you if you really don't know what to say. I'll say it and you'll repeat after me."
Xiao Mo looked at Bloody and nodded lightly.
He spoke a moment later, "No, they aren't mine. They belong to my friend."
"Oh, really? Can I touch them?" The girl asked in excitement.
Xiao Mo looked at Bloody before answering, "You can touch the one on the table. The one on the bench bites."
The girl began caressing Bloody after getting his permission. Bloody went along with it while squatting on the table, not dodging at all. It considered sacrificing itself to solve Xiao Mo's communication problem.
Soon, the lady boss came with a few plates of fried dumplings and buns.
"Isn't the young sir joining you today?"
Xiao Mo peeped at Bloody again and answered, "He's been busy recently."
"Oh, enjoy your meal then." The lady boss nodded while smiling. She then turned around to go on with her work.
Seeing the lady boss serve six plates of fried buns and dumplings, the girl across looked surprised. "Can you eat so much?"
"The both of them will help," Xiao Mo answered.
While the girl across was still in surprise, Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx soon finished a whole serving. They were no slower than Xiao Mo.
The girl across was shocked when she watched the two cats finishing two plates of fried buns and dumplings on their own. "These two cats have such big appetites!"
There was a long queue at the breakfast store when they were about to leave. Xiao Mo paid the bill quickly and walked to the park.
Fortunately, to his relief, there were lesser people at the park. Soon, he was surrounded by a bunch of students who were on their way to school. They were obviously attracted to the two cats.
Before the students came around, the Ninetails Lynx took a step out and disappeared. It was tens of meters away when it appeared again.
"Brother, this cat is so cute. Is this yours?"
"Brother, may I touch it?"
…
Xiao Mo had no idea what to do at the moment. He glanced at Bloody immediately, hoping to get help. However, Bloody's voice came to his ears. "This is the park. You'll have to depend on yourself from now on. I can only give you one advice — don't reject interaction."
His face turned gloomy but he did not choose to run away in the end. Instead, he answered in a shy manner, "Y-You can touch it. It's my friend's cat."
Xiao Mo let out a long sigh of relief after he watched the little kids leaving happily. However, he suddenly realized that interacting with strangers was not as difficult as he imagined.
"You've completed the mission of speaking to three people today. All you have to do now is to stay here for an hour," Bloody reminded out of the blue.
Xiao Mo's face turned morose again.
Chapter 1018: Exposed Identity
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Xiao Mo's Unrivalled Combat God cultivation went unusually well beyond his imagination.
In merely five days, he completed level-3 of cultivating. He built three energy circles in his body and spent three days to complete level-4. Then, he built a bigger circle in his body that connected the three smaller circles together without any bottleneck at all. He also completed the one-month mission Lin Huang assigned him, which was breaking through to mortal transformation-level (holy fire-level) successfully.
After that, he spent approximately ten days completing level-5 and level-6 cultivation. He had arrived at perfect-stage mortal transformation-level.
Since then, his cultivation speed had finally slowed down. He spent a full week to break through whereby he got to level-7 of the Unrivalled Combat God while his combat strength had elevated to the ascendance-level (immortal-level).
Even though he slowed down, he only spent a total of 25 days to get from having no cultivation to ascendance-level now which was on par with immortal-level.
What Xiao Mo had no idea about was that Fu Minghan and Qi Hao were the fastest people who cultivated the ancient method a few months ago.
One of them spent 23 days while another spent 27 days to get to mortal transformation-level.
Meanwhile, Xiao Mo only took eight days to break through to mortal transformation-level.
Cultivating the Unrivalled Combat God did not give Xiao Mo any pressure at all. Instead, he gained a lot more confidence from it.
Bloody was satisfied with his progress at the park too.
Although Xiao Mo still did not like crowded places, he began to get used to making small talk with strangers throughout the past 20 days or so. Furthermore, since he had to stay there for an hour, he began to observe the people's daily lives at the park when he had nothing to do.
Exercising, playing chess, drinking tea, dancing, singing…
Although he could not understand most of the things as they seemed like a waste of life to him, he began finding the fun in it.
He even tried to participate in a minority of activities after Bloody encouraged him.
After getting used to it, he heard many stories of other familiars from some talkative aunties and uncles. It was something that he had never heard before and he found it fresh.
Early in the morning, Xiao Mo saw an old man with gray hair and a beard walking toward him not long after he arrived at the park following breakfast.
The old man looked slightly skinny and was approximately 1.8 meters tall. He walked toward them in a pair of mossy green shoes.
The Ninetails Lynx that walked in front stopped all of a sudden while glaring deadly at the old man that was walking toward them.
Soon, Xiao Mo stood still on the bridge. He instinctively sensed a threat from the person, so his heart was racing.
On the other hand, Bloody sensed nothing, perhaps because of its low combat strength.
The old man walked slowly to Xiao Mo and asked while smiling, "Kid, do you know Lin Xie?"
Bloody's guard shot up right away when it heard that.
Aside, the Ninetails Lynx was in a position to attack anytime.
Xiao Mo's eyes became sharp now since he knew about Lin Huang's other identity.
"Don't worry. I've no ill intentions. I just need to ask Lin Xie something."
"I'm sorry. You've got the wrong guy," Xiao Mo answered with a stony face following Bloody's voice transmission, "I don't know any Lin Xie."
"How about… Lin Huang?" asked the old man without giving up.
Even Bloody's pupils shrunk upon hearing Lin Huang's name.
The person clearly came prepared. He had even done a background check on Lin Huang and found out his real identity.
"I don't know him. I've never heard of that name." Bloody got Xiao Mo to decline directly.
"Alright then." The old man nodded while feeling a little disappointed. "Sorry that I behaved absurdly."
The old man stopped his questions as soon as he was done speaking. He walked past Xiao Mo and shuffled away like a normal person.
Xiao Mo only let out a long sigh of relief when the person left his field of vision.
"I think that guy's at least a demigod. He might even be on perfect-stage demigod-level."
"He's here for Master, but he doesn't look like he has ill intentions for now."
"How are you sure that he has no such intentions?" Xiao Mo could not help but probe.
"Do you think a person who manages to find out who Master really is wouldn't find out who checked in to our hotel room?" Bloody asked him back, "He gave up noticing that we have our guard up. He didn't expose our lie. He's actually proving his pure intentions."
"So, do we tell him the truth?"
"No need. He'll definitely come back if there's something urgent. If not, we can wait until Master comes out of his closed-door cultivation."
Bloody did not take that meager episode to its heart.
Xiao Mo stayed at the park for an hour like he usually did. He talked to a few people and returned to the hotel after he was done with his mission. Then, he began cultivating again.
To Bloody's surprise, the old man with gray hair and the beard checked into the suite next door with another middle-aged man in the afternoon. It felt helpless about their actions.
Fortunately, the two demigods did not do anything apart from checking in next door. The most they would do was to greet them when they bumped into each other. They stopped asking about Lin Huang.
Time flew by. Xiao Mo spent 17 days to break through two levels in the method and arrived on level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God. His combat strength had reached peak-stage ascendance-level which was on par with immortal-level rank-9.
On the fourth day when Xiao Mo broke through to level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God, Lin Huang finally returned to the hotel when the sky was turning dark.
A white silhouette flashed before his eyes when he opened the door. The Ninetails Lynx was then sitting on his shoulder.
As he was cultivating, Xiao Mo stopped what he was doing and looked at Lin Huang.
"You've cultivated to level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God?!" Lin Huang was in slight disbelief upon sensing Xiao Mo's aura.
"He performed well at the park too. He completed his mission every day without slacking off and missing anything," Bloody added. It was still in its cat form at the moment. It hopped off from the coffee table and walked toward Lin Huang.
"But there are two strange men looking for you during this period. I've no idea what they're up to. Both of them are demigods and they've been staying next door for close to 20 days. They didn't do anything, so I don't think they come with ill intentions."
As soon as Bloody was done speaking, the doorbell rang all of a sudden.
Lin Huang sensed clearly with his Territory skill that there were two men standing at the door at the moment. One was tall and strong while the other was skinny. The latter was the one who rang the doorbell.
Lin Huang turned around immediately and opened the door.
The old man was stunned when he saw Lin Huang in his own skin. He then asked in a testing manner, "Are you Lin Huang?"
"That's right. Are you looking for me?" Lin Huang raised his brow as he looked at the duo.
Chapter 1019: Dynasty's Visit
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang connected the dots as soon as he saw the two strangers standing at the door. The duo should be the two people Bloody had just mentioned.
He observed the duo without saying anything.
The old man with gray hair and a beard standing before him was the one who had rung the doorbell. He looked like he was in his early 60's. Despite his gaunt figure, he was in high spirits.
There was a muscular hunk behind him on the right who looked like he was in his 40's. He was approximately 1.9 meters tall with a muscular body and he had stubble on his face. He was taking a careful look at Lin Huang when the latter was studying him too. The man was judging him.
"Come on in." Sensing no ill intentions from these two, Lin Huang daringly invited them into the room. "May I get you a drink?"
"Tea will be good." The old man glanced around and sat down on the couch. The muscular hunk sat quietly by his side, without speaking a word since the beginning. However, he glanced at Lin Huang, Xiao Mo, and the Ninetails Lynx.
Soon, Lin Huang served the tea.
The muscular hunk took the teacup and placed it on the coffee table. He clearly had no intention to drink it. The old man, on the other hand, was at ease. He took a sip of the tea right as soon as he accepted it.
"Is there anything that I can help you with?" Lin Huang asked casually after the old man drank the tea.
The old man glanced at Xiao Mo as he put the teacup down. "Young sir, can we have some privacy?"
Xiao Mo looked at Lin Huang who nodded at him. Xiao Mo put on his earphones and turned on the music on his Emperor's Heart Ring. He spun around and walked to the balcony, closing the glass door.
The old man then began talking about his intention to visit gradually.
"My name is Huang Tianpu. This is Huang Tufu. We're both from Dynasty. We're visiting you today to inquire about something. We also have a favor to ask."
Lin Huang jolted when he heard the duo's name as he had heard of them before.
Dynasty's First Grand Duke, Huang Tianpu who was also the current leader of Dynasty. Not only did he handle everything at Dynasty's headquarters in Division 1, but he was also the current supreme leader in Dynasty who was on par with the Union Government president.
Meanwhile, the muscular hunk next to him was Huang Tufu. He was the Third Grand Duke of Dynasty, the current leader of the Dynasty branch in Division 3 and he managed all of Dynasty's matters in Division 3. Throughout the decades, he made the Dynasty branch the most powerful underground organization in Division 3. He was the one who created the rivalry with the Union Government branch in Division 3.
The duo were the legendary underground bosses!
Hearing the duo's identity, Lin Huang's first thought was that they must have found out he killed the Duke and Prince of Dynasty. However, what Huang Tianpu said later on made him realize that it was not the case.
He suddenly realized that the duo might be here for his participation in the Royal Trials earlier.
"Ask whatever you have in mind, Old Man Huang. I'll answer you as best as I can."
"Then, I won't beat around the bush." Huang Tianpu nodded while smiling. "Did you participate in the Royal Trials earlier?"
Lin Huang fell into a moment of silence upon hearing that question. He thought about it carefully. Since they were here for him, they must have found out about it in their own way. It would be futile for him to hide the truth, so he admitted with a nod instantly, "Indeed, I did."
"I think you passed the assessment in the end, didn't you?" Huang Tianpu proceeded to ask.
"That I did," Lin Huang confirmed.
"Allow me to ask you this — did you obtain Royal Authorization in the end?"
"I got a Rank-A if I recall correctly," Lin Huang thought about it and answered.
Since he had been busy after the Royal Trials, he immediately set aside the fact that he obtained Royal Authorization. He did not even look at the Royal Market once.
Now that Huang Tianpu brought it up, he just recalled that he had many points that he had yet to redeem.
"Rank-A?!" Shock flashed through the eyes of both Huang Tianpu and Huang Tufu, who was sitting aside.
"Are you sure you got a Rank-A?" Huang Tufu could not help but finally question.
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded.
"Kid, could you show us your trial token please?" On the other hand, Huang Tianpu did not raise any doubt. Instead, he asked to see the trial token.
Lin Huang nodded and took the trial token out. The trial token was registered under his name, so it would be futile for Huang Tianfu to snatch it away unless he killed Lin Huang. However, if the owner of the trial token died, the accumulated points in the trial token would be wiped away and the initial authorization rank would be downgraded automatically too.
After producing the trial token, Lin Huang noticed that it seemed to be different from before.
The original trial token had been golden with the word 'royal' imprinted in the middle and was filled with complicated sigils all over.
However, although the token was still golden in color, the word 'emperor' was imprinted in the middle now. Furthermore, the back of the token, which was initially filled with sigils, had a capital 'A' in the middle now.
Lin Huang did not notice when the token transformed as such.
When Huang Tianpu took the token and saw the letter at the back, his hands began shaking. "It's true!"
"He really has Rank-A authorization." Even Huang Tufu, who had been cold, turned emotional when he saw that.
Huang Tianpu then returned the token with both hands after the both of them gave a detailed observation on it.
Lin Huang picked it up casually and tossed it back into his storage space. When they noticed that, the duo had an odd expression on their faces.
However, Huang Tianpu soon spoke again, "Kid, what do you think of Dynasty?"
'Are they trying to get me to join them?' Lin Huang thought to himself when he heard the question.
He did not find it odd as soon as he recalled the result he had obtained in the Royal Trials. After all, he achieved what nobody in Dynasty had in over 5 centuries — passing the trials. It made sense if they wanted to get him to join them.
Lin Huang answered after a moment of silence, "Dynasty is very powerful. Its branch alone is the most powerful underground organization in Division 3 at the moment. It's on par with the Union Government branch in Division 3. Dynasty's overall ability ranks at the top in the entire continent too. Among all of the underground organizations, Dynasty's combined ability ranks No. 3, so it's undoubtedly the underground giant. Moreover, the First to the Third Grand Dukes are the top powerhouses in the gravel world. If I'm not mistaken, apart from the three of you, Dynasty has at least ten demigods or even more.
"To be honest, I admire the fact that you guys could gather so many powerhouses and develop the organization to what it is today. However, I don't admire the way and style of how you guys do things. Therefore, I'm sorry that I've no plans to join Dynasty." He rejected their invitation before they could even extend a formal invitation.
"Kid, we're not here to invite you to join Dynasty." Huang Tianpu shook his head with a grin "We're here today hoping that you would be the second Emperor of Dynasty!"
Chapter 1020: Emperor
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Emperor?" It was Lin Huang's first time hearing that term. However, he could tell it was a high position.
"Emperor is the highest title we have in Dynasty. It's not just a title, but the Emperor is a leader who has the real power, possessing the highest authority to control the entire Dynasty. Including the First to Third Grand Dukes like us, all the Dukes, Princes, and Dynasty members, we must all listen to the Emperor," Huang Tianpu explained in detail.
"I don't understand this. Why are you guys getting yourself a superior? Aren't you just giving yourself a hard time?" Lin Huang raised his doubt as soon as he was done listening. "Without the Emperor, isn't it great for the First to the Third Grand Dukes in reign?"
Huang Tianpu shook his head and forced a smile when he heard that. "This has something to do with the rules that were passed down from Royal during the establishment of Dynasty.
"My master, who is the founder of Dynasty, Mr. Huang Tianyu, was Dynasty's very first Emperor. He founded Dynasty back then in an attempt to build a tremendous empire like the Union Government. He came up with the title 'Emperor' because it's the equivalent of the ruler of a kingdom who possesses the highest authority.
"My master was Royalty. He needed a massive amount of resources to build Dynasty, so he signed an agreement with Royal to make Dynasty the affiliate organization under the latter. Because of the identity as an affiliate organization, Dynasty developed quickly and very soon rose in this gravel world. It never stopped growing.
"However, there's a problem in the agreement. It clearly states that only Dynasty members have the right to inherit the Emperor title."
"Since Master passed away, none of our Dynasty members are eligible to inherit the title. Royal contacted us and gave us two options.
"The first option is to detach from Royal to become an independent organization. If we choose that, we won't be getting any resource support from Royal from that day onwards while all the ruins won't be opened to us. Furthermore, Dynasty must pay the compensation for all the expenses Royal has spent on building and training us for the past 5 centuries. The annual compensation will be 50% of our annual income.
"The second option is to continue being Royal's affiliate organization. Since we don't have an Emperor, we're only assigned the lowest supply of resources from them. We'd also only be given the lowest authorization for all the ruins. There's also a request. We'll need to find a Royalty to be the new Emperor within 3 centuries. As soon as the Emperor goes on duty, all the resources will be recovered following the Emperor's privileges in Royal.
"However, if we can't find a new Emperor within 3 centuries, Royal will send their people to take over the affiliate organizations. By then, the entire organization will belong to Royal, including the members and items. Everything would become Royal's private property.
"We heard about that through some intel. As soon as we become their private property, it'd be equivalent to losing our human rights. We'd be no different from being a slave. Moreover, it would mean losing the potential to elevate on certain levels for demigods. There's a high possibility that they might be given the slave imprint and sold to powerhouses in the great world."
Lin Huang understood why they looked for him right after hearing Huang Tianpu's detailed explanation.
"So, you guys went for the second option?"
Huang Tianpu nodded while forcing a smile. "It would've been stupid to choose the first option back then. We had gotten used to having Royal supporting us, it was hard to imagine what would happen to us without their support. Furthermore, we were very confident that we could train a Royalty within these 3 centuries."
"However, never had we thought that we wouldn't have even trained a single Royalty when the 3-century deadline is coming to an end. Even Huang Wuji, who we rooted for, was sent out on the second day of the trial."
"How long more to the 3-century deadline?" Lin Huang could not help but ask.
"In 11 more years, but the Royal Trials will only happen in 100 years. We've lost our only hope."
"Since there are still 11 years, why don't you just leave Dynasty? If you leave now, I don't think they'd come after all of you one after another in 11 years?" Lin Huang asked.
"We can't do that. As soon as we joined Dynasty, our names were on the register of the Royal affiliate organization. Since Master died, Royal automatically recorded all the new Dynasty members' details. As long as our names are on the list, the people from Royal will definitely find us. It's futile for us to hide anywhere in the world.
"There's only one way to leave Dynasty, which is to get the Emperor to remove the members from the list with his Royal Authorization."
"What if you dissolve Dynasty directly?" Lin Huang suggested.
"There's no way to do that," Huang Tianpu shook his head feeling helpless, "Dynasty is Royal's affiliate organization, so Royal has the ownership. As long as Royal disagrees with that, we can't be dissolved. To dissolve an affiliate organization, the affiliate organization's Emperor must send an application into Royal's headquarters."
"So, you guys have locked yourself in a dead-end." Lin Huang was rather puzzled to hear that.
"We only have one solution now, which is to find a new Emperor."
"I've got a question." Lin Huang thought about it before speaking again, "Are you guys sure that the first Emperor is dead?"
Huang Tianpu nodded almost without thinking. "We've confirmed it. Master went to the great world a few years after breaking through to virtual god-level 3 centuries ago. Royal announced his death less than 10 years following his departure."
"Didn't you guys see the body?"
"There was no body but it shouldn't be fake news," Huang Tianpu explained, "The Royal identity token is locked with the particular person. It will only be unlocked when the person dies. As soon as the token is unlocked, Royal would have their record down automatically."
"Do you guys have no other candidates apart from me?" Lin Huang asked rather helplessly.
"No. From what we know, you're the second person who has obtained the Royal Authorization throughout 5 centuries apart from Master. It was the first time Royal contacted us to tell us about you passing the Royal Trials."
"What if I reject this offer?" Lin Huang asked raising his brow, "Are you guys going to kidnap me? And force me to take the position?"
"I would love to do that," Huang Tufu mumbled softly.
"If you reject us, we'll stay by your side until you agree." Huang Tianpu smiled lightly. "We'll follow you no matter where you go, including the bathroom, the shower, when you go to sleep… We'll guard you by your side all the time to show our sincerity."
"Aren't you being a gangster now?" Lin Huang became speechless right away.
Huang Tianpu became serious after cracking the joke. "We really have no other option. If you don't like our way and style of doing things, we can implement a reformation in the entire organization. Although it's quite impossible that we could be as clean as the Union Government or the Hunter Association, it shouldn't be a problem to be as neutral as the Heretics. We promise to cooperate with you with all our might, transforming Dynasty into a brand new organization."
Lin Huang was really moved hearing what Huang Tianpu said. He had been wanting to establish his own organization for some time now. Although Dynasty, who sent themselves to his doorstep, was different from what he expected, joining them would be a shortcut to fight God Bless. Furthermore, with his identity as a Royalty, it was pretty impossible for Dynasty to turn their backs on him.
To establish an organization that truly belonged to him, he could do so by building a core circle within Dynasty. When the circle developed, it would not be too late for him to part independently from Dynasty. Moreover, he could use Dynasty's resources and the people's relationship to develop his core circle.
"Since you're so sincere, I shan't hide this from you. I'm planning to visit the great world after breaking through to imperial-level. If it's soon, I might leave this year. I'll leave next year if I take a longer time. Therefore, your Emperor will soon be going away if you get me to be your Emperor," Lin Huang shared his plan honestly.
"Don't worry about it. As long as the Emperor is still alive, it won't affect us whether you're in this gravel world or not. Furthermore, you can assign a representative before you leave and give a portion of your authority to the representative. By then, just get the representative to handle matters that involve authority. About going to the great world, I'll bring a few demigods to go with you for safety purposes." Huang Tianpu seemed to have considered everything in Lin Huang's shoes.
"If that's the case, I agree to be your Emperor." Lin Huang finally acquiesced. "I'm a lazy person, so I won't interfere much with your management. However, I'll monitor you guys since you agreed to a reformation. I hope to see the results."
"Just trust us with the management, but you're welcome to monitor us." Huang Tianpu finally flashed a smile of relief on his face. Even Huang Tufu, who was sitting aside, was greatly relieved to hear Lin Huang agree.
"Master Emperor, would you prefer a grand or a low-key appointment ceremony?" Huang Tianpu changed how he addressed Lin Huang as soon as he agreed to be the Emperor.
"Low-key, I guess. Only Dynasty has to know about it. There's no need to let the world know."
"It's already the 26th of July today. Should we fix it on 1st August? It happens to be an auspicious day." Huang Tianpu even determined the date.
"So soon?" Lin Huang was not prepared at all.
"Since you want a low-key one, we don't have to inform the world. We'll only have to decorate Dynasty a little. It won't take long," Huang Tianpu said delightedly, "There's nothing that you need to prepare. We'll prepare everything for you. If you have guests you'd like to invite, just tell us their names and contact details. We'll get people to pick them up when they arrive in Division 1. You don't have to stay in this hotel. You can do whatever you want and go wherever you want. Just send me your coordinates a day ahead. I'll pick you up by then."
"Sure, arrange everything for me then." Hearing Huang Tianpu's arrangement, Lin Huang could not help but secretly exclaim to himself how meticulous this person was. He did not miss anything in his arrangements and was an all-rounded, talented manager.
"Master Emperor, I shan't stay any longer. I'll leave now to make the arrangements." Huang Tianpu stood up after he was done speaking. He then turned his head to say to Huang Tufu next to him, "You'll stay in the room next to Master Emperor. Stay with him to assure his safety within these few days."
"Master Emperor, just do what you like and pretend he's not there. He'll only follow you when you go out. He won't disturb you other than that unless you ask him to."
"There's no need for that. Just go ahead with your own thing. Since I've agreed, I definitely won't run away." Lin Huang shook his head kindly.
"It's my honor to protect you, Master Emperor." Huang Tufu agreed to the mission.
Lin Huang stopped rejecting him since he said that.
Soon, Huang Tianpu summoned a dimensional portal and left. Meanwhile, Huang Tufu did not stay in Lin Huang's room and returned to the room next door.
Seeing the duo leave, Xiao Mo then returned from the balcony to the living room and asked about the duo rather curiously.