Chapter 587 - Rank 1 Body Transformation
"Well then, Soft Feather, we will be in your care," Leon smiled at the Blue Luan.
After a short snort, Soft Feather asked with a grudging tone in the human tongue, "When are we heading out?"
"Very shortly. Just give me a moment, please."
After Leon requested, he made a loud whistle that echoed all the way to the Elder Tree. Shortly after, Silver's figure could be seen on the Great Wall before leaping over the wide rift to their side within moments.
"Awrooo!" Silver howled.
Leon quickly rubbed its big head before its tails could be seen wagging excitedly.
"So it seems you already have a ride… It appears that my arrangements were unnecessary." Bluewinter smiled wryly.
She was surprised to see a Transcendent-level silver wolf acting as Leon's pet, causing her impression of the human rise to a new peak.
"Not at all." Leon shook his head and said courteously, "Your sincerity is much appreciated, Monarch Bluewinter."
"That is relieving to hear. Well, I shan't keep you around further. Safe travels to you all, and please take care of my daughter. She might be a little rebellious, but she is a good child."
"You can rest assured, Monarch Bluewinter. We will ride her well." Leon reassured with a casual look before getting subtly nudged in the ribs by Aria, causing his expression to crumple slightly.
At the same time, Monarch Bluewinter also felt the corners of her eyes twitched slightly, but she retained a smile on her face.
Shortly after, Leon turned to Soft Feather, "If you will, Miss Soft Feather."
Soft Feather snorted and reach out with one of her large feathered wings, allowing Leon and the three ladies to walk on like a bridge before they made it onto her back.
"Until next time, Monarch Bluewinter," Leon bid his farewell to the Paragon-level Blue Luan as a form of respect.
Shortly after Bluewinter returned the gesture, Soft Feather took off from the ground and flew into the skies swiftly.
Swoosh~!
The Transcendent-level silver wolf quickly followed from the ground as Lilith directed Soft Feather towards her clan.
Within several dozen breaths, the group was gone from sight, and Silver's trail was nowhere to be seen as it kept up with Soft Feather's pace without a problem.
"Why did you send the little princess off to be their mounts, Monarch Bluewinter? Is it worth it to be lowering our pride to a mere human?" A High Rank 2 Blue Luan raised a question with doubt.
Bluewinter continued to gaze into the western horizon with a deep look.
Sometime later, she shook her head and said with a sigh, "If all humans were half as capable as that person, the human race would have dominated the entire continent long ago..."
"How capable is that human exactly, Monarch Bluewinter?" The High Rank 2 Transcendent Blue Luan was filled with questions, but his monarch did not elaborate.
Instead, she instructed with an indifferent tone, "Watch over the tribe, and help out the humans if they are trouble for me, Cold Talon. I am going into secluded cultivation."
"As you wish, Monarch Bluewinter."
Shortly after, the surrounding temperature dropped, and frosty mist filled the surrounding, forming an ice barrier that enclosed the large body of the Paragon-level Blue Luan, Bluewinter within.
…
On Soft Feather's back, Lilith could not help but ask Leon with curiosity, "What kind of technique did you transmit to that Blue Luan Paragon, Leon?"
"You really want to know?" Leon responded with a casual glance.
After Lilith nodded vigorously with enthusiasm, Duna and Aria also showed subtle signs of interest despite feigning an aloof and unconcerned look.
Nevertheless, Leon noticed the subtle signs before he smiled with interest.
"What I taught Monarch Bluewinter is…"
Duna and Aria immediately quietly perked their ears alongside Lilith as they inched slightly closer before Leon said with a slight chuckle, "…a secret."
The three ladies' expressions darkened immediately.
Before they could raise their voices with a complaint, Leon said to Lilith with a severe look, "Continue to direct Soft Feather in the right direction, Lilith."
"Am I not already doing that?" Lilith pouted slightly.
Nevertheless, she was grateful to have such a strong lineup accompanying her to her home. Everyone was at least at the Transcendent level besides her.
"We don't know what sort of danger is awaiting us, so we should take this chance to raise our strength quickly before we reach the Desolate Crow Clan," Leon stated before he closed his eyes and commenced cultivating straight away.
"How much strength can you raise in such a short time? Isn't it just a nearby Mid-rank tribe? With my speed, we will reach there in no t—" Soft Feather was quick to retort his words.
But before she could finish speaking, she immediately paused with a startled look. What is happening on her back? Why did the human's aura suddenly grow stronger all of a sudden?
Rumble…
A soft grey glow encompassed Leon's entire body as his aura grew stronger from another breakthrough in his strength.
After dividing his mind to multitask and simultaneously tempering his flesh, forging his bones, and consolidating his viscera with True Grandmist Energy, his strength was quickly raised to 700-thousand jins without obstacles.
Rumble…
Leon's aura surged again, and his strength was raised to 800-thousands jins.
Aria was startled, but Lilith was shocked beyond disbelief as she could not fathom nor understand how Leon's strength could increase so rapidly in a short time.
Even though Leon made it seemed easy, he was, in fact, enduring three times the usual pain by cultivating three different phases simultaneously.
Within moments, his pores oozed with sweats, soaking his body and highlighting his well-defined muscles.
Lilith gazed at Leon's bulging arms and sense a terrifying force hidden within. It quickly grabbed her attention and filled her with a strong sense of curiosity, urging her to inspect his arms.
Her hand subconsciously reached out before she froze under Aria's narrowed gaze, forcing her to retract her hand awkwardly with a wry and embarrassed smile.
A white cloth flashed into Aria's hand before she diligently wiped Leon's sweats like a caring wife.
Meanwhile, Duna did not pay any attention like Aria and Lilith did.
After she sensed Leon's swift growth in strength, she quickly closed her eyes and focused on progressing her Devil Spirit Body to the next step with the True Grandmist Energy stored inside her body.
Swoosh~!
Within moments, Duna also seemed to have made a breakthrough as her body sank slightly with increasing mass.
Each time Leon advanced his strength by a significant step, his body also increases in weight accordingly.
'Dammit, what the hell is going back there? How can these two people cultivate so quickly?' Soft Feather's curiosity reached an all-time high like an itch that cannot be scratched.
Within a few breaths, she finally caved in on her desire and craned her neck back to see what was happening behind.
The Blue Luan's flat back suddenly tilted to the left on a slope, causing everyone to nearly fall off from Soft Feather's back.
Soft Feather was startled before she quickly steered back.
Even so, Lilith was given the scare of her life. She was the sole person within the group that could not fly.
"Hey, watch how you are flying!" Lilith cried while gripping firmly onto Soft Feather's feathers.
"Hmph!" Soft Feather snorted slightly and said, "If you don't like how I fly, you are free to walk on your own, human!"
"I'm not a human! I'm a beastkin that is part bird and human!" Lilith retorted.
"Ptui!" Soft Feather spat like she had heard the most ridiculous thing ever and coldly said, "Are you mocking my intelligence, human? If you are part bird, then what am I? Part human? How preposterous."
Sensing the disdain in Soft Feather's words, Lilith quickly frowned with displeasure.
"I wasn't mocking your intelligence, but I might as well be now. Because you are stupid," Lilith insulted before she blatantly undressed her top and spread out her single black feathered wing, "Take a good look, idiot."
Leon opened his eyes briefly and almost had a nosebleed before he quickly closed his eyes again, unwilling to partake in the catfight between Lilith and Soft Feather.
'Or should it be called bird fight?' Leon thought with amusement.
At the same time, Soft Feather took a quick glance back before she was surprised that she had misjudged the person.
Even so, she was unwilling to admit her mistake.
"Ha, bird-kin that cannot fly. Who's the real idiot now?" Soft Feather spoke sarcastically. But after she finished speaking, she immediately regretted it.
Lilith's eyes dulled with a sad look. After retracting her wings and dressing, she sat back down in silence.
Rumble…
Leon made another two advancements and reached 1-million jins of strength in flesh, bone, and viscera before willingly opening his eyes.
With the benefits of True Grandmist Energy, he had quickly achieved Rank 1 Body Transformation Realm, the equivalence of Rank 2 Transcendent, in Primordial Body Cultivation.
If the Body Cultivators of the Burning Heaven Sect, who were still struggling to achieve Rank 1 Transcendent with a meager strength of 100-thousand jin, learned of Leon's swift improvement, they would probably puke blood from grievance.
Shortly after, Leon threw Lilith a glance before he quickly reprimanded Soft Feather, "That was not a nice thing to say, Soft Feather. You should apologize to Lilith,"
"I… I…" Soft Feather stuttered while feeling aggrieved.
She was already letting them ride on her back, yet they were even demanding her apology. Isn't this too much bullying?!
"Well, I won't force you if you don't want to.. Just know that what you said is wrong," Leon lectured with a calm look.
Chapter 588 - Bloody Vines
Soft Feather pouted slightly with her head facing the front after being lectured by Leon before she went silent, unwilling to talk further.
Perhaps, she would just make things worse if she continued to talk.
Leon threw a glance at the depressed Lilith for a moment before he inspected her cultivation level in Body Cultivation that did not seem to have grown by much in the time he had not seen her.
'Seems like she has been practicing Divine Cultivation like everyone else, huh?' Leon silently mused, noticing that Lilith had reached the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering Realm, a step short from the Energy Condensation Realm.
'Ninth Layer of Body Tempering Realm, huh?'
Leon was not surprised that Lilith had reached this level, even if she only casually practiced Divine Cultivation. After all, she had been staying by the World Tree, where the Spirit Energy was densest and growing in abundance.
"Lilith, come over here for a second," Leon suddenly called out to Lilith before she turned to face him with brows wrinkled in confusion and tears in the corners of her eyes.
"What is it?" She asked.
Leon held Lilith's hand before he took out one of his levitation rings and slotted it into her index finger, causing Lilith's heart to thump slightly with surprise, "What is this about?"
"You'll see in a moment."
With a casual look, Leon proceeded to take out one of his anti-suppression pendant devices as well before he put it on Lilith for her.
"You've been practicing Divine Cultivation, so you should know how to manipulate Spirit Energy by now. Try channeling some Spirit Energy into the pendant, then channel some Spirit Energy into the ring after," Leon instructed.
"Ahh!"
Lilith exclaimed with surprise when her body suddenly floated in midair after she followed Leon's instruction.
"I-I'm flying!" Lilith cried with pleasant surprise.
"Yes, but not quite." Leon floated close to Lilith and nodded before he explained, "You are only levitating, but you can control the altitude with the levitation ring. You still need an impetus to help you fly…"
"With only one wing, you have always had trouble with your balance and flight coordination. But with the assistance of the levitation ring, you should be able to fly on your own now…"
As Leon was explaining to Lilith, Aria has hopped on her ice-lightning sword and flew over.
Only Duna remained on Soft Feather's back, cultivating in a state of deep focus while Soft Feather continued to fly ahead with a sulking expression.
However, doubt suddenly sprouted in her heart, "Why did it suddenly get lighter?"
"Huh? Why is there only one left? Where did the others go?" Soft Feather exclaimed before she quickly glanced down towards the surface, thinking out loud, "Did I accidentally drop them?"
Eventually, Soft Feather heaved a sigh after spotting the three people in the sky some distance away before flying back to them.
"Awroof?" Silver came to a sudden stop after sensing Leon's scent growing fainter before it glanced back and waited.
Meanwhile, Aria shortly arrived beside Leon before she softly whispered into his ear with a slight pout, "Being too nice to girls is not a good thing, you know?
"Is that vinegar I smell?" Leon smiled slightly, sensing Aria's jealousy before he said wryly, "I am just trying to cheer her up a bit. She was too depressed."
"That little 'cheering' might just cause her to fall for you if you are not careful. What are you going to do if that happens? Will you accept her feelings or reject them? Knowing you, you will probably accept them!" Aria pouted.
You're just overthinking. That won't happen, Aria." Leon smiled lightly before pinching Aria's puffed cheeks, "Why would you think that of me?"
"Well, can you name at least one woman that you are close to but not your lover?"
"Of course, I ca—" Leon suddenly paused without any further words to retort her claim.
Aria threw him a dirty look before Leon chuckled ruefully while scratching his cheeks with an embarrassed look, "It seems there isn't any…"
"Hmph." Aria gave a soft snort.
…
While Leon and Aria were interacting with each other, Lilith took the chance to sprout her wing and began to test her flight.
"Uwaaa!" Lilith exclaimed with joy.
After regaining her lost feeling of freedom in the sky, she was in an exuberant mood as she flapped her black wing and shuffled through the air, adapting to her new form of flight.
"This is… amazing!"
Being born for the sky, Lilith's movement quickly began less awkward and more graceful and swift at a noticeable rate.
Lilith quickly mastered one-winged flight within a short time as her singular black grew larger to adjust to her mastery and increasing speed.
Sometime later, Lilith flew back to Leon's side.
"Leon! Mwah!" She quickly expressed her joy with a soft peck on Leon's cheeks before asking excitedly, "What's the function of this pendant?"
"Haven't you noticed that we are quite high in altitude?" Leon asked.
Perhaps because he was affected by Lilith's joyful mood or simply feeling happy for her, he began to explain with a warm smile, "That pendant helps remove the sky's suppressive force and allow you to fly much higher than ever before—But to a certain extent, of course."
"Really?!" Lilith's eyes widened in surprise and realization.
Swoosh~!
Without waiting for Leon's response, Lilith immediately shot higher into the skies, reaching the clouds shortly.
Leon's head was raised, following Lilith's trail with his gaze—even seeing her panty flash from below, before he felt Aria's gaze on him.
"Did you see what I mean?" Aria said with a slightly disgruntled look.
Knowing what she was talking about, Leon rubbed his cheeks before he explained with a wry smile, "She was just expressing her gratitude… Ahem, don't overthink it…"
"Yeah, right. Do you think anyone will just give you a smooch on the cheeks if there isn't any trace of love hidden within her heart?" Aria rolled eyes before she sighed, "Seems like I need to prepare to accept another sister."
"I don't know about that, but it seems like someone has been a little grouchy." Leon wrapped his arms around Aria's body from behind and nibbled on her ear, "Perhaps, I haven't been giving you enough of my affection?"
Feeling Leon's warm breath on her ears, Aria's face quickly flushed with embarrassment.
The open display of intimacy made her further embarrassed as she spoke shyly in a soft tone, "There are people around…"
"Hm?" Leon noticed the subtle implication in her message before he smiled mischievously and whispered softly, "Then we will continue when no one is around."
Aria's face flushed deeper before parting from Leon's hold, but she did not object and even tacitly agreed with a silent nod.
At the same time, Leon silently thought in his mind, 'I already missed the last opportunity. I can't miss this one too.'
Lust aside, Leon wondered how much Aria will benefit from their next intimate session now that his body has been remolded by True Grandmist Energy.
Swoosh~!
"Uwaa! Leon, I love it! These tools are amazing!" Lilith returned with a rarely seen joyful look that Leon had not seen since they met.
Mwah! Mwah!
Lilith gave Leon a few more pecks on each cheek before she parted from Leon and asked expectantly, "Can I keep these two items?"
"Of course. The anti-suppression pendant and levitation ring are my gifts to you. Keep it by all means. I still have a few more," Leon said casually.
If he had worked on his phrasing a bit, it would have been a nail in the coffin.
Nevertheless, Lilith's eyes brightened before she wanted to give Leon a few more pecks to share her joy.
"Ahem!" Aria faked a cough loudly.
Lilith's exuberant mood was cooled before she glanced over to Aria. She realized what she had done before her expression turned awkward.
"Oh, sorry. Something was caught in my throat. Was I interrupting something?" Aria said with a dumb look.
Leon was a little speechless.
Aria's jealousy could not be any more obvious, causing Leon to smile at this cute side of her. But before Leon could tease her, Silver's howl immediately alerted everyone.
"Awroo!"
Swoosh~!
Leon quickly shot over to the Transcendent-level silver wolf's side.
Aria and Lilith followed not too far behind while Soft Feather descended at the sound of trouble with Duna on her back.
"Silver, what wrong?" Leon asked before Silver whimpered with its legs caught in red vines, unable to break free.
"Awroo!" Silver struggled.
But the more the Transcendent-level silver wolf resisted inside the blood vines, the tighter it coiled around the silver wolf's limbs and tails, binding it to the ground.
Leon frowned.
The Tier 4 Bone Spear quickly flashed in his hand before he hacked at the blood vines—only for it to bounce back before the blood vine shifted its aggression to Leon, immediately coiling around him.
"Leon!" Aria cried.
She immediately conjured a few ice-lightning swords while Lilith revealed her claw-like sharp nails in preparation to free Leon.
However, Leon raised a hand against the bloody vine's constraints and stopped them, "Don't attack just yet. These bloody vines are pretty strange and fascinating. Let me investigate a bit."
The bloody vine's resilience drew his curiosity.
After instructing the silver wolf to stop resisting, Leon observed the surrounding bloody vines that seemed to have grown out from the blood-soaked soil littered with mutant rat carcasses.
Aria and Lilith pegged their noses from the putrid stench in the area while Leon muttered with interest, "How peculiar…"
Chapter 589 - Skysilver Tribe's Ruins
"Try not to breathe too much around here. Rodents are the carriers of diseases and plagues, let alone after being mutated and infected with Wrathful Demonic Energy," Leon warned the ladies.
Soft Feather's large body landed on a patch of bloody vines and mutant rat carcasses before her frigid mist spread out and frozen the area, foul air and decaying corpses alike.
"If we don't breathe, then are you asking us to suffocate to death?" Soft Feather threw Leon a questioning glance.
Leon raised an eyebrow before he responded, "...Or you can just leave the area?"
"Ughk..." Soft Feather was immediately stunned, speechless. Why didn't she think of that?
Leon studied the bloody vines with interest, but then he suddenly noticed that the bloody vines did not try to ensnare Soft Feather.
The frigid cold spread to the silver wolf's area before the bloody vines became rigid.
Crack!
The bloody vines coiling around Silver were shattered like glass from a slight movement, freeing the silver wolf from its bindings.
"Awroo!" Silver howled excitedly.
The Transcendent-level silver wolf began prancing around on each patch of frozen bloody vines and shattering them all into pieces for revenge.
Seeing this situation, Leon quickly lost interest in the bloody vines.
The power of Nihility spread out from Leon and reduced his bloody vine bindings into energy particles before he absorbed them into his body.
"Weren't you interested in studying these bloody vines, Leon?" Aria asked with a curious look.
"I did." Leon smiled lightly before saying, "These bloody vines have some incredible resilience to resist my attack. But if it has such a fatal weakness against the cold, it will not be very useful to us."
"That being said, I should collect some samples to study. Perhaps, there will be some other usage for it."
Recalling that the entire elven tribe mainly used vines as their primary weapon, Leon decided to grab a bit more samples before storing them neatly in the Worldspace.
Meanwhile, Soft Feather's pupil shrank from Leon's display of power, unable to comprehend what kind of ability he just used.
But the fact that Leon could convert the bloody vines into absorbable energy left her shell-shocked.
Recalling her mother's words, Soft Feather had no choice but to admit that human was not simple.
After Leon finished collecting his samples, he turned to Soft Feather and said, "Let us continue on our journey."
"Well, hop on then." Soft Feather responded with a grudging tone that was evidently less resistant than before.
Shortly after Aria fly onto Soft Feather's back, Leon noticed that Lilith remained unmoving, seemingly lost in thought.
Leon snapped his fingers in front of her face to catch her attention before he asked, "What's up? What are you thinking about in a daze?"
Lilith did not respond immediately but glanced at the mutant rat carcasses littered like mountains in the surroundings with few beasts of different species buried underneath without an intact body.
"The Skysilver Tribe is not far from here, yet the scene is like this… Makes me wonder how my family is doing…" Lilith said with knitted brows.
"Worry about it now won't do you any good. We will know the situation once we get there. You can worry then." Leon thought for a moment before he added, "How far is the Desolate Crow Clan from the Skysilver Tribe?"
"It's about a 600 miles stretch west from the Skysilver Tribe to reach the borders of the Desolate Crow Clan's territory and another 700 miles after that before we can arrive at the main tribe."
After listening to Lilith, Leon was quick to raise an eyebrow in response, "You've run quite a distance away from home there, missy."
"Why did you run away from home in the first place?" Leon could not help but ask with his curiosity piqued.
Lilith pouted slightly before saying, "Well, I guess there is no point hiding this matter from you. I was simply running away from an arranged marriage set by my parents."
"Oh?" Leon's curiosity increased.
Nevertheless, he hopped onto Soft Feather's back before he said, "Let us talk while we are on the move."
"Alright." Lilith nodded.
Shortly after Leon instructed the silver wolf to keep up, Soft Feather took off with everyone on her back and resumed the journey.
"I thought you were a little princess or something within the Desolate Crow Clan. Why would your parents force you into an arranged marriage?" Aria stole the words from Leon's mouth and cast Lilith a curious glance while squeezing in between them.
Leon smiled wryly.
"The Desolate Crow Clan is considered a Mid-rank tribe in the Wildlands, but it lives under the sovereignty of a High-rank tribe, the Desolate Netherbird Tribe, along with three other clans."
"Lilith issued a sigh before she added, "This is why we are called the Desolate Crow Clan and not the Desolate Crow Tribe."
"A High-rank tribe would mean that there's at least an Early-stage Paragon as its ruler, right?" Leon inserted with a curious look before adding, "Why don't you want to marry into such a powerful ruling family?"
"Are you kidding me? Do you think I am such a vain woman?" Lilith rolled her eyes angrily at Leon.
Shortly after, she added, "I've only met the Desolate Netherbird Tribe's Second Prince once, yet was enamored and asked for my hand in marriage. Do you think I will be happy living with such a person?"
"But for you to leave so irresponsibly on your own with such marriage contract with the Desolate Netherbird Tribe's royal family in place…" Aria frowned before asking, "Wouldn't it cause trouble for your family?"
Lilith was stunned.
"Seeing that look on your face, I guess you did not think about the consequences your actions could bring them." Aria shook her head with disappointment.
"I…" Lilith's body trembled, but she had no words to retort. It is exactly as Aria had said.
Suddenly, Leon noticed the big hill up ahead, filled with mountains of corpses and ruined primitive structure, before he asked, "Is that the Skysilver Tribe up ahead?"
"Yeah, that's the Skysilver Tribe alright—or at least what's left of it anyway," Lilith confirmed after a take a quick glance at the view ahead.
"I see.. Let us make a quick stop and see if we can find anything useful."
Chapter 590 - Serpent-kin Beast
Leon patted Soft Feather's head lightly before making his request politely, "Please take us down to the Skysilver Tribe's ruins, Miss Soft Feather."
"Okay."
Soft Feather shortly descended without complaint.
Leon was slightly surprised before he smiled lightly, thinking that it was possible to get along with Soft Feather as long as he speaks nicely to her.
'Is this what is meant by the proverb; one should not punch a smiling face?' Leon thought.
After Soft Feather landed on a moderately flat piece of land within the Skysilver Tribe, the three-tailed silver wolf was already waiting for them.
Leon glanced at Silver for a moment before asking, "Does this place seem familiar to you, Silver?"
"Awroof?" the three-tailed silver wolf tilted its head in response.
"Never mind. I suppose not." Leon smiled slightly, thinking that it was too early for Silver to recall anything.
But it could also be that the three-tailed silver wolf's memory and intelligence were truly permanently impaired for good.
"This is the Skysilver Tribe? I smell reeks terribly here." Aria furrowed her brows in disgust from the revolting smell that assailed her senses.
The entire tribe was heavily concentrated with carcasses that formed multiple tall walls on the outer rings, while blood soaked the region, and not a single structure was left intact.
The pungent stench of blood and rotting flesh was enough to make anyone nauseous—and even spew for the weak stomachs.
Ice-lightning power quickly surged out from Aria's body before she chilled her surroundings and blew away the foul smell from the area.
Swoosh~!
"Be careful. There's still something alive in this tribe," Leon warned at the faintest sense of sudden movements.
He immediately swept out with his divine sense.
Before Leon could locate the creature, a serpent beast with a human upper body exposed itself from a mountain of smelly corpses some distance away.
Hiss!
The serpent-kin beast hissed at Leon's group, crimson-eyed, and a bloody bone spear in hand. It greatly resembled one of the top beast races within the Divine Realm.
"Is that a Naga?" Aria muttered with surprise.
"Nagas are naturally born half-serpent half-human creatures and not a product from interracial breeding…" Leon shook his head after a quick glance at the berserk serpent-kin beast before he said, "But this one should have been born from a human and serpent…"
"Huh?" Aria was quickly startled before she muttered in shock, "How is it even possible for humans and serpents to mate?"
"If the serpent's ancestors were once Divine Beasts, then it should be very possible after their human transformation. But that doesn't seem like the case here…" Leon spoke before muttering, "So it can only be the other possibility…"
"What is the other possibility?" Lilith asked with curiosity.
"Huh? Didn't you grow up in the Wildlands?" Aria asked her before she continued, "How is it possible that you don't know about the origins of these types of serpent-kin beasts?"
"I wasn't interested in learning how a snake and human mated, okay? How am I supposed to know if I never learned about it?" Lilith retorted.
"Oh…" Aria nodded before she smiled slyly, "You weren't interested then, so why are you interested now?"
"I… uh…" Lilith was struck speechless. How was she supposed to answer that?!
"Did the cat caught your tongue?" Aria chuckled softly before pressing Leon to continue, "What is the other possibility?"
As she was asking, the serpent-kin lunged at the group with its bloody bone spear.
Leon casually stomped the ground, launching several rocks and pebbles into the air before he kicked at a fist-sized rock with Divine Will.
Bang!
The rock slammed into the berserk serpent-kin beast's chest and catapulted it some distance away.
After removing the distraction, Leon cleared his throat with a cough, "Ahem, the other possibility is... Well, simply put; if there's a hole, there's a way."
"That's gross, Leon!" Aria and Lilith cried.
They did not understand how the procreation process would work even if that was the case, but that no longer mattered. They did not want to know.
At the same time, Soft Feather glanced down at Leon with her big head before asking, "Are you speaking from experience?"
"You disgust me, Leon. I am very disappointed in you." Duna's voice also trickled into Leon's ears from Soft Feather's back.
Leon stood frozen like a block of wood, stunned and speechless for a moment before he quickly cried, "Now hold on a minute! I haven't done such a thing before! I just know about these things, alright?!"
"Uh-huh..." Aria uttered with an unconvinced look while Lilith showed a similar expression.
"Aria... You don't believe me?" Leon glanced at Aria with wide eyes and said, "I thought you would always be on my side..."
"I am on your side in many things." Aria shook her head before stating, "But not for something like this…"
"You know his strike zone is very extensive when he is even sexually attracted to a vengeful spirit like me, who is not even a living being..." Duna fanned the flames while peeking over from the edge of Soft Feather's back.
"I didn't know you were such a person, Leon. This is so shocking..." Lilith commented with a shaken look.
While her mind was disturbed by the shocking revelations, Leon felt great dismay by the false accusations.
The serpent-kin beast had unknowingly crept back for revenge before it tragically became Leon's target for relieving his frustration.
"Piss off!"
Leon kicked the serpent-kin beast so hard that it exploded on a sturdy wall and died without an intact body before he gazed back at the ladies and said, "Y'all ganging on me."
Duna and Aria glanced at each other before they broke into smiles with giggles from Aria. Their expression quickly froze in the next moment before facing away from each other with a 'humph.'
Lilith shifted her gaze between each party involved with a confused expression before she expressed her doubt, "Wait, are you all just messing around? Leon is actually not like 'that,' right?"
"Who knows?" Duna answered vaguely with a smile.
"Haiz..." Leon issued a long sigh before he said, "Alright, that's enough. Jokes aside, let us take a quick look and be on our way."
That being said, Leon's gaze was drawn to the blood pool that was revealed under the mountain of corpses the serpent-kin beast crawled out from earlier.
Chapter 591 - Commencing Blood Refinement
At the edge of the blood pool, Leon quickly noticed a large patch of earth had been hollowed out by the concentration of beast blood, while other areas showed signs of the blood melting their way into the ground.
"Did the vicious beast blood absorb Wrathful Demonic Energies in the surrounding, hence gaining a corrosive, high temperature that allows it to melt the earth?" Leon muttered to himself.
Shortly after, his eyes flickered, "The blood should be around two days old at least, but it did not dry up. The blood essence and vital energy has been preserved... is this due to the Wrathful Demonic Energy?"
As Leon arrived at this conclusion, the firmer he felt it was likely the case.
Aria arrived beside Leon and peeked into the blood pool below with curiosity before she asked, "Is there something interesting about this blood pool?"
"I wouldn't say interesting... but it does make a good source of cultivation resource for Blood Cultivators," Leon replied with a thoughtful look.
"Oh?" Lilith frowned at the term 'Blood Cultivator' before she queried, "Isn't this blood pool contaminated in foul energy, though? Even if a Blood Cultivator can make use of this blood pool for Blood Cultivation, the person will only go berserk during the process."
"That's true. A normal cultivator will indeed get stumped by such a problem." Leon nodded before saying with an expression that exuded confidence, "But am I a normal cultivator?"
"Less boasting." Lilith rolled her eyes before she frowned, "You've become a Blood Cultivator? Even if you have, I won't let you cultivator in this blood pool. It's too dangerous for both you and the rest of us."
"Not yet, but I will be. You need not worry about this. I know what I am doing," Leon said calmly before gazing over to Duna.
Duna noticed his gaze and glanced back in response, "What is it?"
"All this blood doesn't arouse your bloodthirst?" Leon asked with wonder, thinking it was strange that Duna appeared utterly unaffected.
"I've already had my fill earlier." Duna licked her lips before she suddenly added with a solemn look, "Besides, I am not interested in some filthy mixture of various beast blood."
"If you don't drink beast blood, then are you planning to only drink my blood?" Leon furrowed his brows slightly.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Your blood is of much higher quality than some beast blood and also cleaner as well." Duna nodded with approval of the idea before saying, "You can refine the beast blood while I suck from you after."
"Oh, not a bad idea indeed. I wouldn't mind letting you suck me," Leon smiled slyly with hidden connotations.
However, he quickly received dirty looks from all the ladies, Soft Feather included.
Duna glanced at the other ladies and lazily said, "Don't mind him. He is just a horny dog who can only think with his lower body."
"Ahem." Leon coughed awkwardly, realizing they had all understood his meaning before changing the topic, "Please watch over me while I absorb the vital essence in this blood pool."
"Mm." Aria nodded compliantly.
Lilith knitted her brows and quickly sought Aria's help in persuading Leon otherwise, "Aren't you going to stop him, Miss Aria?"
"Not at all. I have complete faith in him," Aria calmly said.
She glanced at the Soft Feather and Duna, but neither of them seemed to show concern either, making her worries feel misplaced.
"There's something wrong with all of you..." Lilith muttered softly.
Shortly after, Leon undressed his top and revealed his bare upper body, taut with well-defined muscles.
Lilith gasped.
She quickly covered her eyes with her hands in embarrassment, but she could not help but peek in between the gaps of her fingers.
Suddenly, Aria's face filled her vision before the person spoke, "Oh? What do we have here? A naughty little peeker, eh?"
"If you are going to just look, just look. No need to hide your face, only to peek." Aria added with a sly smile.
"Ahaha..." Lilith gave a forced laugh after being caught and called out, "Maybe I will do just that..."
Soon, Aria turned to Leon and took the clothes from his hand, "Let me hold onto these for you, Leon."
"Alright." Leon smiled warmly.
After he closed his eyes and reviewed the details of the Everlasting Blood Mantra in his mind, he reopened his eyes and hopped straight into the blood pool.
Plop!
The blood splashed upon his entry before Leon felt the scorching heat from the blood pool. The corrosiveness pricked his skin but failed to break his defense.
Within moments, Leon entered a meditative state of focus and concentrated on refining the blood.
"According to the Everlasting Blood Mantra, the word 'Everlasting' has two meanings. The first being that which is eternal; becoming undying through blood."
Leon began musing in his mind, "The second is to everlasting in battle, not knowing tire and exhaustion through blood."
At the highest level of the Everlasting Blood Mantra, it is said that even if the body is destroyed, the person can still generate his entire body as long as a single drop of blood remained.
"If I practice the divine skill of the Everlasting Blood Mantra, I can absorb blood essence from my fallen enemies to replenish my stamina and strength, and continue fighting until I am the last one standing..."
As Leon began his blood refinement, Aria folded Leon's clothes before turning to Lilith, "You know, I am quite surprised by your patience. I thought you would be urging us to reach your clan sooner rather than later."
"I'm not very patient. It's just that I am not really in any position to rush you all when you are all nice enough to accompany me already," Lilith smiled ruefully and added, "I'm not that selfish, and I don't have the right to be when I was the one to leave home in the first place."
"I see." Aria uttered while studying Lilith's expression before she stated, "Well, it seems that you have cheered up from the other matter at least."
After Aria said this, Lilith subconsciously traced her ring and pendant with a smile, "Yeah...."
Chapter 592 - Reaching Early-Success Stage
Inside the blood pool, the scorching hot blood began swirling around like a whirlpool with Leon at its center.
'According to the Everlasting Blood Mantra, each beast have their own unique source code hidden within their blood essence that makes their blood differ from other beast blood. Bloodline inheritance also stems from this so-called source code referred to as Origin Blood.'
As Leon mused silently in the blood pool, the blood essence churned and gathered to the tips of his fingers in a spherical motion, forming a round drop of blood that gradually reduces in size over time.
'Luckily, I don't need to understand nor learn how to read the source code of each beast blood essence I refine. By following the Everlasting Blood Mantra's unique blood refinement, the Origin Blood will reveal itself—or so it says.'
Leon glanced at the drop of sparkling blood essence, exuding a heavily concentrated amount of lifeforce within.
At the same time, the Wrathful Demonic Energies contaminating the accumulated blood essence were quickly filtered with Divine Will and converted by Nihility Law.
'By fusing each Origin Blood with my own blood, I can gain the unique qualities of the said beast blood and break away from human limitations. The more Origin Blood fused, the higher the quality of my blood becomes…'
Shortly after, Leon sliced his own wrist open before inserting the refined drop of Origin Blood belonging to the Wingrats into his bloodstream.
Following the next step, True Grandmist Energy quickly rushed over to assist the fusion of the Wingrat's Origin Blood with his blood source.
Within moments, the spherical drop of Origin Blood quickly dissipated, becoming one with his blood, under the guidance and transformation of True Grandmist Energy.
Leon immediately noticed the changes to his blood, feeling the increasing density, lifespan, and slight power. Even his leaping strength seemed to have increased ever slightly.
Overall, there were improvements but not a significant amount.
"As I would expect, the Wingrat's Origin Blood is too inferior, granting me little improvements. Nevertheless, I have achieved initial success in the Everlasting Blood Mantra," Leon muttered after inspecting his body.
"Now that the Wingrat's Origin Blood has been fused with me, any additional Origin Blood from the Wingrats will grant zero improvements..."
That being said, additional Origin Blood will transform into raw energy that replenishes stamina.
Shortly after, Leon's eyes shifted back on the blood pool with almost no changes and eyed the other beast blood mixed within.
"One type of Origin Blood fused is preliminary success while ten types of Origin Blood fused will be achieving early success stage in the technique..."
Leon's eyes flickered before muttering, "I should not waste this opportunity to absorb all the different types of existing beast blood in this blood pool."
Getting started in the Everlasting Blood Mantra was easy, but mastering it was another story entirely.
If he wanted to master the Everlasting Blood Mantra's first stage, he would need the Origin Blood of 10 thousand different species!
"Haiz, I don't even want to think about the requirements for the latter stages of this technique..." Leon shook his head helplessly before focusing on refining the remaining Origin Blood.
Time slowly flew by.
Aria watched Leon diligently cultivate inside the blood pool as it quickly reduced in blood over time.
Swoosh~!
Soft Feather flapped her wings in boredom, throwing a slight tantrum, "How long are we planning to wait here? I'm so bored~!"
"It's only been ten minutes. Can't you have a little bit of patience? You don't need to stay here and keep guard if you are that bored. I, alone, am enough here," Aria stated calmly.
Shortly after, she suggested, "Why don't you go and scavenge the Skysilver Tribe's ruins for something useful or fun to play with?"
"Hmm, not a bad idea. I will do just that. Thank you for the suggestion." Soft Feather quickly took off to take a look around without further notice.
Duna was carried away on Soft Feather's back, but she was
Aria shifted her gaze on Lilith before she said, "You can go look around too if you want. This area should be relatively safe for now. I don't think there will be any more beasts lurking around for now—but even if there are, I will be able to deal with it."
"Hmm…" Lilith's eyes lingered on Leon's figure inside of the blood pool below for a long before she nodded, "Alright. I will go take a long around too."
Shortly after Lilith left, Aria glanced at Leon for a moment before she began to contemplate the next course of her training.
'It's a pity that there aren't any ice-lightning regions that I am aware of that can assist me with my cultivation…' Aria pondered with knitted brows.
If she did not want to fall behind on cultivation, she would need to look for freezing and lightning regions to meditate on the Ice Law and Lightning Law separately.
'My Lightning Law recently made a large advancement… if I don't want my cultivation to become unstable, I will need to advance my Ice Law's understanding next to balance the Laws…' Aria mused before wondering where she could find such a place.
Suddenly, Aria glance back in the direction that Soft Feather had left before she wore a thoughtful expression, 'The Blue Luan Tribe should be situated in a cold region… but I can only inquire after Soft Feather returns...'
Sometime later, Leon completely fusing his tenth Origin Blood before his eyes snapped open, feeling invigorated and refreshed.
"Seems like reaching the Early-success stage has increased my lifespan by a hundred years…" Leon muttered while clenching his fist and feeling the power coursing through his veins.
Shortly after, he sliced his wrist again before his eyes narrowed on his wound, watching it regenerate itself without the aid of medicine or energy with curative properties.
"Looks like my body can recover from fleshly wounds on its own now. That's good." Leon beamed at his progress before hopping out of the half-depleted blood pool.
"Ahh!" Aria exclaimed with a blush while covering her eyes with one hand and offering Leon's upper clothes with the other, "Here! Quickly wear something!"
"Hm?"
Leon felt a little tingly in his lower region before realizing his pants had been lost to the corrosive blood pool.
Nevertheless, a man should show confidence in this regard and not embarrassment.
"What's wrong, Aria? It's not like it's the first time you've seen it.." Leon grinned.
Chapter 593 - Aria's First Experience
"Hmph, I'm not being embarrassed for myself. I'm embarrassed that you might be seen by the others," Aria responded with a pout while her hand continued to cover her eyes.
Leon's grin grew wider.
He suddenly tugged her hand away before wrapping his other hand around her waist and pulled her in to face him up close.
"Why do you need to cover your eyes then?" Leon questioned her with a smile.
"Stop it." Aria faced away from Leon's gaze with a deep flush while feeling his warm breath on her neck before saying, "The others were to explore the tribe, but there's no telling when they will be back."
"Oh? Then we better move to somewhere more private, shouldn't we?" Leon smiled before lifting Aria's chin for a kiss.
"Mmf—"
Aria was about to protest, but her lips were sealed.
Shortly after, she felt something hard rubbed against her nether region before her body trembled with extra sensitiveness, turning her knees soft, and the last trace of her little resistance quickly disappeared.
She leaned against Leon's chest after their lips parted before she asked quietly in a soft tone, "But where can we find a private place here?"
"You'll see. There's a place I want to show you." Leon smiled with his arms wrapped around Aria before he took the both of them into the Worldspace with a single thought.
The change in scenery quickly startled Aria.
She glanced around with wide eyes before they flickered with a sudden realization, "Is this the inner world that exists inside of the Divine Book of Life?"
"Yeah…" Leon nodded before he said, "As I thought, you are also aware of the Divine Book of Life."
Considering Aria inherited the memories and experiences of Aria White, it did not come as a surprise to Leon that Aria would know about the divine treasure.
After all, the whole world learned about it before the Divine Medicine King was schemed against by the other Divine Kings lusting for the treasure.
"Mm, I learned about it, but I still didn't expect for it to have crossed over into this world with you…" Aria responded before she pulled Leon's hand while leaning, falling back onto the grassy ground with Leon on top.
She gazed at Leon with affectionate eyes, feeling the warmth of Leon's trust by revealing such a big secret to her.
Knowing why the two of them entered the Worldspace, Aria took the initiative to wrap her arms around Leon's neck and pull him close before she whispered with a beating heart, "I want you to spoil me."
"Of course, my love," Leon lowered his head and kissed Aria's supple lips while lowering his hands to undress her clothes before tossing them aside.
"Ahh~!'
Aria gasped tightly while hugging Leon's neck as he made his way down her body with his slivery tongue, from her lips to her neck, from her neck to her twin rabbits.
Very shortly, Leon reached her flowery garden, oozing with love nectar and ever ready to welcome him in, but he refrained from jumping the gun immediately.
Instead, he teased the honey pot and nippled on the cute twin peaks, causing Aria's eyelashes to flutter to heightened anticipation, not knowing when the main assault will begin.
Her breathing became haggard from quickened heartbeat, and her face flushed with shyness despite her experience and familiarity with Leon.
"Mmm~!" Aria gave an erotic cry from the sudden surge of pleasure assaulting her.
She gripped her arms around Leon tightly and dug her nails into his back as he rammed his bulging rod into her cave of wonders, connecting their hearts and body as one.
Waves of delight and bliss sent them to the highest clouds of heaven and to the lowest depths of carnal pleasure as Leon thrust his raging dragon with quickened tempo.
"Ahhh~!"
Throughout the Worldspace, nothing was heard except Aria's tender moans of euphoria pain before her body trembled from the climax and slump with softness like jelly.
Nevertheless, she would not be satisfied with round and immediately tug Leon's neck and assertively demanded, "I want to try whatever it is that you've done with Duna."
Leon glanced into Aria's eyes with surprise before her courage quickly deflated with averted eyes and a whispered soft tone, "Is that a no?"
"Of course not!" Leon chuckled before he spoke with a gentle gaze, "I will happily oblige if it is your wish, Aria. Close your eyes, and relax your body."
Shortly after, Leon entered Aria's spiritual world with Soul Dive before he quickly discovered Aria wandering around her spiritual world like a curious rabbit, having experienced it for the first time.
After sneaking up close, he immediately pounced on her like a big bad wolf, frightening the little rabbit with alarm.
"Ahh!—Mmm~!" Aria's startled cry quickly turned to blissful moans as Leon gave her a taste of heaven while mounting her from behind and fondling her supple twin mounds of goodness.
He kissed her back and worked his way to her neck, then her ears as they quickly glowed with crimson redness from shyness.
"Mm~! Wait! Why does this feel so much—better~!" Aria failed to endure the waves of pleasure, giving a drawn-out moan of delight.
With several rounds, Aria was quick to plead for Leon's leniency.
"This was what you wished for." Leon smiled before adding, "Isn't it a shame if we don't enjoy ourselves to the fullest, especially when it's a rare chance for us to have some private time together?"
"I know… but this is too much. Give me a break for one—moment~!" Aria mumbled before getting taken by surprise by another one of Leon's sudden thrust, causing her body to shiver with delight.
The two battled for another couple of rounds before Aria collapsed weakly on top of Leon's chest, sweaty with a pinkish flush and a content smile.
Nevertheless, she still found the extra strength to pound his chest with a complaint, "Did I ask to give me a break?"
"But it was great, right?" Leon chuckled slightly, causing Aria to pout before he added, "Don't worry. You'll be lively again once we leave."
"Mm, if you say so." Aria nestled on Leon's chest before she suddenly shot up, "Oh, no! What if the others left elsewhere to look after failing to find us?"
"Don't worry, time in the spiritual world flows differently to the outside world. That's being said, we should return before we worry the others," Leon stated calmly as he rustled Aria's hair.
"Mm.." Aria nodded.
Chapter 594 - The Fissure
Shortly after returning to the Worldspace, Leon and Aria were quickly dressed before Leon took them back outside.
Very quickly, Leon noticed Soft Feather was already waiting for them, and one her back, Duna eyed them with a mischievous smile, "I wonder where the two of you have been, hm hm?"
"You know where." Leon scratched his cheeks wryly.
Duna wore an expression that says she saw through everything, but at the same time, Leon vaguely sensed some jealousy in her gaze.
"Where, where? I don't know." Soft Feather asked curiously.
Leon threw Soft Feather a glance and coolly said, "You don't need to know that," causing the Blue Luan's mood to quickly plummet with a sulking expression.
"Hmph!" Soft Feather snorted and spat with puffed cheeks, "Wasn't interested anyway."
Shortly after, Leon glanced around for a moment before he asked, "Where's Lilith? Is she not back yet?"
"I guess not? We weren't together. Maybe she will come back soon enough if we just wait a bit longer." Duna responded nonchalantly.
"I see." Leon nodded before he inquired, "I heard you all weren't to look around. Did you find anything interesting?"
Duna did not answer.
Instead, she shifted her gaze to Soft Feather before the Blue Luan spat with disdain, "A Low-rank tribe can't possibly have anything interesting of value in this backward place. If you want to find rare treasures, you have at least look in the mainland's region."
"Oh?" Leon immediately turned to Soft Feather with interest before requesting, "Care to elaborate, Miss Soft Feather? What is different about the mainland?"
"The mainland is on a far higher ground than you can possibly imagine." Soft Feather immediately strutted with a haughty look as she continued, "It's not a place that humans can survive. The strong suppressive force would crush you all to death—"
Suddenly, Soft Feather paused as she glanced at Leon before she said, "Well, you might be an exception to that. But other humans will die without a doubt with those weak bodies of theirs."
"However, the mainland's harsh environment—"
"—The harsh environment also gives birth to exotic plants and oddities that can only survive—or is strong enough to survive in such a harsh environment, right?" Leon interrupted.
Soft Feather stamped her feet in annoyance due to Leon stealing the words right out of her mouth.
Even so, she still grudgingly nodded, "That's right. It's a place for the strong, and that includes plants, among others things as well. Basically, the quality of things is much higher there than out here."
"Makes sense." Leon nodded in agreement.
Swoosh~!
Suddenly, Lilith's figure flew over with her single feathered black wing before she hollered, "Leon, I found something strange! You should come and take a look."
Leon raised an eyebrow, noticing a bit faint trace of redness in Lilith's eyes before he urged her, "Come over here quickly for a second."
"Hm? What is it?" Lilith asked as she made her over as Leon requested.
Leon patted her head before he extracted a string of Wrath Demonic Energies from her body—much to her alarm.
"Is that—?"
"Yeah, it's Wrathful Demonic Energy that infiltrated your body. You need to be more careful next time. You wouldn't be this lucky if I wasn't around to notice it quickly," Leon warned her before saying, "Show me what you found."
"R-Right…" Lilith nodded, thinking she owed Leon another for saving her once again. She shook her head shortly before saying, "Follow me."
"Alright." Leon nodded before suggesting to the others, "Let us all head over together to see what Lilith discovered."
"Mm."
The group quickly reached a consensus.
Sometime later, the group left the vicinity of the Skysilver Tribe's ruins under Lilith's lead and headed deeper west before they stopped some distance away from a large crack in the ground.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Lilith pointed at the long fissure with visible red mist oozing out of its opening.
"Some much Wrathful Demonic Energy is coming out from this opening… There must be a power source located somewhere nearby." Leon frowned with narrowed eyes before warning the others, "All of you should back off a bit."
Shortly after, Leon stepped forward reached out with his hands.
Swoosh~!
The billowing clouds of red mist were quickly sucked towards the tips of Leon's hands like a cyclone before he clenched his fist and refined everything inside his Black Vortex Space.
Remnant traces of unabsorbed Wrathful Demonic Energy were dispersed by the power of Nihility as they scattered from his clenched fist.
"Aria." Leon suddenly called.
Swoosh~!
Not many words were needed to be spoken between him and Aria as she quickly understood his intention.
She flew forward and sealed the fissure with her Ice Law, preventing further red mist before escaping before landing beside Leon.
Leon smiled and gave her head a rub.
Shortly after, he shifted his gaze onto the frozen fissure with a thoughtful look.
"Since we discovered this thing here, I should go destroy the Energy Conversion Tower hidden below…" Leon muttered before turning to Lilith, "Will you mind if our trip to the Desolate Crow Clan is delayed slightly further?"
"I do want to return home sooner, but this doesn't seem like a problem we should ignore…" Lilith shifted her gaze to blood-soaked fields littered with the rotting fleshes of corpses all around them.
The beautiful lush green plains of the Wildlands had been transformed into a bloody wasteland.
"Do what you need to do, Leon," stated Lilith.
Leon nodded before Aria gazed into his eyes with a request, "Let me come with you."
"I can agree if it was anything else, but not this. You don't have an effective means of resisting the Wrathful Demonic Energy. Just leave this one to me, okay?" Leon dissuaded with a gentle tone.
Aria immediately knitted her brows before she ultimately nodded, albeit unwillingly.
"What about me?" Duna stood up with a nonchalant look, but she was readying to seek some thrills in the subterranean world and relieve her boredom.
Nevertheless, Leon shook his head and denied her too, "This isn't some school excursion. You will stay back too. I will be quick, then we will be on our way."
Getting rejected, Duna glared at him.
Chapter 595 - Touch Of Death
"I'll be quick."
After smiling back at Duna's glare, Leon made an opening in the ice-sealed fissure and disappeared inside the veil of billowing red mist.
All the Wrathful Demonic Energy were quickly swallowed into his Black Vortex Space and refined on his way down into the subterranean world.
Aria quickly resealed the opening before remnant traces of Wrathful Demonic Energy escaped the fissure—when she suddenly noticed something about herself.
"Please watch over the seal for me. I need to cultivate urgently," Aria made her request to the others before entering a seated meditation on Soft Feather's back.
"Hmm…" Duna glanced at Aria with a thoughtful look before shifting her gaze to Lilith, "All you, Lilith. I'm going to cultivate too."
Shortly after, Duna entered her own seated meditation and closed her eyes, resuming True Grandmist Energy's refinement in her body.
"I…"
Lilith shifted her glance to Soft Feather, but the Blue Luan pretended she was sleeping with her head rested on the blood-soaked ground that stained her beautiful whitish-blue feathers.
"I guess I can watch over the seal…" Lilith muttered with a soft sigh.
There was a lack of Spirit Energy in her current environment to practice Divine Cultivation while her Body Cultivation has stagnated after a single breakthrough.
'There's no cultivation pills or high-quality herbs for Body Cultivation in Human Domain… Only my clan has the right resources needed for my Body Cultivation, resulting in my lack of progress over the last few months since I left the clan…' Lilith thought.
She really did not want to go back to her clan due to the arranged marriage, but at the same time, she was also very concerned about her parents.
After Aria raised awareness about the implication that she might have caused her parents upon running away selfishly, she became even more worried.
'Between happiness and family, is it only possible to choose one? Mom, Dad, please be okay. Your unfilial daughter is coming back now,' Lilith sighed with despair.
She walked over to the sealed fissure and sat on the cold ice silently, patiently waiting for Leon's return.
…
Meanwhile, Leon continued to descend deeper into the subterranean world while clearing the heavy concentration of Wrathful Demonic Energy on his way.
"It's strange that a large subterranean space exists under every settlement I've been to—whether it's the human cities, elven tribe, or even a beast tribe." Leon frowned with suspicion.
He knew that the subterranean world was enormous. But for there to be so many pocket spaces so close to every settlement he visited, it no longer seemed like a mere coincidence.
"Is this the demons doing?" Leon pondered.
"Whether it's the Human Domain or the Wildlands, there are traces of demons everywhere… yet I have no encountered a single demon on this continent. Instead, I ran into ugly mutated humans…"
Leon began to wonder if demons were actually their biggest enemy or this new force that has been recently revealed to him.
"It's puzzling that such a huge force has remained unknown until now despite being so widespread across the world…"
This unknown force of mutated beings definitely seemed strong enough.
If it was world domination they want, they could have done so instead of meddling in the dark all this while.
"What are they waiting for?" Leon narrowed his eyes.
Within moments, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he reached a vast open space in the subterranean world, revealing the Energy Conversion Tower.
"The tower is much closer than I anticipated—which is a good thing. But these guys…" Leon muttered as he landed on the ground with a heavy thud.
Thud!
The noise immediately attracted the roughly three dozen mutated beings gathered around the Energy Conversion Tower in worship as they turned around with alarm, "Squee?"
"Good day to you all. Sorry to crash the party," Leon said nonchalantly as the Tier 4 Bone Spear flashed into his hand
Boom!
The ground cracked from his mighty leap as he shot straight for the Energy Conversion Tower and sliced through it in one swift motion.
Shing—!
The Energy Conversion Tower cut in half, revealing the grotesque abomination hidden inside before Leon spread his divine sense and locked onto its core.
Ka-cha!
No time was waste as he tossed his bone spear straight for its core, shattering it in an instant, causing the abomination to cry and quickly deform like melted cheese while he flew through the air.
Squee!
The mutated beings were stunned for a moment before they erupted into anguish cries, pointing their bony limbs at Leon.
His eyes narrowed at the sharp bones growing out from their pointed limbs before recalling the Tier 4 Bone Spear back into his hand with Divine Will and disappeared from the spot.
His figure flickered and reappeared on the ground before piercing the hard skull of a Rank 1 Transcendent-level mutated being, incinerating its brain matter with scorching hot flames that burst out from his bone spear shortly after.
Squeee!!
The Rank 1 Transcendent-level mutated being cried painfully before its eventual death while Leon retracted his bone spear, dodged a few claw attacks, and moved onto his next victim.
At the same time, he frowned slightly, 'My fire ability has yet to reach the level of Transcendents… It should be the same for my other laws…'
Only his Nihility Law has yet reached transcendence.
'I didn't experience any baptism during my transcendence in the Nihility Law as it is a law that exists yet does not exist at the same time. The world cannot sense it…' Leon thought while finishing off his third victim.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered with a question, 'What will happen when I raise my other laws to the Transcendence level?'
Swoosh~!
A bone spike shot towards him before grazing his flesh and redirected off into another direction like it had bounced off his body, failing to break his defense but made him feel a slight sting, nonetheless.
"I worry about that later and deal with these mutated beings first. But before that, let me test the effectiveness of my current Nihility Law as an attack." Leon muttered.
Suddenly, he closed the distance on a mutated being with 6 arms and reached out with his fast claw, immediately gripping the mutated being's face before a surge of Nihility Power rushed into its head.
The range of his Nihility Law was not great, but when he focused it to a single concentrated point—it proved to be very effective.
The mutated creature stopped resisting in a split second like it had lost its soul, becoming motionless before its head slowly disintegrated into energy particles.
Leon absorbed the True Grandmist Energy while muttering, "The disintegrating process is slower on living beings… is it due to the complexity of life or the resistance of the will? Nevertheless, death seems to be instantaneous above all else."
"The soul is not material, making it the quickest to disintegrate into nothingness, huh? This ability seems a little too frightening, no? Killing anything with a touch of my hand… I shall call this skill Vanishing Touch, or perhaps Death's Touch is better?"
As Leon pondered, the mutated being had long stopped attacking Leon and retreated in trembling fear, point their fingers at him while screaming to each other.
"Squee! Squee! Shiva!"
"Squee! Shiva! Squee!"
Shortly after, the surviving mutated beings all turned tail and flee from the area, causing Leon's eyes to widen in surprise, "Hm? These creatures are actually running away from me?"
Chapter 596 - Artificial Demon Core
Leon did not pursue the scattering group of mutated beings but cleansed the area of its remaining Wrathful Demonic Energy before returning to the surface with a puzzled look.
"Strangely, these mutated beings still know what fear is and when to retreat in the face of a formidable foe, eh? But they only did so after I revealed the power of the Nihility Law..." Leon mumbled with doubt.
The mutated beings did not seem to be affected by Wrathful Demonic Energy, or at least not affected to the point of losing their minds.
"How odd…"
In a short moment, Leon reached the surface and cleaved his way through the ice seal on his way out, causing the nearby Lilith to jolt with a start, sliding down the ice slope in an embarrassing manner.
"Ah!"
Lilith gave a soft cry, landing on her bottoms before glaring over to Leon, who landed gracefully on his feet.
"Why did you come out so suddenly?"
"Didn't I say I was going to be quick?" Leon retorted with a light smile before adding, "Aren't we in a hurry to reach your clan? If everyone's ready, let us continue on our way."
"…Fine."
Lilith made a slight pout, unwilling to argue and delay the journey further as she hopped onto Soft Feather's back right away.
"Looks like everyone's been waiting."
After Leon glanced at Aria and Duna cultivating silently on Soft Feather's back, Leon tapped the Blue Luan lightly on the head, urging her to wake, "Miss Soft Feather, please take us on our way."
"Ugh…"
Soft Feather made a slight disgruntled groan, pretending to have woken up from her nap before taking to the skies with a strong flap of her majestic feathery wings.
Swoosh~!
The group reached high altitude in a short instance before Leon leaned over the edge and made a loud whistle to Silver, alerting it not to fall behind.
Within moments, Soft Feather reached a consistent flight speed in the skies without blowing everyone off her back, soaring over large stretches of battle-torn and blood-soaked fields of lands.
Corpses and carcasses littered the surface, and little life remained behind on the vast lands of greens, painted in red and black.
The deeper they traveled into the Wildlands, the more they saw—the horrors and damages brought by the apocalyptic Cataclysm.
It was like the ending of all life.
On their trip, a few remnant berserk beasts feasted on the rotting flesh of inanimate carcasses and corpses, while berserk flying beasts were discovered in the sky occasionally.
Nevertheless, Leon flew off Soft Feather's back and made quick work of the enemy before landing back on Soft Feather's back without disturbing Aria and Duna's cultivation.
"How long do you think it'll take us to reach the Desolate Crow Clan at this pace, Lilith?"
"Miss Soft Feather's pace is relatively fast. I would say no longer than six hours." Lilith inspected the vaguely familiar environment, making a quick mental calculation before she responded.
After hearing her answer, Soft Feather quickly snorted, "I can go much faster, you know?"
"Of course, we do not doubt that you can, Miss Soft Feather." Leon smiled lightly before throwing a glance back at Aria's meditative pose, vaguely sensing spatial and temporal changes in her surroundings.
'Spatial and Temporal Laws…was this the benefit of their recent intimate session?' Leon silently pondered.
No, Aria shouldn't have comprehended these laws on her own—not that he was discrediting her comprehensive ability, but it seems to have been spurred from elsewhere.
'Aria…'
Grief flickered in Leon's eyes for a moment before pushing the thought to the back of his mind, taking out a portable teleportation array shortly after.
"What are you planning to do with that?" Lilith cast a glance at the square array in Leon's hand with a curious question.
"We have a bit of time until we reach our destination, so I plan to make a quick trip back to the Capital and check how things are going back there. Also, I left someone back there, so I need to pick her up."
Recalling how he had left Darlene in the palace after bringing her over from the Dark Continent, Leon felt guilt in his heart.
Nevertheless, he was coming back to fetch her now.
Little did Leon know, Darlene was brought along to the Western Frontier for a brief period of time before leaving with his mother and others.
They were just unlucky to have missed each other.
"So this is supposed to be some sort of teleportation device? How does it work? It seems to be missing a power source." Lilith inspected the portable teleportation array curiously with her limited runic understandings.
The portable teleportation array was like a mechanical contraption, except made with little use of strong alloys and mostly bones.
With a slight shake of Leon's hand, the square-shaped portable teleportation array expanded into a larger square filled with runic lines. Four rotating pads were seen in each corner with empty sockets in their center.
Leon placed the portable teleportation device down on a relatively flat part of Soft Feather's back before explaining, "These empty sockets are where the power sources will be slotted while the rotating pads are used to change the spatial coordinates."
"Basically, there are used to set the destination. Currently, there are only two spatial coordinates installed in the array. The other two spaces are still empty and serve to deactivate the array for now."
"Hmm, how intricate. What are you planning to use to fuel the array?" Lilith inquired with bright eyes, keenly interested in the array and not at all inferior to her interest in the ancient relics.
Seeing Lilith's glowing eyes of interest, Leon smiled lightly.
"Like this."
With an outstretched hand, a surge of Demonic Energy from the depths of his Black Vortex Space soon gushed out, gathering in the tips of his hand in volume before they were compressed into a solid spherical crystal, purely made of Demonic Energy.
Duna's eyes suddenly snapped open, gazing at the fist-size red crystal ball before shifting her gaze to meet Leon's eyes with surprise.
"Did you just make an artificial demon core?"
Chapter 597 - Big Bird
Leon threw a glance over at Duna, who showed a rare expression of surprise before his lips curved into a smile.
"What do you think?"
"Just answer the question, dammit. I don't want to play these guessing games!" Duna snorted impatiently.
Leon's playful smile quickly turned into a wry one, thinking that it was rich of Duna to say such a thing.
'It's usually the women that force the men into these guessing games... Yet, when the tables are turned, they quickly become unhappy, huh? Haiz... the double standards.' Leon silently lamented.
Duna narrowed her eyes before asking with a sharp glint, "You're thinking about something rude, aren't you?"
"Ahem, not at all." Leon coughed before saying, "I was just thinking about how beautiful you are."
"Huh?"
Duna was stunned by the unexpected response before averting her eyes with a cold snort, "Was that supposed to make me happy? Idiot."
"Take it however you see you it." Leon chuckled slightly before feeling someone's gaze on him.
Turning to the side, Leon quickly noticed that Aria had unwittingly ended her cultivation session to give him a hard look, "Hmmm..."
"Hmm...?"
"Hmmm...!" Aria hummed more forcefully with a pouting expression.
"Oh!"
A lightbulb lit up in Leon's head before he spoke with a smile, "Of course, Aria is also very beautiful."
After receiving her desired compliment, Aria nodded with satisfaction before resuming her cultivation.
Leon heaved a silent sigh of relief, thinking Aria was relatively docile and for not nitpicking at his sincerity.
"What about me?" Lilith asked with expectations, causing Leon to not know whether to laugh or cry.
'Why do you want to hear my opinion too? Aren't you just causing trouble for me?' Leon thought.
Shortly after, Leon put on an awkward expression while scratching his cheeks wryly, "Well... I guess Lilith is also pretty."
"Che! So insincere!" Lilith immediately snorted, obviously unsatisfied with his response.
Suddenly, the flight's stability was disturbed slightly before regaining its calm—but Leon quickly discovered that Soft Feather was also expectant for a compliment.
Sure enough, Soft Feather spoke in the next moment, "What about me?"
"You're a damn bird! Why do you also want to hear my opinion as well?!" Leon said with an exasperated expression.
"Huh? You got a problem with birds?"
"Huh? You got a problem with birds?"
Soft Feather and Lilith spoke in unison, causing Leon to be mildly stunned before feeling a headache, recalling that Lilith also had bird lineage.
"Ahem, not at all. I love birds. Why wouldn't I? I also have a big bird down there myself." Leon chuckled wryly before he suddenly paused with a frown.
That did not sound right. No, it sounded very wrong!
A pink blush was quickly seen on everyone's cheeks before they turned away to hide it. Why are they turning away? He should be the one embarrassed!
"No, what I meant was...Haiz, forget it." Leon shook his head with a sigh. The more he tried to explain himself, the worse it will be.
"Ahem! Didn't you ask if I made an artificial demon core?" Leon coughed, turning to Duna with a change of topic.
The disgusted look on Duna's face immediately shot straight through his heart, causing Leon to suffer critical damage before his lips twitched.
Nevertheless, he persevered and continued to speak, "You can say that it is an artificial demon core, or you can simply call it a demon stone. It's just the crystallization of pure Demonic Energy."
The Demonic Energy reserve inside Leon's Black Vortex Space was quickly expended to produce another three demon stones, giving him a total of four before he slotted them into the empty sockets in each corner of the portable teleportation array.
Once the rotating pads were aligned correctly, the portable teleportation array immediately activated, opening a spatial rift that connected to the teleportation array back in the Capital.
"Well, I'll be off for a short while," Leon stated with a light smile, feeling a bit embarrassed to stay and face the ladies.
However, Duna stood up and said, "I'm coming too."
"Oh, oh! Me too! I want to experience the spatial travel!"
Lilith's eyes lit up with interest before Leon shot her down with a clear statement, "Who's going to direct Soft Feather where to go if you leave with me? Be good and will stay back."
"Oh..."
Lilith's mood dampened with a downcast expression like a deflated balloon.
"Maybe next time."
Leon patted her on the head with a light smile before hugging Duna and leaping into the spatial rift, disappearing together.
...
Crawford Empire, Old Capital.
On the outskirts of the city, a massive group of 600-thousands elves and humans trekked on foot, passing the old heart of the Crawford Empire.
Initially, they numbered roughly 500-thousands elves and humans. But after passing through a few cities on the way, absorbing their population into the group, their numbers soared to 600-thousands.
"Let us pitch camp and take a break here. We will resume in half a day after restocking supplies for the journey to the Grassland Region." Elizabeth ordered, intending to pay a visit to the Royal Palace and get an update on the Old Capital's current situation.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The surrounding elves and humans answered.
Princess Thessalia, Faelyn, and the Elders spread their words amongst the elves and humans before they came to a stop, followed by expanding onto the spacious fields with their camping supplies.
Elizabeth turned to Darlene, "Come with me, Darlene."
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty."
Darlene responded nervously before Elizabeth grabbed her hands with a warm smile, "You're not like the other people around here. It's fine to just call me mom or mother."
"Yes, Mother."
"Oh-ho, you learn quickly," Elizabeth commented with a slight chuckle, causing Darlene to lower her head shyly.
"Elders, you can arrange for small groups to accompany you in touring the Capital while we are here. However, don't take too long."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The Elders of the Elven Tribe saluted with a slight bow before casting their curious gazes onto the Capital in the distance.
Chapter 598 - Demon Worshippers
"Welcome back, Your Majesty. Are you heading back to the Royal Palace now? Allow us to escort you there, Your Majesty." A group of city guards greeted upon arriving from the Capital.
Elizabeth threw them a casual glance before speaking, "Well, if you can keep up."
"Darlene, come closer." Elizabeth urged.
"Yes, mother."
At the same time, the city guard answered, "With honor, Your—"
Swoosh~!
Elizabeth quickly took into the skies with Darlene in her arms before flying off in the direction of the Royal Palace, leaving the city guards behind in the dust.
The city guards gawked with embarrassment before offering their help to the elves visiting the Capital.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth continued to make a beeline for the Royal Palace when a sudden commotion broke out in Lost Isle Alley.
"We welcome your return, Your Highness!"
"We welcome your return, Your Highness!"
The palace guards greeted as Leon stepped out of the teleportation array with Duna before giving them a nod, "Un."
Swoosh~!
Shortly after, Elizabeth and Darlene descended before glancing at Leon with surprises as he returned the same expression back at them.
"How did you get back, son? Weren't in the Western Frontier? How did come out from the teleportation array connecting to the Dark Continent?" Elizabeth asked with her face full of questions.
"I can say the same for you, Mother. Weren't you headed for the Grassland Region?" Leon asked back.
"We stopped by to stock up on some supplies and check on your father while we were here," Elizabeth explained to her son.
"I see, what a coincidence." Leon nodded before explaining, "I used a portable teleportation array to hopped over here for a quick visit and to pick up Darlene."
As Leon said this, he turned to Darlene with an apologetic smile before the person shook her head, showing that she did not mind.
"Oh? It's good that we met here then. Mother was intending to bring Darlene to the World Tree to train."
"True, the rich Spirit Energy there is very suitable for cultivation, but I found an even more suitable place for Darlene to cultivate."
"Fair enough." Elizabeth nodded before her curiosity was drawn back to Leon's mode of travel, "How does this portable teleportation array work? Can Mother also use it to travel back to the Western Frontier?"
"Anyone can use it to travel as long as it's operating. However, I think it is best not to make this thing public. I plan to install one Royal Palace, as the Lost Isle Alley's teleportation array is too rigid for me to add spatial coordinates to it."
"Actually, it could not be more perfect for us to meet, Mother. I will pass one of my spare portable teleportation arrays for you to install in the Grassland Region. That way, we can freely travel between the Western Frontier, Capital, the World Tree's region."
Shortly after Leon mentioned this, Elizabeth's eyes lit up brightly before she said, "If this portable teleportation array of yours truly works as you said, that would be very incredible!"
Hours to days of travel could be cut down to an instance. It definitely sounded too good to be true.
Leon smiled lightly before saying, "Let us go meet Father first, Mother. Then I will show you how the portable teleportation array works as I install one in the palace."
"Alright." Elizabeth nodded before saying, "Mother was just planning to see your father as well. Let us go see how he had been doing."
Shortly after, they headed to the palace together before Leon suddenly pulled Darlene into his embrace, whispering softly into her ears, "Do you not miss me? Where did the daring and passionate Darlene go?"
"I'm trying to be a nice girl in front of your mother," Darlene immediately complained with a slight blush as she hammered his chest with her fist, reacting shyly.
Leon smiled lightly before lifting her chin for a kiss.
"Mmf—"
Darlene made a muffled sound as she resisted before quickly turning soft in Leon's arm.
"Look, my mother does not mind these things. There's no need to mind it so--"
Smack!
Suddenly, Elizabeth turned around and gave Leon a good wack on the head before snorting, "You stinky rascal! Don't take my silence for acceptance! I might be in a hurry to hold my grandson, but we are in public right now! Have some shame, will you?"
"Ugh... Yes, Mother." Leon lowered his head while scratching his cheeks with an embarrassed smile.
"And you, Darlene. You can't be too passive all the time. You need to be more proactive and decisive, bot giving in to Leon's whims all the time."
"Yes, Mother. I will try." Darlene answered with a determined look.
"Actually, Darlene is the more proactive than..."
Leon wanted to correct his mother's words when Darlene suddenly stepped on his foot with a big smile, filled with hidden menacing vibes.
"More proactive than...?"
"Nah, don't worry about it. It's nothing…" Leon stated, his lips twitched slightly in response.
...
Shortly after, the group arrived at Heinrich's study in the Inner Palace.
"Heinrich."
"Father."
Elizabeth and Leon called out to the king before Heinrich raised his head with a glimmer of surprise appearing on his tired face, "You're both back."
"Has something been troubling you, Heinrich? You look terrible," Elizabeth inquired with concern.
At the same time, Leon made his way over and began giving Heinrich a relaxing massage while channeling some energy to improve his mental state.
"What's the situation, Father?"
"Haiz, it's the people. There's an unknown group stirring chaos in the Capital by spreading lies and weird religious faith about demons in recent days." Heinrich sighed.
Leon knitted his brows before saying, "Considering how they are giving Father so much trouble, they shouldn't be easy to catch, right? What religious faith are they spreading about demons exactly?"
"Right. Their traces are easy to find because they reek with a terrible stench, but they are very swift and disappear like shadows. The shadow guards are helpless in keeping up."
"As for the religious faith mentioned, the people brainwashed by their false belief were spouting how demons will bring them salvation in the Cataclysm."
"In other words, these people are like demon worshippers or something?" Leon frowned.
Chapter 599 - Cleansing The Capital
"That's one way to put it." Heinrich nodded before adding, "Thanks, son. I'm feeling much better."
Although dark bags remained under his eyes, he showed a livelier expression than just a moment ago.
Shortly after, Heinrich continued, "It's problematic enough with the new atmosphere brought by the Cataclysm. It's difficult to fathom why these demon worshippers would come out to sow chaos..."
"Some people just want to watch the world burn by the looks of it. As if life is not hard enough." Elizabeth frowned.
"They might not even be people." Leon pondered for a moment before asking, "Father, you mentioned that they reek with a terrible stench. Have you smelt it before, or did it came from the report?"
"From the shadow guards report, of course. Haiz, I don't even have time to go for a walk in the garden these days..." Heinrich sighed before asking, "Where would I find the time to around sniffing some stinking rats?"
"It's been hard on you, Father. How detailed were the reports, though? Did they mention how the terrible stench smelt exactly?"
"Not really. Most reports only stated that the traces smelt terrible—" Heinrich shook his head before suddenly recalling, "Oh, there was one that said it was like the smell of the current atmosphere but concentrated."
"Like the current atmosphere? The sky?" Leon muttered before his eyes flickered with a guess, "The smell of Wrathful Demonic Energy, perhaps?"
After a short moment of contemplation, Leon suddenly smiled and said, "Father, I think I can solve your problem quite quickly."
"Oh? I knew I can rely on you, but how so? Let us hear it, son." Heinrich said with a pleasant surprise.
"Un." Leon nodded before explaining, "It's quite simple, actually. I just need to purify the Capital by absorbing all the Wrathful Demonic Energy in the atmosphere."
"Once that is done, all that would be left is the smell belonging to these demon worshippers, making it easier for us to track them down."
"Oh? Not bad. That does sound easy, but I'm afraid that only you would be capable of such feat." Heinrich said before he asked with a frown, "Will it pose any risk to you, son?"
"Not at all."
Leon shook his head and said, "I have a special method to refine these Wrathful Demonic Energy and remove all the properties that make people go berserk. Hence, the reason I said purify."
"That's great to hear."
Heinrich nodded with relief, feeling like a big burden had been lifted off his shoulders, causing him to slump back on his chair.
"I'll go and get it done right away. The supply of Refined Demonic Energy will help me produce more power sources for the teleportation array. Still, fewer people will also be at risk of going berserk in the city the sooner I get this done."
"Hold on, son. Before you go, aren't you forgetting something? Who's this lovely young lady?" Heinrich suddenly stopped Leon from leaving before shifting his attention to Duna.
"I'm quite curious as well. I thought you would introduce her to us at some point, but it seems like the thought never crossed your mind," Elizabeth added, causing Leon to be slightly stunned.
"Eh? I haven't introduced Duna to Mother and Father yet?" Leon asked.
After receiving their shaking heads, Leon cleared his throat and said, "This is Duna, the one who haunted Lost Isle Alley for 400 years."
"What?" Heinrich and Elizabeth widened their eyes in shock.
At the same time, Leon took the chance to leave from the balcony while they were in a state of surprise.
However, Duna did not follow him. Everyone's gazes fell back onto her shortly after Leon disappeared from sight.
'Young Lady Duna? No, no, no. She is over 400 years old. It is too disrespectful to address her as such. Old Lady Duna? That's not right either.'
Elizabeth and Heinrich wanted to speak with Duna but failed to find the right words to address her immediately.
After a moment of pondering, Heinrich finally uttered while reaching for his teacup for a sip after, "Miss Duna, I wonder what is your relationship with our son?"
"Your son?" Duna paused for a moment before her lips curved into a mischievous smile and said, "We are f*ck buddies."
"Pfft—!"
Heinrich immediately spat out his tea while Elizabeth's expression darkened with her forehead filled with dark lines.
"This outrageous. How can our son be like this? It seems that we need to have a real good talk with him after he gets back."
"Agreed." Heinrich nodded solemnly.
...
Unbeknownst to the unchecked disaster that Leon left behind, he continued on his forward flight and reached a certain altitude in the sky.
"The density of Spirit Energy is higher now... But it's nothing compared to the Wrathful Demonic Energy..."
He studied the energies in the atmosphere before he slightly sweated, "It's good that Wrathful Demonic Energies are still mixed and hidden inside Solar Energy."
If pure Spirit Energy and pure Demonic Energy had mixed together, he would be expecting numerous micro-explosions going off throughout the Crawford Empire.
"If there's an Energy Conversion Tower any close to the World Tree..." Leon stopped speaking.
He did not dare to imagine what kind of violent reaction would occur in the Grassland Region if there was one.
"Haiz, life is full of problems. Never mind. Let me purify the Capital first, then worry about these other problems later."
Shortly after shaking his head, Leon spread out his divine sense and summoned the power of Nihility Law, turning himself into a black hole that drew the surrounding energies towards him and devoured them.
"The range of Nihility is too short, limiting the cleansing speed. At this rate, It will take an entire day to cleanse the whole Capital—but I don't have an entire day." Leon frowned.
'Should I borrow the absorption power of the Divine Book of Life and swallow everything into the Worldspace?'
Leon only thought for a moment before quickly banishing the thought.
'No, it's too risky. The world is filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers.. Drawing unwanted attention to myself is not wise if I cannot defend my treasure.'