Chapter 2785 - 863-876

Chapter 863 - Dragon Aura

"You've worked hard," Leon praised her.

"Mm," Aria nodded.

Shortly after, Leon turned his head to Darlene on his left side and also praised her, "You worked hard as well, and it also seems like you'll be the first among us to reach the Acknowledged Paragon stage."

"Jealous?" Darlene grinned.

"Oh?" Leon uttered with amusement before asking her, "When did you learn to be cheeky, hm?"

He gave Darlene's round bottom a sneaky squeeze, causing her to cry with a startled look before her face flushed with embarrassment.

Shortly after looking around to see no one watching, she pouted at him.

Leon spent some time catching up with Aria and Darlene before Saresha returned with Nyfarella and the rest of the dark faes.

"Congratulations on your successful retreat, my Lord!" Nyfarella and the dark faes quickly dropped down on their knees and greeted.

Just by sensing their Lord's natural aura, which has become more intimidating and grand, they did not doubt that their Lord had become very powerful.

However, they are only half right.

Leon's inner defense had become extremely high, but his combat prowess itself had not risen by much.

"Un," Leon calmly acknowledged their greetings before saying, "The medicine bath is ready; you may resume your body cultivation whenever."

"Thank you, my Lord!" Nyfarella replied.

At the same time, the dark faes' eyes all lit up. They couldn't wait to hop in the medicine bath and resume their body cultivation immediately.

At last, they could forge their bones again.

Although the pain of bone forging was no joke, the explosive strength gained from it filled them with excitement and anticipation.

Every bit of improvement elevated their confidence.

Shortly after the dark faes rushed to the medicine bath to cultivate their body, Aria suddenly pinched Leon in the waist.

"Hm? What's the matter?" Leon asked with a baffled look.

"It suddenly came to my attention that you like watching the dark fae soak their bodies in the medicine bath, isn't that right?" Aria accused him.

"Tell me, which one has caught your eye? Is it that girl, Saresha? Or the leader, Nyfarella?" she speculated before asking with wide eyes, "Don't tell me you've set your eyes on all of them?!"

Although Leon did think the sight was quite a feast for the eyes, there's no way he could admit that he made the dark faes cultivate in the medicine bath for such a reason.

"That's a false accusation, Aria," Leon smiled wryly before saying, "Why would you think that? Do you think everyone can enjoy the benefits of True Grandmist Energy?"

"Hm? Am I wrong? I guess it was just my imagination then…" Aria quickly dropped the matter without bothering to answer his question.

Leon was a bit speechless.

He began to wonder if this was her way of warning him not to lay his hands on any more women when he already had them.

Sometime later, Shadowtail and a small group of dark wyrms returned from the Bone Sea.

"It's good to see you again, my Lord! Congratulations on your successful retreat!"

Shadowtail and the dark wyrms greeted with greater respect and reverence, feeling even closer to their Lord than ever before.

Although Leon's aura was not quite the same as the dark wyrms, he had indeed acquired a dragon aura.

It was the result of reaching the latter stages of the Body Transformation realm after using the Dragon God Consolidating Viscera Method and the Purple Coatly Dragon Origin Blood.

At that moment, even Leon did not know what abilities he might have gained from acquiring the dragon viscera.

Even so, it was a somewhat weak dragon viscera, so his hidden dragon abilities might not be all that strong yet.

"You're not doing too bad yourself. It seems like the Dragon God Bone Forging Method had increased your strength tremendously, but of course, this wouldn't have been possible if you didn't put in the hard work," Leon casually replied to Shadowtail.

Just by sensing its overwhelmingly powerful vitality, he could tell Shadowtail had grown even more powerful in the past three weeks.

Shadowtail was no longer just a High-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm; he had actually become a Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm!

"It's all thanks to you, my Lord. It wouldn't have been possible without your grace," Shadowtail lowered his head humbly to Leon.

"Nevertheless, you have now reached a level that most beasts can only reach in their entire lifetimes," Leon stated.

"Even if your strength continues to grow from this point onwards, you still won't be able to reach the next level with just that. Fortunately, your True Dragon Bloodline has been strengthened quite a bit, most likely due to the sea monsters you consumed in the past three weeks."

"I estimate that it will only take a few blood refinement sessions and some blood nourishing supplements before you awaken your True Dragon Bloodline and become a Divine Beast."

That being said, Leon wasn't completely confident; he was not an expert in the field.

"Does that mean…" Shadowtail's eyes lit up before he uttered carefully with doubt, "My Lord intends to…"

"That's right. I'll perform a few blood refinements on the High-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrms," Leon confirmed with a nod before suddenly adding, "But before that, I'm taking a quick bath in the Bone Sea."

"I understand, my Lord. I will gather my clan members in the meantime," Shadowtail stated.

"Alright," Leon acknowledged before informing Aria and Darlene of his short departure, "I'll be back in a bit."

"Mm," Aria and Darlene nodded.

However, they didn't intend on staying within the rock walls and doing nothing, so Aria shortly informed him, "You can find us by the west river; I'll be going back to hunting sea monsters with Sister Darlene."

"Oh? Alright," Leon nodded.

Just as Aria and Darlene turned to leave with their backs facing Leon, an impulse compelled him to smack Darlene's round bottom.

However, Darlene quickly intercepted his hand before it could land as if she possessed ultra instincts or eyes at the back of her head.

Then, Darlene gave Leon a dirty look and asked, "Do you like touching my butt that much or something?"

"Ahem, it was just a joke," Leon coughed before laughing dryly and fleeing from the scene, "Haha… Well, then. I'll be off now."

He disappeared in the next instance and returned to the bottom of the Bone Sea.

Chapter 864 - The Black Turtle's Aura

After returning to the bottom of the Bone Sea, Leon harvested more tier-5 spirit herbs from the region before replanting them in the Sacred Garden.

Then, he took out some water-attribute spirit herbs ranging between tier-1 to tier-4 quality from the Sacred Garden and replanted them on the seafloor.

'The environment around here is unique. If I keep taking without giving back, it'll destroy the environment formed around this place,' Leon mused.

Nevertheless, after harvesting and replanting a few hundred stalks of spirit herbs, Leon shifted his attention to the tier-6 divine herbs on the seafloor.

He found that out of the several tens of thousand spirits herbs growing on the seafloor, there were no more than two dozen tier-6 divine herbs.

'Tier-6 divine herbs with recovery properties are capable of regrowing limbs and organs if used right, but some types are evidently stronger in the field than others. I should find the most suitable herb for refining the Tier-6 Divine Returning Spring Pill…' Leon thought.

Since he was going to return to the Infertile Plains afterward, it would not do if he did not help his adopted little sister regain her missing kidney.

Leon surfed through the two dozen tier-6 divine herbs on his list before finally settling on the Tier-6 Divine Winterdew Grass.

'If I recall, the Tier-6 Divine Winterdrew Grass was around here… There it is!'

Leon navigated his way along the field of spirit herbs on the seafloor before finding the Tier-6 Winterdew Grass recorded in his memory.

After he carefully harvested the Tier-6 Winterdew Grass, he placed it in an icebox he created to seal it.

Then, he dropped by the nine towering Godly Divine Needles to collect more samples of the Black Turtle God Beast's blood essence for his flesh tempering phase.

'Last time, a few drops was all it took for me to advance in the Black Turtle Heavenly Guard and reach Rank 1 Body Transformation in the flesh tempering phase… I should take enough blood essence to Rank 4 Body Transformation at the very least this time…' Leon mused.

Considering the Black Turtle God Beast's blood essence was of the divine quality and wouldn't degrade with time, the unique environment on the seafloor would be affected if he took too much at once.

Once Leon collected the estimated amount of the Black Turtle God Beast's blood essence to reach Rank 4 Body Transformation, he prepared to leave after thoroughly cleansing himself of any residual filth on his body.

"Are you just going to take my blood and leave like that without saying anything to this Old Turtle? What a rude and inconsiderate junior you are."

The Black Turtle God Beast's voice suddenly resounded in Leon's mind just as he was about to leave.

'Why didn't Senior ask the Peak-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters whenever they take your blood essence as well? Why single me out?' Leon retorted.

'You…' the Black Turtle God Beast became noticeably irked by Leon's lack of respect.

However, the Black Turtle God Beast recalled that it had already lost all of Leon's respect for it after showing unreasonable hostility.

Even so, it was still a Half-step God Beast.

Why does a Half-step God Beast need to show some respect to a mortal just to earn some respect back?

The Black Turtle God Beast's pride wouldn't allow it.

If anything, it was the mortal's stubbornness that made them at odds with each other.

Any other mortal wouldn't have the chance to act so impudently in front of it if the nine Godly Divine Needles didn't seal its movements.

However, the Black Turtle God Beast was aware that if it mentioned this, Leon would reply something like, "For the sake of your dignity, you can violate other people's dignity?"

As such, the Black Turtle God Beast did not steer the conversation in that direction.

'Haiz, I'm not here to fight with you this time, so can we put aside our difference and have a normal conversation?' the Black Turtle God Beast sighed before saying, 'There's something I want to ask you.'

'Oh?' Leon uttered with surprise.

It came to his attention that the Black Turtle God Beast had calmed down and could control its emotions.

At the very least, the Black Turtle God Beast didn't fly into a rage at the slightest irritation.

'What does Senior want to ask?' Leon inquired with a more respectful tone.

'Hah… Look at you; so you can be pretty respectful—Ahem, never mind,' the Black Turtle God Beast suddenly cleared its throat before saying, 'What are you doing with my blood? I can feel my aura on you.'

The Black Turtle God Beast was puzzled by it.

At the same time, Leon immediately realized why the Black Turtle God Beast seemed a bit more accommodating than before.

The Black Turtle God Beast's aura on his body made the Black Turtle God Beast view him like its kin instead of a human.

Unexpectedly, Leon had established some common grounds for them to communicate.

'I used Senior's blood to temper my flesh with the Black Turtle Heavenly Guard method,' Leon answered honestly.

'Oh? The Black Turtle Heaven Guard, huh?' the Black Turtle God Beast uttered with surprise before saying, 'How unexpected… This Old Turtle didn't expect you would have such a method.'

'Senior is not angry?' Leon wondered.

'Haha, why would this Old Turtle be? Since you absorbed this Old Turtle's blood into your body, you've practically become my descendants,' the Black Turtle God Beast said joyously.

However, Leon furrowed his brows with confusion.

'I don't think that's how it works, Senior…' Leon mentioned with a wry look.

'Haiz, don't sweat the details,' he Black Turtle God Beast brushed it off.

'My Black Turtle Clan is very few in numbers. Thus, we are happy to welcome any new addition to our ranks, even if you are a human.'

That being said, Leon still noticed the spite in the Black Turtle God Beast's tone when it mentioned the human part.

'This Old Turtle ought to praise you, boy,' the Black Turtle God Beast shortly added.

'Not just anyone can perfectly fuse with this Old Turtle's blood like you did.. It must be due to the True Grandmist Energy you used with it.'

Chapter 865 - Second Coming Of Shiva

'You know about that, Senior?' Leon uttered with surprise.

'Are you looking down on this turtle?' the Black Turtle God Beast questioned him with a grumpy tone.

'This Old Turtle might be immobilized down here, but this Old Turtle's senses are still very clear. Did you think this Old Turtle wouldn't notice when you great such a stir in the Bone Sea?'

'I suppose not,' Leon smiled wryly.

But then again, it was because he knew that Black Turtle God Beast couldn't do anything that he didn't care if the Black Turtle God Beast found out about his abilities in the first place.

'I apologize if I offended you, Senior.'

'What is there to apologize? We've offended each other enough already. Just drop the matter already,' the Black Turtle God Beast said.

'Nevertheless, you shouldn't reveal this kind of power carelessly. If you ever plan to leave planet Gaia, this Old Turtle advises that you do not use it at all,' the Black Turtle God Beast warned him with a firm tone.

'It's fine if the devil-awakened Celestials found out about your Nihility Law since they will either worship you or try to make you a tool for their enriching their cultivation. But if the god-awakened Celestials found out, most of them will hunt you to the end of the world.'

'Un, I am aware of this matter, Senior,' Leon nodded.

He already had first-hand experience in the Gaia's Core when he revealed his Nihility Law to the Celestial Ruler of Gaia, Celestial Earthshaker.

'Still, my power doesn't surprise you, Senior?' Leon asked curiously.

Considering the Black Turtle God Beast showed no sign of hostility after finding out about his Nihility Law, it appeared that the Black Turtle God Beast favored him like the World Tree, Saint Voidflame.

'Surprised? Of course, this Old Turtle was surprised!' The Black Turtle God Beast stated.

'However, it's been three weeks now. Why would this Old Turtle still be surprised about it? Nevertheless, it sure has been a while since another Inheritor of Nihility appeared.'

'Another Inheritor of Nihility? There were others before me?' Leon inquired with a startled look.

'Kek,' the Black Turtle God Beast snickered at his question and said, 'Of course, there are. Did you think you were someone special? That you were the first ever to comprehend the Nihility Law?

'Ah, but there's only been one instance of the Inheritor of Nihility appearing before you, so that does make you kind of special…'

Just as the Black Turtle God Beast's words brought Leon's ego down, it shortly raised it back up again.

Nevertheless, Leon was speechless by what the Black Turtle God Beast said.

Although it turned out that he wasn't the first in history, he was still the second. Yet, that was only enough to be 'kind of special' in the Black Turtle God Beast's eyes.

'Where is that Inheritor of Nihility now?' Leon asked.

'Dead,' the Black Turtle God Beast stated without hesitation before adding further, 'Hunted by everyone in the God Realm.'

'Oh?' Leon uttered with surprise before asking, 'Even the demons? Just what did this person do that everyone would even join forces with demons to get rid of that person?'

'That person was regarded as the God of Destruction, Shiva. He didn't care for anyone nor accept any followers; he killed everyone and everything as if he had a strong hatred for the world,' the Black Turtle God Beast stated.

'That was the only reason the entire God Realm could work together to destroy Shiva. Thus, it is important that you hide your power well. Because depending on what you do, you could also be regarded as the second coming of Shiva and get hunted by all of the God Realm.'

'I understand, Senior,' Leon nodded with a firm.

Although he was already that the Nihility Law wasn't something that could be shown in public, he didn't understand its significance to the God Realm until he heard the story of Shiva from the Black Turtle God Beast.

At the same time, he thought Shiva was quite the appropriate name as its literal meaning is 'that which is not.'

In other words, Shiva means nothing; it is the nothingness from which everything came.

After summoning the Nihility Barrier to catch his air in the bottom of the Bone Sea, Leon wondered, 'How strong was Shiva when he fell?'

'Half-step True Divinity,' the Black Turtle God Beast answered.

'Only a Half-step True Divinity?'

'What do you mean only?' the Black Turtle God Beast snickered and said, 'Half-step True Divinity is already the strongest power anyone can possess in the current era.'

'Huh? Has no one achieved True Divinity since the end of the primordial era, Senior?' Leon asked with surprise.

'None,' the Black Turtle God Beast stated with hesitation before adding, 'It's extremely difficult to become True Divinity in this era—or rather, it might just be impossible.'

'The damage sustained in the Great War practically ruined Primal Chaos and shut off the path of the everlasting. Shiva's incident only served to strengthen that idea further after he rampaged across the God Realm.'

Leon frowned after he heard that.

Although he was disappointed to hear that the world no longer had any True Divinities despite the rich primordial heritage scattered across the world, Half-step True Divinity was still more than enough strength to succeed in his revenge.

Nevertheless, there was one thing that baffled him.

'There's something I don't understand, Senior," Leon mentioned.

'Being the second Inheritor of Nihility, I am bound to be labeled the Second Coming of Shiva, a disaster that will bring an end to the world with this power. So how come you don't have any intention to kill me at all?'

He highly doubted that it was because the Black Turtle God Beast regarded him as its kin.

'You don't know much, do you, boy?' the Black Turtle God Beast said.

'Did you think comprehending the Nihility Law alone is enough to make you a disaster for the world? The answer is no.. You can become the world's ender, but you can equally become its savior.'

Chapter 866 - Nihility's Opposing Law

'The world's savior, huh?'

Leon smiled slightly with self-deprecation while reminiscing the past again for a brief moment before shaking his head.

'Senior can't be serious. The end of everything we know is inevitable. Are you aware of the Chaos Sea outside of Primal Chaos, Senior?'

'Naturally,' the Black Turtle God Beast affirmed.

'Then are you aware that there's a Dimension Crack in Gaia's Core that connects to that very Chaos Sea, which is brimming with nothingness, Senior?' Leon further asked.

'Of course,' the Black Turtle God Beast affirmed again before saying, 'The Vandelheim Star Realm has been a battleground for the Celestial and Demons. It would be strange if the world layer didn't weaken from the devastation.'

'The battle between the Celestial Alliance and the Eternal Night Demon Empress's faction had been especially fierce, lasting several ten thousand years before the Radiant Sword Celestial Emperor proposed a truce on this planet.'

'Alas, the damn truce was a sham! The Radiant Sword Celestial Emperor is a big hypocrite, and the Great Void Celestial Conqueror isn't any better for supporting such a big hypocrite!'

The Black Turtle God Beast's blood boiled at the sudden recollection of the two most detested beings in its life.

'Why did Senior side with the Celestial Alliance in the war against the demons in the first place? Was Senior part of the Celestial Alliance? Or did Senior have the same prejudice against demons as them?' Leon inquired.

'Part of the Celestial Alliance? What a joke!' the Black Turtle God Beast snorted at Leon's words as if it was the most absurd thing it ever heard.

'This Old Turtle is a Half-step God Beast, hailing from the Myriad Beast Star Realm and unaffiliated to any power! Besides, the Celestial Alliance is only for humans. This Old Turtle joined the war because the demons were too invasive and violent.'

'They weren't content with their territory and encroached on another's domain; that is why this Old Turtle joined the war to put the demons in their place. However, this Old Turtle has learned from his mistake.'

'The humans are just big babies; they cry the loudest for help, yet when they receive help, they don't hesitate to stab their helpers in the back if their interests and opinions don't align! They are just too despicable!'

The Black Turtle God Beast vented its frustration for some time before recalling the one listening to it was also a human.

'Ahem, enough of that. We've strayed off-topic,' the Black Turtle God Beast said before going back to their previous topic, 'Anyway, this Old Turtle has been aware of the Dimension Crack for a long time.'

'Since Senior is aware, how can Senior say that this Junior can become the world's savior when my power only speeds up the world's destruction?' Leon asked with doubt.

The best he could do was slow down the Dimension Crack's expansion by absorbing the power of Nihility leaking out from the Dimension Crack.

Nevertheless, his question left the Black Turtle God Beast wanting to shake its head.

'It seems that you haven't realized it, boy. The first Shiva became a God of Destruction, but that was his choice. You don't have to follow down the same path; whether you destroy the world or save it, the choice is yours, and only yours,' the Black Turtle God Beast said.

'Nevertheless, this Old Turtle must say that the path of becoming the world's savior is much more difficult than becoming the world's ender, just as it is easier to destroy things than it is to rebuild them.'

'There are two sides to every coin; everything comes in pairs, even Nihility, boy.'

Although the Black Turtle God Beast didn't mention it directly, Leon immediately understood what it was trying to say.

'Nihility's opposing law was the solution to saving the world's eventual end, huh?' Leon smiled wryly before helplessly saying, 'Is it even possible to comprehend?'

'Not even the gods and devils from the primordial era could comprehend the Nihility Law, yet someone succeeded in this era—two people succeeded, actually. So what does that tell you, boy?' the Black Turtle God Beast asked.

'Just because it's possible doesn't make it any easier, Senior,' Leon smiled helplessly before adding, 'I can't even begin to imagine just how difficult it'll be.'

'This Old Turtle didn't say it would be easy, but only you have the destiny to make it possible; others cannot even get the opportunity even if they want to because—'

'Because they don't even have a starting point,' Leon finished the Black Turtle God Beast's sentence.

The Law of Actuality, Existence, Reality, or whatever people wanted to call it is an impossibly difficult law to comprehend without a doubt, but still possible, nonetheless.

However, if people do not even know where to start, then it will truly become impossible.

Only he knew where to start because only he was qualified.

Nevertheless, Leon could not help but feel burdened by the immense weight on his shoulders.

The plan to comprehend Creation Law through the reverse understanding of the Destruction Law is already difficult.

Yet, now he must go one step further and comprehend existence through the reverse understanding of nothingness.

'So you know… That's good.'

The Black Turtle God Beast uttered with surprise after Leon accurately guessed what it was going to say.

'Nevertheless, this Old Turtle can see that you are overwhelmed by the destiny placed on you, so let us put an end to this topic. Don't let it weigh down on your mind. There is only one thing you need to do; become stronger. Everything else comes after.'

'You're right, Senior,' Leon agreed with a nod before saying, 'I still have a long way to go before worrying about such matters like saving the world. At the very least, I should reach the Celestial Emperor Realm first.'

'That's the spirit,' the Black Turtle God Beast said encouragingly before offering, 'Why don't you take some more blood before you go?'

'I also want to, but if I take anymore, the divine herb's environment will be affected,' Leon replied with a wry smile.

Chapter 867 - Futile Solutions

However, the problem Leon mentioned was not a problem for the Black Turtle God Beast at all.

'You don't have to worry about that. Give this Old Turtle a moment.'

'What are you planning to do, Senior?'

The Black Turtle God Beast did not answer Leon's question, but he shortly felt the seafloor begin to shake like an earthquake before more blood essence oozed out from the gaps in the nine Godly Divine Needles.

'Senior, you… If you do this, you will suffer,' Leon said with surprise.

He did not expect the Black Turtle God Beast to move forcefully to bleed a bit more just to aid him in his cultivation.

'This Old Turtle has been sealed down here with these nine Godly Divine Needles impaled in my body so many years; this little bit of pain is nothing,' the Black Turtle God Beast said.

Meanwhile, Luna had been secretly spying on their interaction through her share of the omniscient ability as the other half of the realm spirit.

Three weeks ago, Leon and Grandpa Turtle were like fire and water, and yet now, they were all buddy-buddy.

Grandpa Turtle was even willing to sacrifice some blood for Leon.

She knew just how much the Black Turtle God Beast had grown to detest humans, which made it all the more surprising for what it was doing.

At the same time, Leon didn't expect the Black Turtle God Beast to be so selfless just because they could properly communicate.

He had underestimated how much the Black Turtle God Beast viewed him as an addition to its Black Turtle Clan.

While watching more blood essence ooze out of the gaps in the nine towering pillars before Leon noticed the Black Turtle God Beast's movements had loosened the nine Godly Divine Needles.

'Senior, have you ever thought about removing these Godly Divine Needles?' Leon inquired.

'You ask such a strange question, boy. Who in their right mind would want to stay under the suppression of these nine Godly Divine Needles if they were given a choice?' the Black Turtle God Beast responded.

It made a clear point.

Saying that his question was strange was just putting it nicely; it was actually a stupid question.

Nevertheless, Leon just wanted to confirm the Black Turtle God Beast's desire to be freed from the nine Godly Divine Needles' suppression.

'Senior's movements have loosened the nine Godly Divine Needles over the years, so it might be possible to remove it and free Senior from them,' Leon stated.

However, he failed to produce any positive response from the Black Turtle God Beast.

'Haiz, you are clearly underestimating these nine Godly Divine Needles, boy,' the Black Turtle God Beast sighed and said, 'It doesn't matter if this Old Turtle's movements had loosened them; no one below Celestial Emperor will be able to lift them.'

'That might not be true, Senior,' Leon argued.

'The water in the Bone Sea has a higher density than ordinary water, which also means a higher buoyancy force to reduce the weight of these nine Godly Divine Needles.'

'Therefore, if we remove all the landmass weighing down on Senior's body, it might be possible to lift these Godly Divine Needles with the help of the Dark Wyrm Clan.'

'Even if that is the case, you forgot to account for the needles' tips that penetrated the hull of the realmship. You'll still need at least 100-billion jin of raw physical strength to lift these needles,' the Black Turtle God Beast stated.

After hearing that, Leon furrowed his brows in thought.

It was apparent that he had been too hopeful. The required labor was indeed much higher than he anticipated.

If he wanted to lift 100-billion jin, he would need at least 10-thousand Early-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrms, which he didn't have.

He had no choice but to abandon that plan.

'Senior is right. This Junior was too hopeful,' Leon admitted.

'However, we have options to explore. I heard that these Godly Divine Needles' weight and size are adjustable. Once I bind these Godly Divine Needles, Senior can be free after I shrink them.'

'You're very optimistic, but it's no use,' the Black Turtle God Beast commented wryly.

'These Godly Divine Needles are bound by the Great Void Celestial Conqueror. Therefore, no one else can bind these Godly Divine Needles unless the Great Void Celestial Conqueror dies.'

'I believe we still have another option, Senior,' Leon said with a confident look.

Although his Nihility Law might not be strong enough to erase something on the level of the Godly Divine Needles, it should be more than capable of erasing the Great Void Celestial Conqueror's binding.

The Black Turtle God Beast could quickly guess Leon's intention, but it immediately opposed his idea with a firm tone.

'Absolutely not! You must not use Nihility to erase the Great Void Celestial Conqueror's trace of will on the Godly Divine Needles! Once you do, the Great Void Celestial Conqueror will immediately know about you and your ability.'

After Leon heard that, he was immediately startled by it.

If the Great Void Celestial Conqueror could truly sense him across such great distance, removing the Great Void Celestial Conqueror's trace of will with Nihility was the same as courting death!

Leon expended his ideas one by one before he felt less optimistic about the Black Turtle God Beast's situation.

'Is there no other way to free Senior?' Leon asked helplessly.

'Unless you can head to the Myriad Beast Star Realm and ask the Blue Dragon Emperors for help, there is no other way except raising your strength until you can free Old Turtle yourself,' the Black Turtle God Beast stated.

'Nevertheless, heading to the Myriad Beast Star Realm and asking the Blue Dragon Emperors for help also possess a certain level of risk.'

'Right,' Leon agreed.

He understood what the risk was exactly.

The Radiant Heaven Realmship might not be among the top-tier divine artifacts from the primordial age, but it was still a great divine artifact to have for traveling great distances.

Many would kill for it, and Leon knew this well.

'This Old Turtle appreciates your goodwill, but you do not need to worry about this. Just focus on your cultivation, boy.'

'Yes, Senior.'

Chapter 868 - Bloodline Awakening

Leon silently engraved the Black Turtle God Beast's favor in his heart before he went ahead and collected the blood essence oozing out of the gap in the ground.

Not long after, he teleported back to the western region.

"Welcome back, my Lord," Shadowtail greeted.

Behind the Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm, a whole row of other Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrms lined up orderly with glints of excitement and anticipation.

"Welcome back, my Lord!" the rest of the dark wyrms greeted with a resounding volume.

"Un," Leon acknowledged their greetings with a nod before saying, "Give me a moment. I have something to do first."

Shortly after saying that, Leon immediately pulled out the icebox containing the Tier-6 Divine Winterdew Grass and several other tier-4 to tier-5 spirits herbs as supplements for the Tier-6 Divine Returning Spring Pill.

With a flick of Leon's wrist, a tier-6 pill cauldron appeared; with another flick, Leon fired up the tier-6 pill cauldron for preheating.

As he waited for the pill cauldron to reach the adequate temperature, Leon mediated to stabilize his mind to peak conditions.

'In my past life, I've refined no more seven tier-6 divine pills after becoming a Tier-6 Divine Alchemist. Therefore, refining the Tier-6 Divine Returning Spring Pill will be a true test of my skills,' Leon mused.

Nevertheless, his alchemy foundation cannot be compared to the past, at least not when he has a wealth of alchemy knowledge from the Divine Book of Life to strengthen his foundation.

He was very confident in his pill refinement.

For the first step of his pill refinement, Leon dropped a block of ice in the cauldron and let it melt to boiling temperatures.

Shortly after completing that step, he extracted the essence of the supplementary herbs and introduced them into the boiling water, leaving the Tier-6 Divine Winterdew Grass for last.

'The main herb is of the water attribute, so I had to set the right condition before I can add the Tier-6 Divine Winterdew Grass's extract into the mix. Doing otherwise will lose a substantial portion of the extract's efficacy.'

Leon silently methodically followed the steps to the teeth.

Although he was confident, that was only the case if he followed the steps accordingly; he didn't dare play around with such a rare herb.

Half an hour later, Leon completed the pill refinement smoothly.

He lifted the pill cauldron lid before a wave of medicinal fragrance and hot air assaulted his senses; the medicinal fragrance, in particular, was quite intense.

This indicated that he had lost a large portion of the pills' efficacy.

"Six Mid-rank and three Low-rank Tier-6 Divine Returning Spring Pill, huh?" Leon muttered while staring at the nine blue pills inside the pill cauldron with a calm look.

He expected the outcome to be low due to his inexperience and low proficiency in refining tier-6 divine pills.

Nevertheless, the result still turned out better than his expectation, albeit slightly.

'The pills' efficacy might be on the lower end, but none of the medicinal extracts turned into dredges,' Leon mused.

After letting the nine divine pills cool down, he prepared a special pill bottle of ice to store them before putting everything away in his Worldspace.

"Alright, I'm done here," Leon uttered before he turned his head to the dark wyrms and asked, "So, who wants their blood refinement first?"

Shortly after Leon raised the question, the dark wyrms immediately retreated several paces, leaving Shadowtail in front as the sole candidate for the first blood refinement.

The dark wyrms had no intention of competing with their current clan leader for the first time.

"I guess you're first, Shadowtail," Leon glanced at the giant Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm and nodded. "You remember what you need to do, right?"

"Yes, my Lord!" Shadowtail responded with excitement.

The Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm bit its tongue and unloaded gallons of blood essences before Leon caught it all with his divine will and held it in midair, not letting a single drop touch reach the ground.

Shortly after, Leon revolved vigorous crimson blood pool in the air, indicating the official start of his blood refinement with the Everlasting Blood Mantra technique.

As Leon refined the blood pool, he could sense the content in the blood pool was richer with True Dragon Blood Essences than last time.

Without a doubt, it was thanks to the increase in True Dragon Origin Blood.

Even so, Dark Wyrm Blood Essence comprised most of the blood pool.

'Shadowtail is still far from transforming all the Dark Wyrm Blood Essence in his body into True Dragon Blood Essence with the True Dragon Origin Blood, huh?'

'However, given his present strength, I doubt a complete transformation is needed for Shadowtail's bloodline awakening…'

The True Dragon Blood Essence was barely a tenth of the blood pool, which indicates the ratio of True Dragon Blood Essence in Shadowtail's body was, more or less, the same.

'Perhaps, two-tenth is enough for the first bloodline awakening?' Leon speculated.

Fifteen minutes later, he completely refined the blood pool into origin blood.

Most of the Dark Wyrm Blood Essence naturally turned into Dark Wyrm Origin Blood, with only a tiny portion becoming True Dragon Origin Blood.

On the other hand, nearly all True Dragon Blood Essence turned into True Dragon Origin Blood.

'It seems that each additional blood refinement will have an exponential effect,' Leon mused.

He infused all the True Dragon Origin Blood back into Shadowtail's bloodstream before keeping all the Dark Wyrm Origin Blood for himself.

"Thank you, my Lord!" Shadowtail said sincerely.

"Alright, off you go," Leon shooed away the Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm before turning to look at the other dark wyrms. "Who's next?"

"I'm next, my Lord," Nightingale immediately shuffled forward from the crowd.

Her strength might be slightly lower than Shadowtail, but she was also a Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrm.

Leon acknowledged with a nod.

…

As Leon spent the next twelve hours refining origin blood for the Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrms and a select few Peak-rank Greater Demon-level Dark Wyrms, Shadowtail's aura surged with towering ferocity.

In that instance, Leon's eyes flickered with expectations.

'Shadowtail must be undergoing his bloodline awakening!' Leon quickly determined after shifting his gaze to Shadowtail's location.

Chapter 869 - Earth Dragon

Roar!

Shadowtail raised his head to the sky and gave a mighty roar filled with anguish and pain as he felt his entire body burning.

The moment the True Dragon Blood Essence in his body reached two-tenths of its total blood capacity, they resonated with rising temperatures.

Like a crying newborn baby, the True Dragon Blood Essence came alive in Shadowtail's body and ran amok and rampaging excitedly.

However, such excitement brought nerve-wracking pains through Shadowtail's body.

Roar!

Shadowtail gave another thunderous roar before succumbing to the pain and squirming on the ground uncontrollably, causing quakes and tremors in the region.

Leon immediately furrowed his brows.

After he quickly gave a specific command to the realm spirit, the squirming Shadowtail disappeared from the spot and reappeared in another region, far from the rock wall area in the western region.

Leon did not want Shadowtail's bloodline awakening to disturb Duna's cultivation.

"W-where did Shadowtail go?" Nightingale and the other dark wyrms wondered with a bit of confusion and disappointment.

They wanted to bear witness to the event.

"Tak-si," Leon commanded.

Swish!

In the next instance, Leon and the dark wyrms also disappeared, teleporting to the Blacksand Desert in the south region, where Leon decided to drop Shadowtail.

Roar!

It didn't take long before the dark wyrms heard Shadowtail's roar in the distance and turned to look in that direction.

They immediately saw Shadowtail wailing in the desert, tossing billows of sand around and kicking up a sandstorm around it.

At the same time, Shadowtail's heart-wrenching cry made their dark wyrms' scalp tingle with a chill as the desert wind blew past them.

"The bloodline awakening process is far from what I imagined… For someone of Lord Shadowtail's caliber to be reacting like this, he must be experiencing excruciating pain beyond our imagination…!"

An unsettled expression hung on Nightingale's face as she watched Shadowtail squirm and squeal like he was at his wit's end.

As beings who have reached the Peak-rank Arch Demon-level, they should have developed a certain degree of tolerance to pain.

Yet, Shadowtail showed little resistance to it.

"Lord Shadowtail is undergoing the legendary bloodline awakening, right…?" a dark wyrm asked for confirmation.

The sorry state of their clan leader made it apprehensive about bloodline awakening.

In fact, all the dark wyrms present felt the same.

Excruciating and unbearable as it was to watch, Leon and the dark wyrms noticed evident changes on Shadowtail's body.

Two black horns protruded from Shadowtail's head while his body deformed with four large lumps that soon transformed into two pairs of limbs, muscular and packed with power.

The bloodline awakening had brought forward a very forceful evolution.

By the time the bloodline awakening process ended, Shadowtail no longer had any resemblance to the dark wyrms.

Instead, Shadowtail looked more like a black drake.

But while Shadowtail's appearance was the most noticeable change, it wasn't the most important one.

At that very moment, Shadowtail stood at a precipice of strength that had not appeared in the Dark Wyrm Clan for a very long time.

Shadowtail wielded the strength of a Demon Lord!

"Earth dragon… Lord Shadowtail has evolved into an earth dragon after undergoing his bloodline awakening!" a dark wyrm exclaimed.

"Hooh…!"

The dark wyrms cheered for Shadowtail's successful ascension with overwhelming elation and pride; they were one step closer to reliving the glory of their ancestors, the True Dragons.

'It seems like the Dark Wyrm Clan doesn't care much about their wyrm bloodline,' Leon mused while silently observing the dark wyrms' expressions and behaviors.

They only care about their true dragon bloodline, the noblest and most powerful bloodline among dragons.

As the dark wyrms admired Shadowtail from a distance, Shadowtail adapted to his newly grown limbs and tested his strength.

'Bloodline awakening process isn't something just anyone can endure… If my will and endurance had been lacking, I could have lost my life…' Shadowtail reflected on his experience with a serious look.

At the same time, he flexed his limbs and felt the strength of 200-million jin course through his muscles.

'My strength increased by twofold after my true dragon bloodline awakening… Is this the strength of a Demon Lord?' Shadowtail wondered.

At that moment, Shadowtail felt invincible.

After Shadowtail fully adjusted to his new body, he locked onto Leon's location before he made his way over with large and intimidating steps filled with power and majesty.

Leon and the dark wyrms both felt tremendous pressure from Shadowtail's approach; each and every one of Shadowtail's steps made their heart beat loudly like the banging drums.

Shortly after Shadowtail's towering figure appeared in front of Leon, Shadowtail immediately lowered himself to him with a subservient attitude.

"Thank you, my Lord. It was all due to your grace that I was able to awaken my true dragon bloodline," Shadowtail stated.

"I might have played a part in your bloodline awakening, but your success was ultimately due to your own efforts," Leon casually replied before he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Never better, my Lord!" Shadowtail grinned proudly.

Although the bloodline awakening had actually made Shadowtail's overall size much smaller, he was still a behemoth to humans like Leon.

Even the smallest of Shadowtail's actions would generate some form of a stir in his surroundings.

"That's good to hear," Leon smiled wryly at the natural pressure placed on him.

'To think that I would feel this much natural pressure from Shadowtail just by being near him. Is this the difference between mortals and the divine?' Leon silently mused.

If Shadowtail wanted to suppress him with his dragon aura purposely, Leon reckoned it would be pretty difficult for him to resist.

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any changes to Shadowtail's loyalty even after Shadowtail became a Demon Lord-level Earth Dragon.

No intelligent being wouldn't be so short-sighted enough to burn the bridge so soon when he still had plenty of opportunities to offer.

Dark wyrms that follow him wouldn't just end at the Divine Beast Realm; no, that was only the beginning.

"Congratulations on your successful bloodline awakening, Lord Shadowtail," Nightingale and the other dark wyrms approached Shadowtail to congratulate.

"Thanks," Shadowtail smiled before saying, "And you shouldn't be far from a bloodline awakening as well. Isn't that right, Nightingale?"

"Prob—"

Nightingale was about to answer when her entire body burned up from the True Dragon Blood Essence in her body becoming excited.

Chapter 870 - One Day Cultivation

"I… I got to go…!"

Nightingale left those words before breaking away from the crowd to endure the scorching heat of her boiling blood.

Roar!

It did not take long before Nightingale issued a mighty dragon roar to the heavens as a way of resisting the pain coursing through her dragon body.

"Her bloodline awakening started," Leon's eyes flickered.

Nevertheless, he had already seen it once and did not need to see it again; instead, he shifted his gaze to the other dark wyrms.

"Who hasn't gotten their blood refinement yet?" Leon asked.

"U-us, my Lord!"

A few Mid-rank Greater Demon-level Dark Wyrms shuffled forward hesitantly as they weren't included in the group for blood refinement.

They were only part of the crowd attracted to Lord Shadowtail's bloodline awakening.

Nevertheless, Leon did not mind the details, thinking the sooner he raised more Divine Beast-level Earth Dragons, the better it'll be for his cultivation.

In the next six hours, he began performing a few hundred blood refinements for the Greater Demon-level Dark Wyrms.

At the same time, Nightingale succeeded in her bloodline awakening and joined the ranks of Demon Lord-level Earth Dragons.

She was the second, but definitely not the last.

Two more Peak-rank Arch Demon-level Dark Wyrms had also successfully awakened their true dragon bloodline and evolved into earth dragons during that time.

Nevertheless, after Leon finished performing his blood refinement for the Dark Wyrm Clan, he left them to their own devices and returned to the western region with the Dark Wyrm Origin Blood he collected.

While Nyfarella and the other dark faes cultivated inside the medicine bath with their eyes closed, they sensed Leon's presence drawing closer.

"My Lord…? Do you need something?" Nyfarella asked.

"Gather everyone over. We'll be switching up the training method today," Leon stated before pulling out ice barrels filled with dark wyrm origin blood. "You'll be cultivating with these instead."

"This is…?" Nyfarella and the dark faes glanced at the blood barrels with startled looks.

"Dark wyrm origin blood. Even if you cultivate with dark energy, the effect is minimal, but it's a different story if you use dragon blood," Leon casually stated.

Body cultivation requires a tremendous amount of medicine, and depending on how dragon blood is used, it can be poison or medicine.

"I understand, my Lord," Nyfarella uttered.

Shortly after she left to round up the dark faes in the other medicine baths, Leon turned to Saresha and transmitted the Dragon God Bone Forging Method to her with a tap on the forehead.

"Once you digested the knowledge, teach it to the others," Leon instructed.

"Y-yes, my Lord!" Saresha stuttered with surprise.

She found the newfound knowledge imprinted in her memory to be overwhelming yet astonishing at the same time.

A body cultivation method with Dragon God in its name shouldn't be simple.

Sometime later, Nyfarella gathered all 250 dark faes to Leon's location before he also transmitted the Dragon God Bone Forging Method to her and a few select individuals among them.

"My Lord, may I ask why we are cultivating with this method?" a dark fae raised her hand to ask before expressing her doubt, "Isn't this method meant for dragons, my Lord?"

"That's right," Leon admitted with a nod.

"However, just because a method was made for dragons, it doesn't necessarily mean only dragons can practice it. In fact, I am also cultivating a dragon method myself. Adopting superior traits from other races to strengthen what we lack is one way to become stronger."

"I have seen how diligent the Dark Fae Clan had been cultivating, so I wanted to bestow this opportunity onto your clan. However, the choice is up to you, whether you wish to accept it or not."

"We will happily accept it, my Lord!" Nyfarella spoke on behalf of her entire clan.

"Good!" Leon nodded with approval before saying, "Alright, you may teach the Dragon God Bone Forging Method to your clan members and cultivate on your own."

"Do not disturb unless it's urgent or if the medicine bath's effect depleted," Leon added.

"Understood, my Lord," Nyfarella and the rest of the dark faes complied.

Shortly after, Leon swept his divine sense over Duna's cultivation chamber before entering his own and sealed himself inside.

Duna appeared to be fine inside her cultivation chamber, but it was clear that she hadn't finished absorbing all the soul energy within the Demon King-level crystalized soul core.

'I'll give her another three days; if she doesn't finish by then, I'll have to return to the Infertile Plains without her,' Leon decided.

With his adoptive parents and little sister still in the Darkmoon Tribe, he couldn't afford to delay his return any further than that three-day period he set for himself.

Leon took a few moments to adjust his mental state before taking out the Black Turtle Blood Essence to refine Black Turtle Origin Blood for his flesh tempering.

One whole day passed within the blink of an eye before a nudge on Leon's cultivation chamber disturbed his cultivation.

Leon slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of foul air.

At that moment, his fleshly body was practically glistening, looking every smooth and tender, but in actuality, hid a terrifying amount of defensive strength.

'About one day and 3000 wisps of True Grandmist Energy to reach peak Rank 4 Body Transformation in the flesh-tempering phase with Black Turtle Origin Blood from a Half-step God Beast, huh?'

Leon smiled wryly at the jarring difference in the quality used for body cultivation.

'I didn't immerse myself in cultivation for the sake of keeping track of the time, but this gap is really something else… Although I already know this, you really can't compare quantity and quality, huh?'

Leon shook his head helplessly.

After he gradually got up and exited his cultivation chamber, his eyes directly fell on the clan leader of the Dark Fae Clan, Nyfarella, who had her head lowered apologetically.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your cultivation session, my Lord."

"The medicine bath's effect depleted?" Leon calmly asked.

"Well, there's that," Nyfarella admitted with a nod before adding, "But we also have a situation on our hand."

"Oh?"

Chapter 871 - Sea Monster Tide

"What's the situation?" Leon asked.

"It's the sea monster tide, my Lord. The sea monster tide has arrived. You can directly see the situation at the river from atop the rock walls," Nyfarella reported while pointing over the wall to the closest river.

However, Leon did not need to scale the rock wall to see the situation; he directly used the realm spirit's omniscience to observe the overall situation in the realmship.

He immediately saw several ten thousand sea monsters, big and small, pouring into the Bone Sea through the river channels like a tightly packed group, leaving little-to-no gaps in between them.

At the same time, their rapid movements rocked the usually calm river surface in waves.

God knew how many more sea monsters were still fighting to enter the realmship from beyond the western edge.

Leon paid particular attention to the sea monsters' strength which varied from Low-rank Lesser Demons to Mid-rank Arch Demons.

After the sea monsters entered the Bone Sea, they immediately attacked the pre-existing sea monsters occupying the sea region as if they were waging war on each other.

Within moments, blood bloomed from the depths of the Bone Sea as the sea monsters slaughtered each other.

Nevertheless, Leon's focus didn't stay on the primary battle for long before shifting elsewhere.

The sea monsters from the sea monster tide clearly came to the Bone Sea with a purpose, and that was what he wanted to find out.

While the weaker sea monsters fought closer to the sea surface, the stronger Arch Demon-level sea monster dived into the depths of the Bone Sea.

They didn't stop plunging deeper in the depths of the Bone Sea until the other pre-existing Arch Demon-level sea monsters in the Bone Sea attacked them first.

Leon's eyes quickly flickered at the situation.

'The sea monsters from this sea monster tide seem to want something from the depth of the Bone Sea… But I wonder what it is?' Leon mused.

It didn't take long before he suddenly raised an eyebrow at another discovery.

"Oh?" Leon uttered.

The High-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters began moving away from their sea region in deeper waters to join the battle in the upper levels.

However, it wasn't just the High-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters that moved.

Even the Peak-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters left the seafloor region after receiving sonar signals from the High-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters.

Leon wouldn't have imagined that the Peak-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters would move away from the seafloor region.

'The sea monsters in the Bone Sea are actually communicating and making coordinated movements to resist the foreign sea monsters' invasion… is this territorial battle?'

Leon wondered with a surprised look.

Now that he thought about it, the seafloor was overflowing lifeforce, which allowed the sea monsters to live very long lives as well as grow insanely strong.

It was a type of holy land.

The situation in the Bone Sea was slowly shifting in the sea monster tide's favor as their numbers quickly soared into the millions without any sign of stopping.

'So that's why it became the Bone Sea…' Leon suddenly realized.

It wasn't just the humans and demons that made up the Bone Sea; most of the bones in the Bone Sea belonged to the sea monsters.

If Leon didn't see the sea monsters devouring each other whole without spitting up the bones, he wouldn't have made sense of how human and demon bones even made up a tenth of the total bones in the Bone Sea.

Nevertheless, the sea monster tide didn't hold the advantage for long.

Once the High-rank Arch Demon and Peak-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters entered the fray, the battle tipped back in their favor.

It was the most spectacular sea battle Leon had ever witnessed, and he had front row seats to watch it from any perspective he liked.

While such a battle of enormous proportions was taking place in the Bone Sea, the dark wyrms were having the time of their lives fishing for food by the western rivers with Aria and Darlene.

It didn't take long for the dark faes to join them as well.

The sea monster tide posed a certain level of danger with its numbers and strength, but the situation was completely under control—thanks to the four Demon Lord-level dark wyrms overseeing it.

Leon secretly watched the group hoard fresh bodies of the sea monsters they caught and killed while a smaller group prepped them for dinner.

He only needed a single glance to understand that everyone was looking forward to dining in on the sea monsters' flesh later.

"There doesn't seem to be any serious issue with the sea monster tide, no?" Leon said to Nyfarella.

"Er…" Nyfarella scratched her head awkwardly.

"My Lord asked about the sea monster tide last time, so Nyfarella thought my Lord would be interested to know when the sea monster tide arrives…" she explained with an embarrassed look.

"Well, you're not wrong," Leon admitted before saying, "Watching the others catching sea monsters also makes me want to join in on the fun."

He had advanced his cultivation by leaps and bounds, but he had yet to adapt to it; the sea monsters will do well as his practice targets.

"I'll be heading over after I refill the medicine baths," Leon stated before giving a passing glance at Nyfarella's progress.

She was still Rank 1 Body Transformation, but her strength has reached the Mid-rank Greater Demon level.

Nevertheless, Leon quickly refilled the medicine baths' effects before he went on his way to join Aria and Darlene by the river.

"Leon, you're here," Aria quickly noticed Leon's arrival before saying to him, "I thought you'd come to find us sooner."

"My bad. I decided to cultivate a bit more," Leon replied wryly.

At that moment, he still had 30 drops of the Black Turtle Origin Blood, half of what he refined from the Black Turtle Blood Essences he collected.

Although it was only a few dozen drops, they contained tremendous energy within them.

If he hadn't been interrupted, he might have just gone ahead and spent another day tempering his flesh to reach Rank 7 Body Transformation in the flesh-tempering phase.

It was definitely possible with the origin blood of a Half-step God Beast.

Chapter 872 - Duna Exits Her Retreat

"When are we returning to the Darkmoon Tribe, Leon?" Darlene asked.

Leon slowly turned his head to face Darlene before he said, "We'll return without Duna within two days if she doesn't finish her cultivation by then."

"Why do you ask, Darlene? Do you miss home?" Leon asked shortly after.

However, Darlene shook her head at his question.

"Wherever you are, that is where my home is now," Darlene softly said.

"I don't miss the Darkmoon Tribe; I'm just wondering what the situation in the Infertile Plains is like now that everyone else had gone back."

"True," Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Definitely not a peaceful one considering he Infertile Plain's only supply, the Divine Water Spark, is running out of juice. In fact, things should be getting pretty heated up in the Infertile Plains."

"Shouldn't we return sooner to help then? It's been more than three weeks. The situation might be pretty bad for the Darkmoon Tribe," Aria mentioned with knitted brows.

"Not necessarily. We have Senior One-Eye holding the fort for us," Leon replied.

After a short pause, he added, "Also, the Battle God Palace owes me a favor for saving their third young master. Given my affiliation to the Darkmoon Tribe and the Battle God Palace's influence in the Infertile Plains, the Darkmoon Tribe might even be trouble-free."

"Eh, I guess when you put it like that, there's nothing to worry about," Aria said without adding further to the topic.

However, whether it was Leon or her, they both knew that things don't always go according to one's expectations.

"That being said, it is true that we've been away for too long and should head back soon. It'll be interesting to see how much the empire's new capital has developed during this period," Leon said.

"Mm," Aria nodded.

"Anyway, that aside, it seems like you two enjoying hunting sea monsters very much, or should I say eating them?"

Leon changed the topic with a knowing look as he pointed to the corners of his mouth as if something was supposed to be stuck there.

The two ladies immediately scratched the corners of the mouth before shortly realizing they had fallen for Leon's trick.

However, they blushed with embarrassment instead of getting angry.

"The sea monsters' flesh is so tender and tasty; it's something I've never tried before, so I can't help myself," Aria said wryly.

"Mm, mm! Same here!" Darlene added with a nod.

"I've seen," Leon smiled before saying, "But do you know there's a special way of eating fresh sea monsters without cooking them?"

"Eating sea monsters without cooking them? Won't you get sick or food poisoning?" Darlene asked with doubt.

She also doubted the taste with be good.

"Of course, such risk exists, especially if the sea monster itself is sick or belongs to a poisonous kind," Leon did not deny the possibility.

"That's why a special way of preparing the sea monsters' flesh is needed, and to enrich the taste and experience, I'd need to prepare a special sauce for it as well. Anyway, you'll understand once you try it."

After Leon spoke about it, Darlene remained hesitant about the whole idea of eating raw sea monster flesh, while Aria expressed her willingness to try.

The memories of Aria White revealed that such a special way of eating raw fish exists in the Divine Realm, but she had yet to try it for herself, making her all the more eager to try it.

"I'll try it," Aria stated firmly.

"Good, I knew you'll agree," Leon commented before saying, "However, let's leave it for later. I'll go play with these sea monsters for a bit."

Shortly after saying that, Leon went ahead and joined the dark wyrms in hunting the sea monsters rushing through the river.

Thanks to the dark wyrms' collective efforts, none of the sea monsters made it on land up to this point.

"Are you sure about this, Sister Aria? It's… raw sea monster flesh, you know?" Darlene whispered into Aria's ears with concern a few moments later.

However, Aria smiled back at her.

"Since Leon spoke positively about it, it should be bad. We should at least give it a try to find out, no?"

"But… what if he's tricking us again?" Darlene mentioned.

"Ah…" Aria uttered.

She quickly understood the source of Darlene's hesitation.

After a short moment of silent contemplation, she suggested, "How about I try it first and tell you if it's actually delicious or not, Sister Darlene?"

"Really? Are you sure, Sister Aria?"

"Yeah," Aria calmly affirmed.

"It's settled then!"

…

Sometime later, Leon slaughtered enough sea monsters to build a mountain out of them and finished adapting to his strength.

Even when he dived in the river and allowed the sea monsters to attack him freely, not a single sea monster was able to harm him, not even the Mid-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters.

Nevertheless, that only applied to the weakest of Mid-rank Arch Demon-level sea monsters.

Any sea monster slightly stronger than that could break his fleshly body's defense but still wouldn't be able to hurt his inner organs.

"I'm back," Leon uttered before suggesting, "Shall I prepare fresh sea monster flesh for—"

Leon did not finish speaking when he suddenly felt a massive spike in soul energy coming from within the rock walls.

His eyes quickly flickered.

'Duna's cultivation must have ended,' he determined.

Nevertheless, he was not the only one to have felt the enormous surge in soul energy; everyone within the vicinity of the source also felt it.

Some were even alarmed by it.

Shadowtail and the other Demon Lord-level Earth Dragons all shot their gazes to the rock wall's direction with solemn expressions.

"Was that from… Duna?" Aria turned to Leon with surprise.

"Un," Leon affirmed with a nod after observing the situation through the realm spirit's omniscience before saying, "Let us go over and see her."

At that moment, Duna had officially exited her retreat.

When Leon, Aria, and Darlene returned to the rock wall, they quickly spotted Duna standing outside her cultivation chamber.

She appeared aloof and unapproachable while gazing into the distant sky.

Chapter 873 - Great Demon Lord Duna

There was something sacred about Duna's aura that made everyone stay silent and only watch her from a distance.

Some dark faes even had the urge to prostrate in worship.

Duna was an evil spirit, but her current presence radiated with inviolable holiness that commanded authority and reverence.

Aria was surprised when she felt that from Duna.

'Just what level has Duna reached for her such sacred aura to suffuse her entire being?' Aria silently wondered.

It was as if Duna had become a higher-level being—No, she did become a higher-level being.

Leon felt like that was the case.

Otherwise, Duna wouldn't have reacted so strongly to him gifting her the Demon King-level crystalized soul core.

While everyone was awed by Duna's celestial-like presence, Leon hopped down from the rock wall and strolled over to her side.

"It seems like your secluded cultivation went well," Leon commented with a smile as he approached her in a familiar manner.

Duna slowly shifted her gaze to him before she calmly nodded without a word.

"Did you… reach the Demon King level?"

"Great Demon Lord," Duna corrected.

After hearing her answer, Leon's eyes widened with surprise.

She didn't become a Demon King, but becoming a Great Demon Lord within three weeks didn't make it any less shocking.

He should have expected it, but he still found it hard to accept.

'No wonder she looked down on me for gifting her the crystalized soul core…' Leon thought wryly.

Duna had skipped multiple large realms and achieved a level in her soul cultivation that left him far behind.

Nevertheless, her cold and distant responses made Leon furrow his brows with a puzzled look.

It wasn't just her strength that changed, but also her usual behavior; she had become more indifferent.

The usual Duna would have mocked him but still spare the effort to educate his ignorance.

After pondering for a short moment, Leon raised the white flag in surrender; he did not know what to do to close the widened gap in their relationship.

He could only hope to melt the ice with their usual interaction.

"We've both been in secluded cultivation for three weeks. A lot of changes must have taken place outside the realmship," Leon mentioned before seeking her opinion, "Shall we return to the Infertile Plains to take a look?"

After a short moment, Duna nodded in agreement.

"Great. I'll settle some matters first; then we can leave together," Leon said.

After Duna nodded again, Leon had Nyfarella round up her Dark Fae Clan before he headed over to Shadowtail's side.

"I'll be leaving the realmship shortly. Will your clan follow me to explore the outside world or stay in this sub-realm?" Leon asked.

Shadowtail only glanced at the pile of sea monsters for a short moment before giving his firm answer, "The Dark Wyrm Clan will follow you, my Lord!"

"The Dark Wyrm Clan, huh? Can you still be called when the other clan members all evolve into earth dragons like you?" Leon smiled with amusement.

It was a simple question, but Shadowtail immediately froze before he seriously contemplated the matter.

"My Lord is right," Shadowtail agreed with Leon's point.

"A clan of earth dragons shouldn't be called the Dark Wyrm Clan anymore. The Dark Wyrm Clan represents our past, but I believe we need a name befitting our future."

"How about Black Dragon Clan?" Leon casually suggested.

He was terrible with names and randomly came up with a casual one. Still, Shadowtail, once again, contemplated his suggestion seriously.

"Black Dragon Clan… Black because of our alignment, and the word 'dragon' covers all subspecies of dragons…" Shadowtail muttered before saying, "It's a simple name, but it's a good name, my Lord; it can be used immediately."

"I concur," Nightingale interjected.

The Dark Wyrm Clan—No, the Black Dragon Clan quickly became fond of the new name and didn't hesitate to abandon their one.

"Seems like you don't have much attachment to your old clan name," Leon commented.

"There's no use staying attached to something that won't have anything to do with our future, my Lord," Shadowtail replied.

"Well, they're just names in the end, but it's good if you think like that," Leon nodded with approval.

"A real man won't boast about his past achievements, so a real dragon shouldn't place importance on the past; your place is in the future."

"Yes, my Lord," Shadowtail nodded.

"Alright, round up everyone that wishes to follow me outside and gather outside the rock walls. We'll depart together in half an hour."

"Yes, my Lord."

Shadowtail answered—only to be hesitant in the next moment as he glanced at the piles of sea monsters they had accumulated and prepped.

"It's a pity that we can't bring all these sea monster flesh with us," Shadowtail mentioned.

However, Leon casually waved his hand and sucked everything into his Worldspace before saying, "Now we can."

"Is that a spatial artifact, my Lord?" Shadowtail asked with surprise.

"Yeah," Leon nodded.

Shadowtail and the other dark wyrms felt envious that they could not use spatial artifacts like their Lord.

It wasn't just spatial artifacts but all other types of artifacts as well; there weren't any artifacts that they could use or wear due to their immense sizes.

At the same time, the amount of materials required to create custom-made artifacts for them would be many folds greater to match their size.

"If you're interested, I can create some for your clan to use, though I can't guarantee the quality will be high," Leon offered.

He had multiple tier-5 and tier-6 interspatial rings, but none of them could be worn by Shadowtail and his clan members.

"It'll be great if you can, my Lord," Shadowtail expressed his interest before wondering with curiosity, "But you also know about runes and forging, my Lord?"

"Yeah," Leon uttered.

Shortly after returning to the rock wall, Leon gifted a few tier-5 and tier-6 interspatial rings to Nyfarella and her clan members.

Then, he instructed the dark faes to head over to the river and join the Black Dragon Clan to collect as many sea monster bodies before their departure time.

Afterward, Leon shifted his attention to Aria.

Chapter 874 - The Desolate Demon Territory

The moment Leon shifted his attention to Aria, she also glanced back at him with wonder.

"Did you find anything you like when you cleared out the undead beings in the underground space?" Leon asked her.

There were a lot of rare treasures down there; he didn't mind if Aria took a liking to everything she saw and pocketed them all.

He wouldn't have mentioned the undead beings to her if he had been concerned over such a trivial matter.

If she wanted the world, then he would give her the world.

Nevertheless, Aria's eyes brightened once Leon brought up the topic.

"Ah, I was just about to mention this matter to you before we leave. There's a lot of good stuff down there, but I'm sure you already know this," Aria mentioned.

Shortly after, she took her tier-7 interspatial ring and hand over to him.

"I collected everything I found valuable and sorted them out in this interspatial ring; some of these items are really high-tier. I'm not sure if we should take all of these items outside. It'll cause chaos if anyone finds out about these items."

Aria mentioned her concern.

"True, but if anything happens, we can always hide in the realmship," Leon stated.

Given the state of the realmship, it couldn't be moved from its present location, but the range of its spatial function was quite extensive.

It covered the demon's territory, Infertile Plains, and everything west of those regions, all the way to the realmship.

The same coverage applies to other directions around the realmship.

Since Leon was connected to the realmship, he could order the realm spirit to bring him and everyone around him back as long as he was within its range.

After Leon inspected the contents of the tier-7 interspatial ring for a moment, he handed it back to Aria without taking anything.

"Keep it," Leon said with a smile.

"You don't want anything from it?" Aria asked with surprise before adding, "There are quite a few Celestial-level items in here; the Celestial Sparks, for example. You don't want any of it?"

Leon shook his head.

"I have a few Celestial Sparks on me myself. But apart from the Celestial Water Spark, which can resolve the Infertile Plains' water shortage, I don't have any use for these other Celestial Sparks," Leon stated.

Shortly after, he reminded her, "Refining these Celestial Sparks can quickly bring us up to the Celestial Realm, but the price is not worth it in the long term. Our goals should be higher."

"Mm," Aria nodded.

"In that case, I will just put these items back in a secure location. I don't feel at ease carrying such priceless treasures on me."

Leon nodded.

…

Half an hour later, everyone was ready to leave the realmship. They gathered around Leon with everything they needed.

"Seems like we are ready to go," Leon commented with a nod after sweeping everyone a glance.

'Sent us out, Tak-si.'

'Yes, Master.'

Tak-si locked onto the destination in Leon's mind before activating the realmship's spatial function and sending everyone out.

Swish!

The scenery quickly changed as Leon returned to the edge of the abyss in the demon's territory—or rather, the Starfall Dominion as the demons called it.

"This is… the Starfall Dominion! We're finally back," Nyfarella and the rest of the dark faes quickly recognized the region and celebrated.

They felt they had been gone for a long time.

At that moment, Saresha and the others were filled with eagerness to return to the Dark Fae Clan and check on their homes.

"So this is what the outside looks like…"

Shadowtail and the rest of the Black Dragon Clan also observed their surroundings with wonder and curiosity.

"Why did you send us here, Leon? Wouldn't it have been better if you sent us back to the Darkmoon Tribe directly?" Darlene turned to Leon with a puzzled look.

"Can you imagine how the warriors in the Infertile Plains will react with so many dark faes and dark wyrms suddenly appearing within human settlements? We'll be targeted from all sides," Leon answered with a wry smile.

"I don't think that will be a problem for us, though. We have Duna and the Demon Lord-level earth dragons on our side," Aria interjected.

She had never seen a more powerful lineup than this; in fact, this might be the most powerful force in the world.

No one would be their opponent.

"That's true," Leon nodded.

"However, that's not what I'm concerned about. If I want to unite all the human tribes under me, I must let them know I am on their side. It won't do if the warriors view us as traitors of humanity. Well, this problem can be fixed with some explanation. Still, it's a hassle, and I want to avoid inconvenience where possible."

"Furthermore, I wanted to check out the Starfall Dominion on our way back. After all, there are a lot of ruins and primordial heritage hidden in this land. We might just find some suitable cultivation methods for you and Darlene while we are at it."

After listening to Leon say that much, Aria had nothing else to say and nodded.

"Good idea. I didn't think that far," Aria said.

Nevertheless, Leon observed his surroundings before locking his eye son the abyss in the center, which was rather deep.

The object that fell from outer space must have been incredibly huge to create such a land.

"Hm?" Leon suddenly noticed the dark fae leader's frown before he asked, "What's the matter, Nyfarella?"

"My Lord, don't you think this place is rather deserted? There isn't a single demon within sight of this place," Nyfarella mentioned her discovery. "Demons never leave this place empty, so Nyfarella finds this most strange."

"Now that you mentioned it, there are no human corpses around here either… It seems like the demons and humans didn't battle after I sent them back first…" Leon muttered.

He could understand if the humans returned to the Infertile Plains, but what the demons?

Where did all the demons go?

After a few moments of wondering, Leon recalled that he destroyed the Teleportation Array shortly after he booted everyone out.

The heavenly staircase wouldn't have maintained its formation in the sky.

"Did the demons fall in the abyss but never came back out?" Leon wondered out loud.

Chapter 875 - The Being Hidden In The Abyss

"Tell me more about this place, Nyfarella. You mentioned this place is never empty; why? What is special about this area?"

Leon turned to Dark Fae Clan's leader for answers.

"Yes, my Lord!" Nyfarella nodded.

"While the Nine Great Clans govern the Starfall Dominion, they are not the absolute ruler of this land. The Lord of the Starfall Dominion stands above them all and resides at the bottom of this abyss."

"The demons regularly pay a visit to the abyss to worship the Lord and offer sacrifice in return for the Lord's protection against the other dominions."

"This Lord must be quite powerful then…" Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully while staring at the abyss.

"I wonder if this Lord has anything to do with that apparition that appeared during the Bone Calamity…"

Swoosh!

Shortly after Leon mentioned that matter, Duna took off on her own as she jumped into the abyss.

"Duna, wait!" Leon called out to her.

As Duna descended into the dark depths of the abyss, Leon followed her, which was followed by Aria, Darlene, and Black Dragon Clan following him.

"M-my Lord, be careful! The abyss is the Lord's sacred ground! Anyone who steps foot in there becomes offering for the Lord!" Nyfarella cried.

However, everyone had left, leaving only the dark faes behind by the edge of the abyss. They hesitated and struggled to make a decision in their hearts.

The horrors of the Lord were deeply ingrained in their memories.

No one had ever seen the Lord's true body—or rather, no one had seen all of it and live to tell the tale.

Even so, the few parts it revealed were grotesque—the likes of which they had never seen before among demons.

Nevertheless, the Lord wasn't a being that anyone could go up against. Still, the dark faes couldn't leave Lord Leon after swearing allegiance to him either.

"Why should we do, clan leader?" Saresha asked.

"There's no other choice," Nyfarella bit her lips and said with determination, "Everyone already left. We can't fall too far behind; we are going down."

Shortly after, the dark faes also flew down into the abyss, albeit nervously.

…

After landing on soft black soil at the bottom of the abyss, Leon's glowing eyes immediately landed on the giant black pyramid-like object sitting in the center.

Nevertheless, the pyramid only revealed a fraction of its entire size on the surface.

"My Lord, please back. I sense a Demon Lord-level existence coming from this ruin," Shadowtail quickly warned Leon to distance himself from the black pyramid.

"Aren't the four of you also Demon Lord-level beings? Are you saying you're not confident in protecting me from whatever is hidden in there?"

Leon cast a glance at Shadowtail, Nightingale, and the other two earth dragons beside them.

"If it's just any Low-rank Demon Lord, we will have no problem protecting you, my Lord. However, the presence lurking within this ruin is giving me an eerie and uneasy feeling," Shadowtail replied while gazing at the black pyramid with a solemn look.

"I am also getting such a feeling from the presence lurking within the ruin, my Lord. I don't think the being lurking inside is simple. We should be careful," Nightingale added.

After listening to them, Leon raised an eyebrow.

Nevertheless, Duna treaded along the soft black soil with her bare feet and calmly approached the black pyramid without fear.

It didn't take before a ghastly voice echoed from the black pyramid.

"Since you've come, don't think about leaving! You shall all become my nourishments!" the being hidden in the black pyramid spoke.

In the next instance, countless fleshly tentacles shot out of the ground to take everyone.

"Oh no! We shouldn't have come here! It was a mistake!" a dark fae cried with a horrified look.

The fleshly tentacles immediately struck fear into the dark faes the moment they appeared. They didn't stop trembling on the spot.

"Be careful, my Lord!" Shadowtail warned.

The earth dragon immediately rushed to intercept a few tentacles aimed at Leon as it swiped at them with its dragon claws.

At the same time, the other three earth dragons covered the others.

Puchi!

The earth dragons ripped apart numerous fleshly tentacles within mere moments.

However, before anyone could relax, the severed tentacles wiggled their way to their other ends and re-attached themselves.

At the same time, multiple tentacles didn't require reattachment; they regrew their severed parts within a few breaths with their powerful regeneration instead.

Upon witnessing that, Leon's eyes immediately flickered.

"This thing reminds me of those fleshly abominations found within the energy conversion towers I destroyed…" Leon muttered with a frown.

"Does that mean there's an energy conversion tower here?"

"But that doesn't seem to be the case… There isn't a hint of artificial spirit energy in this region, and this fleshly abomination also seems much stronger than the ones I've killed…"

While Leon pondered the fleshly abomination's origins, Duna approached the black pyramid without being hindered by the fleshly tentacles.

The Destruction Law surrounding Duna's body reduced all the fleshly tentacles to ashes, and soon, the fleshly abomination yelped in pain.

Its disintegrated fleshly tentacles failed to regenerate themselves as if a great power was hindering its regenerative ability.

"Arghh! This power… the Destruction Law…! It's you! W-why are you here?!" the fleshly abomination cried.

It didn't take long to recognize Duna as the one who slaughtered its minions and destroyed its apparition during the Bone Calamity.

"You said to come and find your true body in the Land of Darkness, so here I am, standing before you. Now how do you want to die?" Duna said coolly.

"Kek, do you think I'm really afraid of you? If you dare, enter the ruin and fight me!" the fleshly abomination goaded.

The corners of Duna's lips rose disdainfully.

She thought the black skull apparition was a real Demon Lord-level evil spirit. But as it turned out, it was only a trapped Half-step Demon Lord, and it wasn't even an evil spirit.

It was a mutated human with some partial devil soul awakening.

Chapter 876 - Red Ghoul Clan

The fleshly abomination tried to lure Duna into the black pyramid, but she wasn't one to fall for such an obvious trap.

However, it didn't matter even if she did.

"Hmph, a trifling Half-step Demon Lord thinks it can stand a chance against me? You don't know who you're dealing with!" Duna snorted coldly.

She immediately raised her hand and blasted the black pyramid with the full force of her Destruction Law.

In that instance, the sturdy black pyramid, which even the Half-step Demon Lord couldn't free itself from with its oversized body, was easily torn asunder.

The black pyramid didn't stand a single chance against Duna's Destruction Law.

Nevertheless, it was sturdy enough to shatter into large pieces, albeit only briefly before they further disintegrated into tiny pieces of ashes.

The destruction of the black pyramid freed the fleshly abomination from its captivity. But before it could rejoice, it was shortly struck by Duna's Destruction Law.

"Arghhh!"

The fleshly abomination screeching and grating cries resounded from the depths of the black pyramid as it felt its existence fading away.

In the face of absolute power, the fleshly abomination was horrified at its inability to resist.

"This power… This pressure… You're a Great Demon Lord!" the fleshly abomination gaze finally fell on Duna's figure with abject terror.

"It's too late to beg for mercy even if you know," Duna said coolly.

With a snap of her finger, the wave of destruction swept past the fleshly abomination's grotesque body like a gust of wind and scattered its ashes.

"N…"

The wave of destruction destroyed the fleshly abomination's existence disappeared, both in body and soul.

Whatever ashes remained of its existence was blended into the black soil.

Nyfarella and the other dark faes widened their eyes in shock before they glanced at Duna in the distance with a renewed impression of fear.

They didn't expect an existence like the Lord, who terrorized and ruled the entire Starfall Dominion from the abyss, could be destroyed so easily.

Duna was far, far more powerful than they could imagine.

While Shadowtail and the rest of the Black Dragon Clan were awed by Duna's display of dominance, Leon smiled wryly at the destruction of the black pyramid.

That was a historical ruin with a lot of research value!

'Alas, what has been done cannot be undone. I will have to take a look at the other ruins in the Starfall Dominion,' Leon thought.

There weren't many regions with ruins lying in the open like the Starfall Dominion, which the Starfall event had unearthed.

Nevertheless, Leon quickly pushed aside the matter and approached Duna.

Others would think twice about getting anywhere near Duna after the terrifying destructivity she had shown, but not him.

He was not afraid.

"Are you alright after drawing so much power from the Destruction Law?" Leon asked while studying her body's condition out of concern.

However, it didn't seem like she suffered any backlash from the Destruction Law.

"I'm fine," Duna replied coolly.

"I see…" Leon didn't mind the indifferent response and nodded with relief, "That's good to hear. If you're hurt, don't hesitate to ask me for help."

It appeared that Duna had overcome the Destruction Law's backlash after she raised her soul cultivation to the Great Demon Lord level.

He had not quite adapted to that reality.

Nevertheless, Duna glanced at Leon briefly before she eventually nodded, keeping note of his offer should the time ever come.

Shortly after, Leon shifted his gaze to the remains of the black pyramid, which wasn't worth mentioning. There was hardly anything left of it.

"Seems like there's nothing left of value here. Shall we move on with our journey?" Leon suggested.

Duna nodded again.

Shortly after, she silently followed several steps behind Leon as they made their way back to the rest of the group.

"We are done here. Let us move on from this area," Leon informed the group.

"Yes, my Lord!" Shadowtail and the others answered, loud and clear.

Shortly after getting the group's affirmation, Leon turned his head to face the Dark Fae Clan's leader.

"Nyfarella, your clan is most familiar with the Starfall Dominion out of everyone here. Where is your clan located? Also, where is the nearest ruin?" Leon inquired.

"The nearest ruin…" Nyfarella gathered her thoughts before replying, "The nearest ruin lies on the other side of a rocky plateau roughly twenty-five miles south from here."

"My Lord should be able to see the rocky plateau from here…." Nyfarella pointed, but then she realized it was not that visible without good vision due to the lack of light in the dark land.

"Well, sort of," she added with a wry smile.

Leon glanced towards the south with Spirit Eyes. When he spotted the looming shadows of the rocky plateau mentioned, he nodded with acknowledgment.

However, he had no interest in venturing deeper into the demon's territory for the time being.

He still needed to get back to the Infertile Plains and check on the situation of the Seven Tribes Alliance.

"What about the Dark Fae Clan?" Leon asked.

"Our clan is located roughly sixty-five miles northwest, my Lord," Nyfarella replied.

However, she shortly hesitated before adding, "Five miles further west from our clan is a rocky region, where another ruin is located. The Red Ghoul Clan sends the men in our clan there to excavate it all year round—We basically never see them."

"So the Red Ghoul Clan has been suppressing your clan by making the men work around the clock, huh? Is this the reason for the Dark Fae Clan's consistent decline, both in population and strength?" Leon wondered.

"Yes, my Lord," Nyfarella admitted with a nod.

"Nyfarella used to have a lover, but we've grown distant due to the long years of separation... He might not even be alive anymore…" Nyfarella recalled with a distant look.

However, she quickly added, "Ah, but my Lord does not have to worry. Our relationship did not progress beyond holding hands, and I don't hold any more feelings for that person."

Nyfarella snuck a few meaningful glances at Leon.

Thud.

Aria suddenly kicked Leon's shin.

Although it didn't hurt, Leon still turned to face her with a confused look and asked, "What was that for?"

"Hmph!" Aria turned away with a pout.

Leon's lips twitched.

He could not help but feel wronged.