Chapter 2792 - 961-974

Chapter 961 The Frozen Winter Cats

After Duke Blizzardpaw briefly explained everything he knew about the blizzard storm region, Leon scrutinized the land in the distance with narrowed eyes.

It was a land of heavy wind and snow, a clear contrast to the other parts of the cold north, which was just a vast land of ice.

However, the heavy wind and snow of the blizzard storm region contained a terrifying coldness within them, much more so than the latter.

It was clear which of the two cold regions was more dangerous at a glance.

"Do you think another Celestial Ice Spark is hidden in this land, Leon?" Faelyn sought Leon's opinion with a curious look.

However, Leon shook his head.

"The environment of this blizzard storm region is not the same as the frozen region. We can assume that there is another Celestial Spark hidden in the heart of this land. However, the Celestial Spark most likely contains the power of a different water-type law," Leon speculated.

"It'll be difficult for us to venture far into this land, so we will only explore the outer region and retrieve the frozen Winter Cats for Duke Blizzardpaw," Leon stated shortly after.

Even for him, it would be a bit difficult and dangerous to explore the depths of the blizzard storm region with Faelyn and Duke Blizzardpaw.

It would have been fine if he were on his own. But since he was with Faelyn and Duke Blizzardpaw, it would like trying to move with his feet tied.

"You have my gratitude, Lord Leon," Duke Blizzardpaw said gratefully with his head lowered.

Shortly after, the group advanced and stepped straight into the heavy snow of the blizzard storm region.

Leon's ice-fire domain operated to its full potential. His ice ability warded the coldness outside the domain while his fire ability heated the inside.

At the same time, it also weakened the cold energy that bypassed his ice ability, whether purposely or unintentionally.

As such, the weather within Leon's domain was very controlled and cool, like spring, neither hot nor cold.

"Right there, Lord Leon! My frozen tribe members are right over there!" Duke Blizzardpaw directed Leon shortly after they entered the blizzard storm region.

As expected, the scouts from the Winter Cat Tribe did not make it far into the blizzard storm region before they froze.

Furthermore, the Winter Cats were all frozen positions that faced the western direction—the direction leading out of the blizzard storm region.

It was clear that Winter Cats realized the blizzard storm region was too cold for them when they entered and tried to flee quickly. However, they all became frozen statues before they could succeed.

"Hm?" Leon suddenly noticed something.

The frozen Winter Cats were preserved very well—or rather, too well.

They didn't lack anything from the time they were alive except for their body heat and the color of blood flowing through their bodies.

"Is there something wrong, Lord Leon?" Duke Blizzardpaw asked.

Leon glanced at Duke Blizzardpaw's frostbite scar, a patch of blackened skin, and compared it to the frozen Winter Cats.

However, frozen Winter Cats were still white as they could be. They were frozen without suffering any frostbites.

Leon was led to believe that the frozen Winter Cats and Duke Blizzardpaw didn't experience the same cold in the blizzard storm region.

"Do you recall your experience from the time you entered the blizzard storm region, Duke Blizzardpaw?" Leon inquired.

"Of course, Lord Leon. As clear as it was yesterday, in fact," Duke Blizzardpaw answered.

"How can I forget? The terrifying cold sent chills down my spine. But more importantly, I felt like the blizzard was alive… or at least, that was what I felt at the time. Why do you ask, Lord Leon?"

"It just seems like there a big difference between the frost power that hurt you and the frost power that froze these Winter Cats," Leon stated.

That being said, it was amazing that Duke Blizzardpaw was even still alive with such a wound for so long. This was the difference between a Paragon-level being and a normal human.

If it were a normal human with frostbite, it would have killed them.

"Hm?" Duke Blizzardpaw stroked his whisker with a frown before asking, "Are you doubting my words, Lord Leon?"

"Not at all," Leon shook his head.

"I'm simply saying there are two different frost power at work here. What gave you this frostbite scar is destructive. It kills the cells in your body. However, the frost power that froze these other Winter Cats doesn't destroy. Instead, it preserves."

"What does that mean?" Duke Blizzardpaw wondered.

"I'm not too sure. It's the first time I've personally seen living beings preserved so well with the power of ice. I'm not just talking about their outer appearance but also their life statuses," Leon stated.

When Duke Blizzardpaw and Faelyn heard that, they were both stunned.

"You mean…"

"It's very faint, almost undetectable. However, these frozen Winter Cats all have a breath of life. Their body temperatures are low, and their vitals are extremely weak, but at least they haven't stopped. There's a chance of reviving them," Leon stated.

In the Divine Realm, there were all sorts of theories and approaches toward achieving the everlasting.

Cryosleep was one of them.

Although it couldn't be considered everlasting, it does preserve people's bodies and life status for an indefinitely long period as long as they remain in the state.

Duke Blizzardpaw's eyes brightened after listening to Leon's explanation. However, he was confused in the next moment when Leon suddenly handed him a white pill.

"What is this?" Duke Blizzardpaw wondered.

"A Tier-5 Healing Pill. It will help you recover from your frostbites and any other lingering wounds your body has sustained," Leon casually explained.

Duke Blizzardpaw was unfamiliar with alchemy, and he wasn't sure of the pill's effects. But since Leon gifted it to him, he decided to accept it graciously.

The moment Duke Blizzardpaw, the Tier-5 Healing Pill's efficacy spread through his body and restored it to its peak.

Duke Blizzardpaw felt an unprecedented comfort he hadn't felt in a long time after the pill removed all his ailments.

"I won't be overzealous with my gratitude. Just know that you have my claws, Lord Leon," Duke Blizzardpaw stated with conviction.

Chapter 962 Danger in the Blizzard

'You have my claws?' Leon mused with a smile, finding it amusing.

He heard of swords and shields being used to swear one's loyalty, but it was the first time he heard of claws being used, which also makes sense.

After all, Duke Blizzardpaw was a cat, and he had been talking to this cat.

If it were another ordinary person in his shoes, they would have thought that they were high. After all, an ordinary person wouldn't ever have a chance to meet a talking cat personally.

Beasts adept in the human tongue would have to be part of a race gifted with high intelligence or have opened their Wisdom Gate.

"Isn't it too easy to buy your loyalty, Duke Blizzardpaw?" Leon casually asked with a light smile.

"I might not know alchemy, but I don't lack awareness, Lord Leon. A Tier-5 Healing Pill shouldn't be something easy to come by. It should be extremely valuable," Duke Blizzardpaw stated.

Furthermore, Duke Blizzardpaw was already indebted to Leon and his associates for helping out the Winter Cat Tribe in a time of need.

"It's bad to follow such a powerful lord to whom I also come to respect," Duke Blizzardpaw said.

"Is that something the Lord of Blizzardpaw Dukedom should be saying? Don't tell me you've already grown tired of being a lord and want to be a lackey?" Leon softly chuckled with amusement.

However, Duke Blizzardpaw seriously considered it and said, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Let's put that aside," Leon shook his head before seriously saying, "We should take the frozen Winter Cats back first. I'm getting a bad feeling about this blizzard storm region."

"Mm, me too. I feel like something is secretly watching from within the depths of the blizzard," Faelyn mentioned with an unsettling look.

After hearing that, Leon peered into the distance with Spirit Eyes.

However, the heavy blizzard obscured his vision. But despite seeing nothing, he could also sense an overwhelming presence lurking in the depths of the heavy blizzard.

"The Celestial Ice Spark had the Half-step Divine Beast-level Ice Phoenix guarding it. There's a high chance that the blizzard storm region's Celestial Spark also has a guardian, and not a weak one either," Leon speculated with a grave look.

"It wouldn't be another Half-step Divine Beast, right?" Faelyn asked.

"I don't know. We lack information. But we might as well assume that it is one and retreat for the sake of caution. We'll gather the frozen Winter Cats first and then move them out together," Leon instructed.

"Wouldn't it be more convenient to put them in our interspatial rings?" Faelyn wondered.

"It would be, but the storage space isn't a place for living beings. The frozen Winter Cats aren't dead yet. But they will be for real if we store them in our interspatial storage rings," Leon stated.

"Please don't do that," Duke Blizzardpaw said wryly.

The frozen Winter Cats were all Winter Cats from Duke Blizzardpaw's generation. Some of them were even his friends.

"Don't worry about it, Duke Blizzardpaw. It won't happen," Leon assured.

Nevertheless, they quickly located all sixty frozen Winter Cats before gathering them in one location, where Leon made an ice sleigh to contain them all.

However, the moment the sixty frozen Winter Cats were gathered, the overwhelming presence lurking deep in the blizzard also became stronger.

"I feel like something's about to emerge from the blizzard. We better leave now," Leon urged.

After getting Faelyn and Duke Blizzardpaw's response, Leon controlled the ice sleigh to them all out of the blizzard storm region.

In that instance, the aura of the being lurking in the blizzard intensified, causing everyone to feel a strong sense of threat.

"I remember now, Lord Leon! It was this feeling! I sensed this exact feeling when I tried to pull one of my frozen kin out of the blizzard storm region!" Duke Blizzardpaw quickly informed him.

Swish!

A powerful breeze carrying the frosty power of the blizzard rushed their way. It swirled chaotically yet controlled and directed at the same time.

It was an attack aimed at them from the depths of the blizzard!

"A frost breath!" Leon glanced back at their rear with narrowed eyes.

Without further thought, Leon immediately summoned all the power of nihility he could muster in an instant, forming a cone-shape nihility barrier directed at the incoming frost breath.

Vroosh!

The frost breath collided with the cone-shaped nihility barrier in the next instance. The cone-shaped nihility barrier quickly worked its magic and scattered the frost breath like a drill.

But at the same time, the frost breath quickly diminished the power in the cone-shaped nihility barrier. Even so, Leon's cone-shaped nihility barrier contained just enough power to negate the frost breath completely.

True Grandmist Energy scattered in all directions, but Leon didn't have the luxury to absorb them all. He could only focus on escaping.

His ice sleigh brought everyone out of the blizzard storm region in the next breath.

However, the overwhelming presence lurking in the blizzard was infuriated by its failed attack. It partially emerged from the blizzard to give chase.

But at that point, Leon's group was already out of the blizzard storm region.

Roar!

The blizzard lurker gave an earth-shaking roar that stunned everyone and shook their souls.

Without a doubt, everyone confirmed the unknown creature's strength to be at the Half-step Divine Beast level.

The Half-step Divine Beast could have easily caught during everyone's momentarily stunned state.

However, the Half-step Divine Beast did not seem keen on leaving the territory of the blizzard storm region. Or rather, it wasn't keen on leaving the blizzard itself.

Even so, Leon managed to catch a glimpse of Half-step Divine Beast's shadow in the blizzard.

"What was that thing?! It was so powerful and scary!" Faelyn exclaimed with dread sometime after the Half-step Divine Beast's presence disappeared back in the depths of the blizzard.

"Judging by its dragon-like roar and the form of its enormous shadow, I will guess it was a Flood Dragon!"

Leon's eyes flickered sharply.

Chapter 963 Special Flood Dragon

A Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon!

Moreover, it was a Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon that could fly!

"This Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon most likely possessed a superior bloodline than ordinary flood dragons. We lucked out this time," Leon stated seriously.

"A flying Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon… This was not something I would expect to find in a heavy blizzard…" Duke Blizzardpaw said wryly.

Flood Dragons were water-attribute creatures of the sea.

However, the Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon they had a close encounter with didn't just fly; it also used frost breath.

This Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon was particularly special. It had a superior bloodline on top of having the superior frost ability.

"Right… A flying Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon with a frost ability is quite uncommon. It might be a variant specie of the Flood Dragon Race or a product of mutation created by the Cataclysm," Leon speculated.

"Nevertheless, it seems this Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon only swims in the blizzard sea," Leon continued before saying, "So we should be safe outside of the blizzard storm region."

"That's quite the relief to hear, Lord Leon. That situation just now was too close for comfort," Duke Blizzardpaw cracked a wry smile.

Suddenly, Duke Blizzardpaw thought of something.

"I wonder if Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon was also responsible for my frostbite," Duke Blizzardpaw thought.

"I can't say for sure, but the chances are high. The Half-step Divine Beast-level Flood Dragon's frost breath did seem like something that will give you frostbite," Leon inserted his opinion.

"In that case, I was quite fortunate to get away with such a small frostbite," Duke Blizzardpaw said with a self-deprecating smile.

Duke Blizzardpaw knew he had a close shave with death back then. But looking back on it again now, he realized it was much closer than he thought.

"How do you know about Flood Dragons, Duke Blizzardpaw?" Faelyn curiously asked before she mentioned, "I thought your tribe had no contact with other creatures in the north besides sea monsters and the Ice Phoenix Tribe."

"That is correct," Duke Blizzardpaw admitted with a nod.

Shortly after, Duke Blizzardpaw added with a smile, "However, you're more curious about how I know about Flood Dragons than how I learned to speak the human tongue, Miss Faelyn?"

"Uh…" Faelyn was struck speechless.

It suddenly dawned on her that she had been hanging around a talking cat, and she didn't realize that particular detail until now.

"This… How did you learn how to speak the human tongue, if you don't mind me asking, Duke Blizzardpaw?" Faelyn inquired wryly.

"You might not believe me, but the knowledge came to me when my strength ascended to the Paragon level and opened the Gate of Wisdom. You could even say that I inherited the knowledge from my ancestral bloodline," Duke Blizzardpaw stated.

"Inherited knowledge from one's ancestral bloodline? Is that even possible?" Faelyn wondered with amazement.

"Definitely," Leon inserted while driving the ice sleigh.

Faelyn immediately turned to Leon after seeing he was also knowledgeable on the topic. At the same time, Leon also noticed Faelyn wanted to learn more about it.

"It is said that there are ten parts to a soul, nine parts mortal and one part immortal. The body makes up one part of it. As such, there are knowledge and memories contained within one's bloodline, passed on from their ancestors. However, only beasts can innately tap into it upon reaching a certain level."

Leon shared what he knew.

Of course, what he said was just a theory from one of the soul records in the Archive. It was more widely accepted that there were only nine mortal parts.

That is because the immortal soul part, the origin soul, could not be proven to exist.

Nevertheless, Faelyn and Duke Blizzardpaw quickly showed interest in the soul topic. But before either of them could say something, they arrived at the widened entrance to the Winter Cat Tribe.

"We're back," Leon informed them.

"Let's move the frozen Winter Cats to the tribe first. I will set up a defrost chamber and work on reviving them afterward."

"Understood, Lord Leon," Duke Blizzard replied gratefully.

…

…

…

Grassland Region, New Capital

Shortly after Elizabeth returned to the heart of the Crawford Empire with Darlene and Aria, three separated.

Or rather, it was just Aria leaving.

"Mother, I won't be following you back to the palace. I am going to visit my birth parents," Aria said.

"Mm, alright. Go and see them," Elizabeth nodded with consent before adding, "You've been away for quite a while. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed to see their precious daughter again."

"Yes."

Right after Aria left, Elizabeth turned to ask Darlene, "Do you have somewhere you want to go too, Darlene?"

"No," Darlene shook her head and said, "I will accompany you to the palace, Your Majesty."

"Hm?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"M-mother," Darlene corrected.

"Alright," Elizabeth smiled.

Elizabeth arrived at the new palace a few minutes later with Darlene.

Then, she headed straight for Heinrich's study room and barged inside, where the person could be seen going through some documents.

"Dear, I got some good news to share," Elizabeth informed.

"Oh?"

Heinrich exclaimed pleasantly as Elizabeth's return temporarily lifted his stress and eased some of his worries.

"It's great that you are back and well. Where are the others?" Heinrich noticed that Leon and the other ladies didn't return with his wife.

"Aria went to check on her parents in the city. Leon and Faelyn are still in the far north with the Winter Cat Tribe, which I was going to tell you about. Nevertheless, you won't blame for arbitrarily conferring the Duke rank to a Paragon-level Winter Cat, right?" Elizabeth asked.

Heinrich immediately paused to process her words.

"Hold on. Did you just mention a cat, dear? Did you talk to it?" Heinrich inquired with doubt.

"Obviously. Why? Is it hard to believe there's a talking cat when there's been a talking wolf?" Elizabeth asked rhetorically.

However, Heinrich wryly responded, "Well, that talking wolf doesn't talk anymore, dear."

"Whatever. I'm not here to bicker on that. Anyway, is there a problem, Hein? You don't look well," Elizabeth noticed Heinrich's stress.

"Haiz…" Heinrich gave a long sigh after hearing Elizabeth mention the matter before saying, "It's the Geyser Kingdom's envoys."

Chapter 964 Absurd Demands

"The Geyser Kingdom's envoys?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow before frowning in the next moment.

"I did recall that the Geyser Kingdom would send envoys to re-establish communications between our countries and rebuild old ties before I left to look for Lynne. Have these envoys been causing troubles during their visits?"

"The envoys did cause some trouble, but none of them had any need for concerns. These envoys were just nobles with terrible characters. They like to throw their weight around and boast the glory of their Geyser Kingdom," Heinrich replied with a sigh.

Elizabeth's frown deepened after hearing that.

"For a country that wants to stay on amicable terms with us, they sure aren't putting in the effort to maintain it. They should have chosen better envoys… or perhaps, this was intentional."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes with a pondering look, yet her eyes also contained a fierce glint.

"If I don't know better, I would think that the Geyser Kingdom's ruler is looking down on us by sending these bad envoys. We could interpret his message like this: The Geyser Kingdom is stronger; it is your Crawford Empire that needs to put in the effort to maintain the amicable relationship."

"Anyway, that is just my thought. Since you said that the envoys' atrocious behaviors aren't the problems, what is the problem?" Elizabeth asked shortly after.

"The problem comes after the envoys left. None of them returned to the Geyser Kingdom after their visits. And now the Geyser Kingdom is accusing us of murdering their envoys," Heinrich said a heavy sigh.

"What?" Elizabeth uttered with a deep frown.

"See for yourself, dear," Heinrich passed the letter to Elizabeth and said, "It's all in this letter. The Geyser Kingdom isn't happy with the deaths of their envoys. Or rather, they are quite furious about it."

After Elizabeth received the letter, her eyes immediately narrowed on the royal seal in the corner.

Nevertheless, she proceeded to read the letter to understand the contents. However, her blood started boiling with fury after reading every line in the second half of the letter.

They were demands made by the Geyser Kingdom after they accused the Crawford Empire of murdering nobles of the Geyser Kingdom.

"The Geyser Kingdom is going too far!" Elizabeth exploded with rage as she scrunched up the letter with one hand. "A load of horse sh*t! They have the audacity to make such outrageous demands!"

"This is no longer about the death of the envoys! I would understand if they demand high monetary compensation or precious resources. However, they didn't make a demand for either of them. Instead, they wanted our land! Moreover, they were very specific with what land they wanted!"

"The lands they want us to hand over as compensation aren't even regions connected to the Geyser Kingdom's borders! They are regions neighboring the heart of our empire! It is clear what the Geyser Kingdom wants!" Elizabeth thundered furiously.

"Right," Heinrich nodded with a sigh and said, "The Geyser Kingdom is setting their eyes on our World Tree and its boundless supply of spirit energy."

"However, something doesn't quite make sense," Elizabeth stated with a frown before asking, "Do you think this letter from the Geyser Kingdom's ruler is authentic, dear?"

"Given the royal sea stamped on the letter, it would seem that way. However, the sheer absurdity of these demands do make me doubt its legitimacy," Heinrich inserted his opinion.

"I heard King Lutheran Geyser was a wise ruler. Considering the prosperous state of the Geyser Kingdom boasted by the envoys, there must be some truth to it. However, this letter contradicts that impression."

"Assuming the letter was forged by someone else, it would mean that this person is close to King Lutheran. Close enough that this person could steal the royal seal for his personal use. It must be quite the bigshot in the Geyser Kingdom," Elizabeth said thoughtfully.

She was able to think clearly after calming down.

"Right," Heinrich nodded and said, "If we follow that train of thought, we can assume there's a hostile faction from the Geyser Kingdom that wants the kingdom to go to war with our empire."

"And why is that causing you headaches? Just send the letter back to King Lutheran. If it was indeed forged, I reckon the situation will become pretty interesting on their end afterward, dear."

Elizabeth cracked a cold smile, thinking it would be great if King Lutheran started a purge after learning the contents of the forged letter.

However, Heinrich could only smile wryly in response to her words.

"Hm? Is there something wrong with my solution?" Elizabeth asked with a frown after reading Heinrich's expression.

"I did think about sending the letter back to King Lutheran. However, some other variables concern me. For example, the perpetrators responsible for the envoys' deaths are unknown. We don't know if they belong to the Geyser Kingdom or another force. The letter might not make it to King Lutheran," Heinrich mentioned.

"That's true… It slipped my mind when I read the letter," Elizabeth said before asking, "Have we found out where the envoys' bodies are?"

"I've given the task to the shadow guards. I believe there'll be a lead soon enough—if everything goes according to plan. However, I fear the interference of this unknown force, making things more difficult on my end," Heinrich stated.

"It seems we will be relying on the Winter Cats' help sooner than expected," Elizabeth thought.

"Although Winter Cats can't compare to dogs, they still have an excellent sense of smell. They should be able to help us track down any rat hiding in our empire as long as we have a lead on them."

"Oh?" Heinrich showed greater interest in the Winter Cat Tribe.

"Now that you mentioned that, dear, I feel like the Winter Cats will be a great addition to improving our national security," Heinrich expressed his thought.

"Anyway, what exactly happened in the north? How did you end up granting peerage to a Paragon-level Winter Cat? And more importantly, how did you get it to agree?"

"Easy on the questions, dear. I'll tell you all about it," Elizabeth smiled.

Chapter 965 Expansion Plan

As Elizabeth recounted her experiences in Extreme Misty Forest and Blizzardpaw Dukedom to her husband, she noticed some differences about Heinrich.

His body had undergone some slight changes during the time she was away from New Capital.

She hadn't noticed these changes at first. But now that Heinrich's stress and concerns slowly eased after having someone to confide in them, his body's aura became more prominent.

"Hm? You made some major breakthroughs in your cultivation while I was gone, dear?" Elizabeth asked with surprise.

"Ah, you just noticed it?" Heinrich smiled with a bit of gloat. "I just tried practicing one of the many primordial techniques our son taught for a few days, but the effects are astonishing."

Heinrich didn't just make great strides in body cultivation; he also attempted energy cultivation.

Using the abundant spirit energy in the region, Heinrich swiftly advanced to the Revolving Core Realm in three days.

Given the rate of improvement, it would only take him one to two weeks to reach the Heaven Ascension Realm.

In other words, it would only take him one to two weeks for his energy cultivation to be comparable to Rank 2 Transcendents.

On the other hand, his body cultivation was a bit slower.

Although spirit energy seemed to have impressive effects on the body, it couldn't be compared with the Grandmist Energy mentioned in the Godfiend Body Forging Method.

There was a limit to how long Heinrich could practice body cultivation before he was forced to take a break and let his body heal.

It wasn't something Heinrich could cultivate nonstop without the assistance of high-quality recovery medicine.

If Heinrich had the True Grandmist Energy mentioned in the Godfiend Body Forging Method, he wouldn't need high-quality recovery medicine to cultivate nonstop.

After Heinrich recounted his past few days' worths of cultivation experience to Elizabeth, she expressed her astonishment.

"Do you think it's good to divide your cultivation focus like that, dear? Won't it hold you back?"

"The thought did cross my mind," Heinrich nodded.

"However, you'll understand that these worries are unfound once you start cultivating with these primordial methods too. After all, the rate of improvement is very quick. Furthermore, it comes with multiple benefits."

"The strength we can derive from the combination of our awakening, energy, and body cultivation would be much stronger than awakening cultivation by itself," Heinrich said.

"In the past, awakening cultivation was our only focus because the cultivation methods for other cultivation paths couldn't compare to awakening cultivation. However, now that we have primordial techniques that could take us to True Divinity, don't you think they'll be worth practicing, dear?"

"Listening to you speak like that, I am more or less convinced. Our son also taught me quite a few primordial techniques. I suppose I should give THAT primordial technique a try," Elizabeth thought.

However, Heinrich didn't understand which primordial technique she was referring to.

There were quite a few primordial techniques taught by their son. Furthermore, their son might not have taught them the same sets of primordial techniques either.

"What primordial technique is that?" Heinrich curiously.

"The Heavenly Molten Fusion Art, an energy cultivation technique that focuses on the fusion power of metal and fire," Elizabeth explained.

"Our son must have given me this technique out of consideration for my metal and fire abilities. However, this Heavenly Molten Fusion Art will require me to work on my fire ability, which I have neglected until now."

Elizabeth sighed upon saying this.

"I have always assumed metal to be the most powerful element one could cultivate. However, I have learned that this sort of thinking is too narrow-minded and na?ve. There is no strongest power, only strongest cultivator."

"Any element can become the strongest in the hand of the strongest person," Elizabeth stated.

"There were many things we didn't know and many things we chose not to know because we never traveled beyond our domain," Heinrich said before glancing outside at the clear sky.

"There's a whole world to explore, but we never left our sphere of comfort, choosing to remain ignorant to the rest of the world. It was our son who went out and brought back these changes in the empire."

"And now, the empire is developing nicely—far beyond the wildest dreams of our past selves. The wall that once protected us now confines us," Heinrich shifted his gaze to the west and said.

Elizabeth's eyes flickered with a thought before asking, "Are you thinking of reclaiming the vast lands of the Wildlands and expanding the empire's territory westward, dear?"

"Time has changed," Heinrich said with his hands linked behind his back.

"I was still contemplating whether this was a necessary step to take. After all, conquering the west will trigger another bloody feud with the beasts. However, hearing about the Winter Cat Tribe from you, dear, I've finally decided."

"We can integrate beast tribes that share our values and become a powerful multi-race nation," Heinrich stated with a distant look. It was as if he was peering into the future.

"It's not a bad idea. I think we should push forward with it," Elizabeth voiced her agreement with Heinrich's expansion plan.

"However, I doubt all beast tribes will be as understanding and amicable as the Winter Cat Tribe. There's a lot of madness and chaos outside our territory right now. It's only thanks to the World Tree's blessings that things are relatively peaceful here," Elizabeth reminded shortly after.

"The importance of the World Tree goes without saying, whether it's for our empire's development or the people's welfare. We have to guard it well from those bearing ill intents toward it," Heinrich said.

The World Tree was a blessing to all life. It's hard to understand why anyone would want to harm it. Nevertheless, there were all sorts of evils in the world.

"Expansion plans aside, I will leave Extreme Misty Forest and Blizzardpaw Dukedom's workforce arrangement to you, dear. I will head back to the Winter Cat Tribe with Darlene to request some scouts," Elizabeth stated.

"Alright, do what you need to do, dear. I'll handle things on my end," Heinrich assured.

"We still have a large portion of idle people in New Capital. I'm sure many will happily sign up for the job once the words are out."

Chapter 966 Contribution Hall

Once Heinrich sent the labor recruitment news out to the city after Elizabeth and Darlene left, the already bustling city became even more bustling.

Tens of thousands of people quickly flocked to the recruitment board to sign up, and not a single one was below Rank 7 Body Tempering in strength.

The condition in New Capital was excellent.

With the abundance of food and crop cultivated throughout New Capital, hunger was non-existent despite the megacity being home to one million humans and elves.

No one had to worry about surviving, even if they were jobless.

Since hunger was eliminated from people's worries, and people didn't need to work for food, they started looking for other goals to succeed in life.

And when asked what the most common goal for everyone in New Capital was, cultivation was undoubtedly the answer.

However, not everyone was born with the same opportunity to rise above others in cultivation. Many did not have the financial resource of a wealthy family to aid their cultivation.

This is what made the royal family's labor recruitment so lucrative for people from common backgrounds.

It was a rare chance to earn contribution points—contribution points that can and will be traded at the Contribution Hall in the royal palace's outer courtyard.

Whether it is medicine, cultivation resource, techniques, battle skills, or even official and military positions in the empire, they can all be exchanged at the Contribution Hall.

That being said, it wasn't easy to acquire the better quality items on the exchange list. The sheer number of contribution points required was enough to dishearten anyone that looks at them.

Even so, they were more desirable than the official and military positions that could be exchanged with contribution points.

"Easy to get, hard to keep" was the best way to describe official and military positions available in the Contribution Hall's exchange list.

If one were deemed incompetent for the job, they would be fired without further notice.

Furthermore, the contribution points exchanged for the official or military position would not be refunded.

As if to add further salt to the wound, they would also be punished for their incompetence.

Many people thought the king was crazy for introducing official and military positions to the Contribution Hall and even set them at low contribution point requirements.

However, the heavy penalty that came with acquiring the jobs through the Contribution Hall was like a splash of cold water for all the opportunists who saw it as an easy way to ascend the empire's hierarchy.

A competent person would not fear being incompetent – Heinrich Crawford.

It was Heinrich's idea that the talents he needed to fill the empty positions in the empire would be sought out by the people of the empire themselves.

This saved him the trouble of finding talents while ensuring that he gets the best man or woman for each job.

Nevertheless, the contribution system had one fatal weakness – the distribution of contribution points.

It required far too much work and labor to record and update the information of every person that earned contribution points in the empire.

As such, contribution points are recorded on intricately-designed metal tokens with a specific runic-engraved number and are handed out like a form of currency.

This implies that as long as one had the proficient knowledge and skills to engrave runes and was capable enough to replicate the intricately-designed metal tokens, they could cheat the system by forging contribution points.

That being said, it was not so easy to forge contribution points either.

While the metal tokens are all created by the Lancaster Family's people, the rune engravements are done by the Duke and Duchess themselves.

Furthermore, they were all tier-3 rune engravements with actual effects.

Thus, unless the forgers were also tier-3 runemasters, it wouldn't be possible to forge contribution points and cheat the system.

But at the same time, there was no need for tier-3 runemasters to resort to forging contribution points.

Tier-3 runemasters can easily acquire status and wealth with their ability. This also means that there will be people assigned to monitor them for fraudulent acts secretly.

However, tier-3 runemasters aren't the only concern with contribution points.

Since it was a form of currency, contribution points could be freely exchanged between people, which isn't a problem in and of itself.

It only becomes a problem when the contribution points are acquired through coercion or robbery.

In order to prevent the strong from preying on the weak and guarantee the fairness of the system, Heinrich imposed the death penalty for people caught acquiring contribution points through improper means.

Nevertheless, not everyone would be deterred by the death penalty. The stakes were simply raised. As long as they don't get caught, some selfish and evil people are willing to take the risk.

You only break the law when you are caught breaking the law – nameless criminals throughout the ages.

…

"Hey, have you heard? His Majesty has issued a labor recruitment notice for reclaiming Extreme Misty Forest. This is a rare chance to earn some contribution points!" a young man excitedly shared the news.

"Huh? Reclaiming that spooky place? Is that even possible? I heard that place is full of ghouls in the outer regions and vengeful spirits in the inner regions," a female elf uttered.

"That's why there's a minimum strength requirement of Rank 5 Body Tempering for the job! Even so, we just need to chop trees, and we can earn some contribution points!" the young man informed. "I'm definitely signing up!"

"Just chop trees? It can't be that simple. His Majesty could have just sent in several Transcendents to sweep the place, no? Something about this labor recruitment notice feels shady…" a 42-year old woman doubted.

"What do you know, old hag?" the young man looked at the woman with disgust for doubting the king and said, "This is what you call the benevolence of the king! His Majesty is giving this opportunity to us common folks to improve the empire's economy and strength!"

"O-old hag?! How dare you call me that!" the 42-year woman shrieked, feeling offended by the young man's crude words.

The young man was ready to engage in a word battle with the woman when he was suddenly tapped on the shoulders by another person.

"Hm? What do you want?" the young man looked at the hooded person and frowned.

"Ignore the hag. I like to hear more about the labor recruitment notice."

Chapter 967 Hooded Refugees

"How dare you call me a hag too! I'll have you know I am still in my early—!" the 42-year-old woman was enraged by the hooded person.

However, before the 42-year-old woman could finish venting her anger, she suddenly stopped shouting after catching a glimpse of the hooded person's cold eyes.

The 42-year-old woman felt a chill run down her spine when their eyes made contact.

In that instant, she instinctively knew the person was dangerous, and it was better not to get involved with the person.

This instinctual feeling was not determined by the hooded person's strength. In fact, the woman did not know how strong the hooded person was.

However, the hooded person's cold eyes contained extreme yet controlled rage.

"Actually, it's fine. I guess I am an old hag now. Sorry for the trouble," the 42-year-old woman said before scooting off to mind her own business.

Even if she could beat a crazy person, it was too troublesome for what it's worth.

After the woman left, the hooded person shifted his attention back to the young man.

"The details," the hooded person uttered.

"Ah? Right… The labor recruitment location is outside the royal palace's main gates. You have to be at least Rank 5 Body Tempering to apply. You can find all the information you need there," the young man said.

"However, why are you hooded? You look very suspicious like this, and they might not accept you," the young man added shortly after.

"Why am I hooded? I have a rather grotesque face, so I rather not show it to others lest it makes everyone uncomfortable. Anyway, thanks for the information," the hooded person said.

The young man realized it was a woman behind the hood and no longer pried into her secrets. After all, a beautiful woman with a scar would definitely be conscious of her face.

Nevertheless, since the young man hadn't seen the hooded woman's face, he could only make a blind guess at how bad her face scars were.

Even so, the young man knew better than to pry.

"Ah right, there was a quota on the labor hire for the job! I better hurry!" the young man recalled before scooting over to sign up.

In any case, he had already passed the word out to the outer district.

Whether his neighbors and acquaintances are willing to grab hold of this opportunity is up to their own choices.

…

…

…

Outside the royal palace's main gates, a massive crowd of humans and elves lined up in front of the labor recruitment board as they waited their turn.

It was already packed within the first few minutes of the recruitment notice, which spread like wildfire.

Half an hour since then, the crowd had inflated tenfold.

The main square could not contain everyone queueing up for the labor recruitment; it spanned across multiple streets and blocks.

City guards were deployed to keep the order in the open while the shadow guards secretly observed the situation from the dark.

Their task was more than just simply controlling the crowd.

The hooded woman frowned when she saw how extensive the registration line was. Despite that, she still joined the queue obediently without causing any problems for others.

There were several hundreds of hooded people just like her in the queue.

Nevertheless, the queue moved forward fairly quickly.

The officials at the labor recruitment board only asked a few simple questions before handing the labor hires their identity tokens.

"Take it and don't lose it. Otherwise, you will not be paid for the work you put in," one of the recruitment officials informed the hired laborer, a male elf at the Rank 8 Body Tempering Realm.

Nevertheless, the male elf was filled with questions.

"What do I do with this exactly, sir?" the male elf politely asked while glancing down at the metal token with his name engraved on it.

The metal token shared similarities with the contribution tokens, but they were not the same.

"The token records your contribution on Extreme Misty Forest. Each time you turn in the logs at the worksite, an inscriptionist will update the contribution count on your token for you," the official patiently explained.

"I see. Thank you, sir," male elf nodded with understanding.

"You may enter the outer courtyard," the official directed.

"Once the numbers are filled, a Transcendent will transport you to the worksite in the north. Of course, if you believe you can get there on your own, then forget what I just said."

"I'll wait for the transport, sir," the male elf smiled wryly.

There's no way a Rank 8 Body Tempering body cultivator could get to Extreme Misty Forest from New Capital quicker than a Transcendent can.

Nevertheless, not all Transcendents were in charge of transporting the hired laborers to the outskirts of Extreme Misty Forest directly.

While Metal Transcendents transported large groups on large metal frames to the worksite, the other Transcendents escorted the hired laborers to the docking bay to take the airships there.

After the male elf entered the royal palace's outer courtyard, the official welcomed the next person in the queue.

However, the official immediately frowned at the hooded person.

"Take off your hood. Why are you hiding your appearance? Your action is very suspicious. Please comply, or you will be detained for further questioning," the official demanded.

At the same time, the nearby city guards were ready to swoop in and apprehend the suspect.

Nevertheless, the official's firm tone and the city guards' intimidating auras quickly scared the hooded person.

"W-what! I'm not someone suspicious! I just look hideous under the hood!" the hooded person quickly explained.

"How hideous can a person—holy sh*t!" the official accidentally cussed at how hideous the hooded person's face was after seeing it.

It was like the person's whole face had been burned and melted into an unrecognizable state. It was terrible beyond belief, even worse than someone who had undergone facial torture.

"I told you so…" the man hid his face under the hood again in shame.

"Excuse my sudden outburst. Your condition… was much worse than I imagined. You must be a refugee from Durham or Valaran, right? I apologize for putting you through this," the official said.

"However, I still have to check all your identities regardless. So please lift your hoods during your turns."

Chapter 968 North Reclamation Camp

The hooded refugee mixed in the crowd all expressed mild discontent. However, they all had no choice but to nod with compliance.

Even if they don't want other people to see their hideous faces, they still want the job.

If they could earn some contribution points and exchange them for quality medicine, they might have a chance at fixing their sun-scorched faces.

Nevertheless, as the crowd quickly received their record token, more and more hooded people's faces were revealed for everyone to see.

The deformity of their faces varied from mild cases to severe ones; some even had pus growing their faces like spores.

"How horrible… I can't believe these refugees' faces have all become like that—No, I doubt it's limited to their faces. Other parts of their bodies must have suffered such changes as well…" an elf commented.

"Yeah… I wonder if the other people living outside the World Tree's domain are also like that… The situation must have taken a turn for the worse if His Majesty had to accept refugees…" another elf mentioned.

"I mean, if the refugees are all coming to New Capital with faces like that, you know the situation outside is bad," added a young lady.

"True… We are so fortunate to be part of the empire from the beginning."

…

As the labor recruitment went on, more and more batches of hired laborers were transported to the outskirts of Extreme Misty Forest.

The officials, troops, and earlier batches of hired laborers had already set up a large camp there. Even the contribution hall was active.

As new groups of hired laborers arrived on their modes of transport, an official quickly gave them a run-through on the rules and details of their work.

"Listen up, runts. I don't know you lived your life elsewhere. However, now that you're in my north reclamation camp, I expect you all to be on your best behavior. Call me Supervisor Owen if you need me. But remember, be nice and work together."

Supervisor Owen started.

"Fighting and stealing will not be tolerated. If you are caught doing either, your qualification to work here will be forfeited. Of course, that naturally applies to killing as well. However, it won't just be your work qualification to be concerned about at that point. You can even face execution. So keep that in mind."

"Moving on, His Majesty has decreed that a path to far north be opened by the felling the trees of Extreme Misty Forest. That means most of your work will be about chopping trees."

"However!" Supervisor Owen suddenly changed his tone; it was brisque and harsh.

"Just because you'll be chopping trees to open a path to the far north, it doesn't mean that the quality of your logs doesn't matter! The valuable coldwood are all precious resources that can be used for the development of the empire!"

"As such, I expect all the cold logs you turn in to be in good quality. Otherwise, you can forget about earning contribution points from them!" Supervisor Owen firmly stated.

"The Lancaster Family has been generous enough to provide all the tools for your work. Damaged or broken, you can turn the tools in for repair at the smithy, free of charge. But on the off chance that you lose them completely, you will be charged for their replacement."

"Lines have been marked, and a map has been made. Refer to them to understand where you can and cannot cut trees in the forest. You do not need to worry about ghouls and vengeful spirits. Transcendents had already cleared any remnants of them before you came."

"As such, you only need to focus on chopping trees and turning in good logs. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask," Supervisor Owen said at the end of his speech.

Several hands were quickly raised.

"Yes, you, the man with small eyes and blue shirt. What do you want to ask?" Supervisor Owen randomly selected one of the raised hands.

The man with the blue shirt felt awkward being called out as such. Nevertheless, it quickly set aside the thought to ask his question.

"Extreme Misty Forest is quite different from how I remembered and heard. It seems to be a complete land of ice further inside the forest. What do we do with all that ice?"

"That's a good question. I'm glad you ask," Supervisor Owen said.

"The coldwood tree is the primary target of this job. You need to mine the coldwood trees out of the ice before you can chop them down. That is why the quality of the logs you turn in is important. You can't do a sloppy job at it."

"Nevertheless, we are also accepting ice blocks of specific sizes and shapes. You can turn them at the contribution hall for contribution points. However, their value is incomparable to coldwood, so don't expect much from them."

Shortly after Supervisor Owen finished speaking, many previously raised hands dropped. The hired laborers, more or less, had the same question. As such, they no longer needed to ask.

Sometime later, Supervisor Owen led the several hundred hired laborers into the north reclamation camp to collect their work tools.

Once they familiarized themselves with the camp, rules, work, and objectives, they went to look for a free target in the misty forest to work.

Nevertheless, the hired laborers quickly realized it was impossible to work alone. Thus, they formed groups of four to six to improve their work efficiency.

…

"Hey, do you want to join our group?" the hooded woman was invited by another group of four hooded people.

"Sure," the hooded woman answered after a brief sweep of the surroundings.

The rest of the hooded people in the area were also forming groups among themselves, mostly due to the fact that they felt more comfortable working with people who had gone through the same sufferings as them.

"Great! I hope we get along well," the leader of the hooded group offered a handshake before asking, "How should we address you?"

"You can just call me Artemise," the hooded woman said.

Chapter 969 God's Trial

After Artemise and the hooded group formally introduced each other, they collected their work tools from the camp and headed into the misty forest.

"We came pretty late, huh? All the coldwood trees on the outskirts are taken. It looks like we will have to venture deeper," said the hooded group leader by the name of Ricardo.

"Fortunately, the air here is quite good. Although we originally moved to New Capital for the fresher air, the air here is still better than back in Durham."

"Right."

The nearby coldwood trees had all been claimed by other groups, even if there were many coldwood trees with no one working on them.

Hired laborers were permitted to set up work zones covering the same number of coldwood trees as the maximum number of members in their groups.

As Ricardo's hooded group ventured deeper into the forest, they spotted a few large groups with more than thirty members.

"Such a large group… Can they even manage it? Aren't they afraid of a dispute over the division of contribution points?" another woman in the hooded group mentioned.

"I doubt there will be a problem like that if the group leader treats everyone fairly. They should be more afraid of losing their work qualification than to let a dispute happen," Ricardo thought.

"Nevertheless, it's good that we grabbed a few pickaxes from the camp. It seems like we will have to work in the ice region. That being said, these work tools have quite interesting designs."

"I wonder if they are really pickaxes and hatchets," Ricardo mentioned.

After the hooded group found their spot, they studied the work tools.

The pickaxes and hatchets they collected from the camp were unlike any pickaxes and hatchets they had ever seen.

These work tools were made of strong metal, and they had runic engravings all over them.

However, the unknowledgeable group, who were just commoners, only saw the runic engravings as random scribbles.

"Does it matter? As long as they have the general shape and form, they are pickaxes and hatchets for all I care. Nevertheless, time is money. Can we start working on the ice now? I want to restore my beauty quickly," the woman said.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ricardo uttered before picking up a black pickaxe.

"You mentioned you were quite beautiful before your face and skin suffered changes under the foul air and sunlight. And your fiancé left you because of that, right? Don't worry. You are better off without a person like that anyway."

Clang!

Shock ran through Ricardo's hands, numbing them after he had a swing at the ice wall in front of them.

"W-what?" Ricardo uttered with shock.

"I'm at Rank 6 Body Tempering, but I only left a white mark on this ice? How are we supposed to break through the ice, let alone chop coldwood trees?"

The other members in the hooded group were also startled by the sturdiness of the ice wall. Only Artemise had a calm look.

"Have you forgotten the instructions on how to use the work tools? These pickaxes and hatchets are tier-2 spirit artifacts. You need to turn the rotary knob to activate the rune power hidden inside the pickaxe," Artemise reminded.

After Ricardo followed Artemise's instruction, the pick glowed with a blueish aura.

Ricardo swung the blue-glowing pickaxe at the ice wall a second time in the next moment. But unlike the first time, he easily shattered a chunk of ice off the wall.

"Wow!" multiple members of the group exclaimed.

Shortly after, two other members grabbed the other two pickaxes they brought and activated their rune power to mine the ice.

"Haha, these work tools—no, artifacts are amazing!" one of the men exclaimed.

"Amazing as they are, they don't have unlimited power. Once the power is exhausted, you will have to deactivate them so they can draw spirit energy from the atmosphere to recharge themselves," Artemise stated.

The work tools all had small spirit gathering runes engraved on them.

"I don't remember Supervisor Owen mentioning any of this. How do you know about this rune stuff, Artemise? You must have been a noble or something, right?" Ricardo made a blind guess.

Out of everyone in the hooded group, Artemise was the only one openly showing her disfigured face.

However, her face was also the least disfigured out of all of them. Furthermore, it still retained some of her former beauty.

"Something like that," Artemise vaguely answered.

"Nevertheless, it doesn't matter what we were before; we are all part of a group and need to work together now. Once we earn enough contribution points for healing medicine, we can finally get rid of these accursed faces," Ricardo stated.

However, Artemise suddenly said something that no one from the group would expect her to say.

"You shouldn't think of your current appearance as a curse that you must remove at all cost," Artemise said.

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Artemise?" Ricardo and the others furrowed brows at Artemise with confusion.

"You were most likely the prettiest woman in this group. I thought you would be the most desperate to restore your beauty," one of the men said.

"Not at all," Artemise calmly shook her head.

"You only feel like you are suffering because you find your situation unfortunate. However, what if I tell you that your current appearance isn't a product of the sun's wrath but its blessing instead? You have been marked by the Sun God."

"As such, you should feel honored instead of miserable. What you have experienced until now is all part of God's trial. You will feel at peace once you understand all that," Artemise preached.

"Have you lost your mind, Artemise? The Sun God's blessing? God's trial? Feel honored? Don't be ridiculous. How can you spout all that bullsh*t?" Ricardo retorted.

His suffering was a blessing from the sun, and he should feel honored?

To hell with that!

Ricardo was not easily convinced, and neither were the rest of the group members in hoods.

However, Artemise had foreseen this.

Artemise knew it wasn't easy for people to believe in her words unless she showed them some proof that what she said was true.

Chapter 970 The Power of Anger

Although Ricardo strongly disagreed with Artemise's words at first, he still decided to give her some benefit of the doubt. He had to give her some chance to explain.

Whether she could convince him afterward was another matter.

"Let's say that everything you said was true. Why do we have to undergo this so-called God's trial? What is your God trialing us for? And how can you prove any of this?" Ricardo asked.

After hearing these questions, Artemise smiled.

"I'm glad you asked. This proves that there is still some hope in you—hope for salvation and to be saved by God," Artemise started.

"Your facial disfiguration is but a temporary mark to let you know the Sun God has started trialing you to prove whether you deserve to be one of his people or abandoned by him."

"You want proof? I am your best proof," Artemise stated.

Shortly after, everyone witnessed Artemise's disfigured face recovering on its own. It was as if every cell on her face came to life.

Before long, Artemise's face was fully recovered, and her beauty was there for everyone to see.

Ricardo and the other group members were all tongue-tied, shocked by what they saw.

"I am someone who has succeeded in God's trial and become one of God's people," Artemise said.

"As proof of that, this body of mine no longer suffers under the scorching sunlight. Instead, I am empowered by the sunlight, and my body is mine to alter freely. Although I can't change my face completely, I can remove all blemishes and enhance my beauty."

"How did you… do that?" one of the women eagerly asked.

The woman didn't care whether the Sun God and his trial truly existed. She only cared about Artemise's ability to beautify herself.

"As I have said, your facial disfiguration is part of the Sun God's blessing. Your face remained like that because you haven't learned how to use the Sun God's blessing," Artemise stated.

"The Sun God is all-encompassing and shares his blessings to all living under his light. However, only the qualified followers of the Sun God like me can utilize this power. That is why it is called a trial. The Sun God shares his power to all, but not all can use his power."

"Unfortunately, many people don't understand the Sun God's fiery love and reject his existence because they failed his trial. And for people like me, they label us as Demon Worshippers or heretics."

"However, those people are true heretics for denying the Sun God!" Artemise firmly stated with conviction.

After a moment, Artemise calmed down and continued to preach about the Sun God.

"Because the Sun God's fiery love is all-encompassing, he does not discriminate between mortals. Therefore, he does not interfere in mortal affairs. It is up to us followers to spread his faith and share his fiery love to the world."

"If you are all willing to become a follower of the Sun God and join hands with me, I will teach you how to control the Sun God's blessings and formally become one of the Sun God's people," Artemise stated.

It was normal for people to fear what they didn't understand.

For many who did not know the truth behind the sun's cataclysmic sunrays, Artemise's words were like a beacon of light piercing through the veils of the dark unknown.

Ricardo and the rest of the hooded group members were drawn in by Artemise's words.

Everything seemed to make sense.

"Please teach us how to become followers of the Sun God, Artemise," Ricardo formally requested after confirming with all the group members that they were on the same page.

Artemise's smile.

She had successfully convinced her first group of targets. They will be the first batch of people to be converted into followers of the Sun God by her.

"Before that, let me say a few things," Artemise suddenly said to the group.

What do you think life was like before the Cataclysm? Was it harsh? Or was it better than now? If you think about it, your situation hasn't changed much. Only the world has changed. Life is still unfair."

"While we struggle to survive, the nobles with wealth and power live freely. As if that isn't unfair enough, they exploit and abuse powerless commoners like us, making our hard lives even harder. No matter how angry we are about it, nothing ever changes."

"However, it is different now. The Sun God has finally answered my prayers and given my anger power," Artemise said.

"Does that mean…" Ricardo uttered as doubt was formed in his heart.

"That's right!" Artemise confirmed before Ricardo could finish his question.

"Anger is the secret to the Sun God's blessings. The angrier you are, the more power you can draw from the Sun God's blessings. The fact that your faces have all suffered disfigurement, mutation, and burns are proofs that you have been angry."

"You drew power from the Sun God's blessings with your anger, but you didn't use that power after you gathered it! That is why your faces remained like that! With the Sun God's blessing on your side, anger is power, but control of it is your will!"

Artemise strongly stated.

Ricardo and the rest of the hooded group members were dumbfounded by the revelation. The Sun God wasn't at fault for their current predicaments.

It was their own incompetence!

Plop!

Ricardo suddenly dropped to his knees.

"O, benevolent Sun God above, you gave me a chance to change my life. However, my incompetent self failed to use your blessing and wronged you for my predicament. I beg for forgiveness! Please give me another chance to redeem myself so that I can embrace your light now and forever!"

"Do not plead to the Sun God. The Sun God is fair to all. As long as you have the Sun God in your heart and your will is firm, the Sun God's blessings will answer to you," Artemise coolly stated.

It was a holy war between the Sun God's followers and the true heretics that defied and denied the Sun God.

They did not need weak-minded followers.

Chapter 971 Strange Atmosphere

Three days quickly passed, but the hired laborers had cleared many coldwood trees from Extreme Misty Forest, enough to change the scenery on a regional scale.

A tear into Extreme Misty Forest could be seen from the sky.

By the time the hired laborers are finished with their job, Extreme Misty Forest will be divided into two as if someone cleaved it apart.

Leon toured the worksite with Faelyn and two other Winter Cats accompanying them; both were at the Paragon level.

In the past three days, Leon has resurrected the sixty frozen Winter Cats from their cryosleep, and most of them were Rank 2 Transcendents.

At the same time, Leon also performed blood refinement on a number of them, allowing Winter Cats to undergo partial bloodline awakening. Thanks to that, multiple Winter Cats ascended to Rank 3 Transcendents, joining the ranks of Paragons like Duke Blizzardpaw.

However, they were even more impressive than Duke Blizzardpaw.

After being frozen in ice for a thousand years, the Paragon-level Winter Cats had also awakened their unique ice abilities.

Furthermore, they had very high affinities to ice, which made them very resistant to the coldness of the blizzard storm region.

They could have enjoyed great statuses or even competed with Duke Blizzard for monarchy in the Winter Cat Tribe.

However, several of them pledged their allegiance to Leon for giving them new life.

At that moment, one of them was rested on Leon's shoulders like a furry collar while the other was held in Faelyn's arms. No one realized they were both Paragons due to their small sizes, which could be compared to kittens.

After learning the Hundred Transformation Art from Leon, they had chosen to adopt such small forms. Furthermore, they were also a pair of brothers and sisters.

The sister resting Leon's shoulders was Rainshine, and the brother in Faelyn's arms was Snowscar.

"Not bad. To think this much progress has been made in three days. At this rate, it will take another three weeks to clear the obstacles to the north," Leon casually commented while glancing around.

Of course, this was only three weeks to clear the obstacles.

To completely open up the path to the north, they still needed to flatten the ice land in the northern parts and build the main road.

All that put together would take roughly one and a half to two months.

"I heard they already started working on the forest a few hours after Mother, Aria, and Darlene returned to New Capital. The efficiency of command to management is astonishing," Faelyn added.

"Father must have been preparing to reclaim the north from a much earlier time. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to procure so many working tools at once," Leon assumed.

"If we had mobilized Transcendents for the job, we could open up the north even quicker," Faelyn said.

"Yes, but the Transcendents don't have anything to gain from this. At the same time, we would be taking away the ordinary folks' livelihood. Take a look at them."

Leon pointed at a group of hired laborers, who appeared to be working earnestly on the ice and coldwood trees in the area.

They genuinely enjoyed the job.

"Before the job started, many people were only around Rank 5 to Rank 6 Body Tempering. But after three days on the job, their strength has risen to Rank 9 Body Tempering. And this is mostly due to the nature of their work," Leon mentioned.

At least, that was what he got from the report. Most people were still saving up their contribution points for better rewards

"The north is important, but it's nothing something we need immediately. If we can work towards it while improving the empire collectively as a whole at the same time, don't you think it'll be better?"

"I guess it is better that way," Faelyn replied.

Nevertheless, as Leon and Faelyn toured the area, the supervising official approached them.

"Greetings, Your Highness! We are honored by your presence, Your Highness!" Supervisor Owen excitedly said as if he had just met his idol.

In fact, Leon wasn't any different from an idol.

His collective feats made him nothing short of a legend in the eyes of the people like Supervisor Owen, who had seen each and every change he had brought to the empire.

"Has there been any problems at the worksite in these past three days?" Leon casually inquired.

"Yes, Your Highness," Supervisor Owen nodded.

"However, they were only minor problems and disputes over contribution points. Still, if you are looking for actual numbers, then we have disqualified 342 people from the job over the past three days. Of course, we only disqualified the troublemakers and didn't include the victims."

"That many, huh? That's quite a big problem in and of itself," Leon said with a frown.

Despite all the strict regulations set in place to promote a fair working environment, there were still so many greedy and selfish people who tried to earn more contribution points at the expense of others.

"I personally don't see it as a problem despite the numbers, Your Highness. Most of these cases are mainly disputes over equal distribution versus actual work contribution," Supervisor Owen mentioned.

"Most groups agree to equal distribution. However, not everyone put in the same amount of work. These group leaders felt it was unfair for everyone else who worked hard and wanted to change the agreed distribution."

"Thus, it shouldn't be out of greed, but fairness, Your Highness." Supervisor Owen stated.

"You don't see the problem in that? If the group leaders have already agreed to equal distribution, then they should honor it. Not arbitrarily change the distribution after receiving the contribution points," Leon stated.

"If they felt their group members' work efficiencies are inadequate, they can just drop the members from the group after, not right before the distribution of the contribution points. Do you still think that they weren't greedy?"

"No, Your Highness," Supervisor Owen replied.

"Besides the dispute problems, have you noticed anything else usual on the worksite? The atmosphere feels rather off," Leon mentioned when he glanced at some hired laborer groups.

"I've also noticed the air had become strange lately," Supervisor Owen nodded.

"I think it's mostly due to the refugees, Your Highness. I can't help but feel like they are up to something."

Chapter 972 Secret Visit

Leon heard that the refugees used to hide their faces under a hood when they first arrived in New Capital.

Even those who decided to take the north reclamation job still hid under their hoods when they first arrived at the camp and during work.

"Nearly every refugee was quite conscious of their appearance when they first arrived. Over the last three days, more and more of them are beginning to show their faces openly," Supervisor Owen reported.

"It's as if they built up their confidence from working here."

"I don't think that's it," Leon furrowed his brows.

It was strange for people to build confidence in showing their appearance so quickly simply by doing labor work.

Moreover, Leon could sense a strange vibe surrounding the refugees who showed their faces. They had a fanatic or feverish look in their eyes.

He had seen those kinds of eyes before…

'The eyes of a religious believer!'

Leon became startled after recalling where he had seen those eyes. His expression turned serious in the next instance, which subsequently startled Faelyn and Supervisor Owen.

"What's the matter, Your Highness? Did you realize something?" Supervisor Owen asked shortly after.

"The empire has been infiltrated by religion," Leon solemnly uttered.

"By religion? Is that bad?" Faelyn was baffled by Leon's serious mood, which seems to imply that religion is bad.

However, Faelyn didn't see anything wrong with people having a religion.

After all, the elves worshipped the Elder Tree as their deity and guardian for as long as she could remember.

"Religion in and of itself isn't necessarily bad. After all, everyone needs something to believe in, especially in difficult times. Religions that promote good health and behavior are especially good," Leon admitted.

"Then…"

"However, to any monarchy, an uncontrolled religion is a tumor. It wrestles the people's faith from the royal family and empowers those in charge of the religion. Furthermore, a bad religion could even promote violence," Leon stated.

"And right now, we don't know what kind of religion these refugees have been led to believe in. But seeing how they have this fanatic look in their eyes, I doubt it is the kind of religion the empire wants."

"Isn't that really bad then?" Supervisor Owen uttered with shock.

"The empire is developing so well thanks to the people's unity. If there are conflicting views in people's beliefs now, the empire could be divided by disputes and even violence. No, we have to stop them from spreading their unknown religion!"

"Hold it right there," Leon quickly stopped Supervisor Owen from leaving.

"Nothing good will come out of you capturing the refugees blindly. Others might even think you purposely target the refugees because they were originally from kingdoms that wage war on the Crawford Kingdom."

"After all, not all refugees have been converted into this unknown religion. You need to increase patrols and watch them. Find the ones who are secretly preaching to the refugees. They are the ones we want."

"Understood, Your Highness. I was too hasty just now," Supervisor Owen replied before noticing that Leon did not plan on staying. "Are you leaving, Your Highness?"

"Yeah," Leon confirmed with a nod.

"Since someone is spreading this unknown religion in the empire, I need to alert my father about this matter. After all, the people from this unknown religion must be preaching in other parts of the empire."

The condition of New Capital was very good.

Thus, Leon did not have to worry about the preachers converting the empire's original citizens and the elves. It wouldn't be easy since the people's faith in the royal family was very high.

Leon was even an idol of worship to the people.

However, it was a different story for everyone else that had been living beyond the old Crawford Kingdom's borders.

They didn't have the World Tree's protection against the Cataclysm.

"Let us head back to New Capital, Faelyn," Leon uttered after opening up the Dark Passage with his spatial ability.

"Mm!" Faelyn nodded.

Shortly after, the two stepped inside the Dark Passage and disappeared off to the other side of it, returning to New Capital in a matter of a few breaths.

…

…

…

Meanwhile, in the far east of the Human Domain, the King Lutheran Geyser received a sudden secret visit from Elizabeth and Darlene. Accompanying them were four Paragon-level Winter Cats, who also owe their new life to Leon.

"Who?!"

King Lutheran Geyser shot up from his seat with alarm after witnessing a spatial portal suddenly opening in his study room.

In that instance, his Paragon-level aura immediately surged out from his body to suppress and control the intruders.

However, the four Paragon-level Winter Cats exuded their own Paragon-level auras to negate it, albeit barely.

King Lutheran Geyser wasn't just an ordinary Paragon; he was at the Peak of Early-rank Paragon. On the other hand, the four Paragon-level Winter Cats were newly ascended Paragons.

Even so, their collective combat prowess was still enough to make King Lutheran Geyser wary.

However, the one King Lutheran Geyser was most wary of wasn't any of the four Paragon-level Winter Cats; it was Darlene.

In the past three days, Darlene managed to step into the Acknowledged Paragon-stage Transcendent Realm.

"Good day to you, King Lutheran. I believe this is our first time meeting. I am Queen Elizabeth from the Crawford Empire, and this is my daughter-in-law," Elizabeth introduced herself and Darlene.

After Elizabeth stated her identity, King Lutheran slightly calmed down. Even so, he remained vigilant.

King Lutheran couldn't guess their purpose, but the strength they brought with them on the trip was enough to shock the life out of him!

That was five Paragons!

Furthermore, King Lutheran highly doubted that was all the Paragons the Crawford Empire had.

Nevertheless, after King Lutheran recovered from his initial shock, he sat back down in his seat.

"What business do you have with me in coming here like this?" King Lutheran calmly asked.

"Before that, I should return this letter to you. Why don't you give it a read first and tell us what you think after, King Lutheran," Elizabeth coolly suggested while handing out the letter.

King Lutheran furrowed his brows as he accepted the letter.

Chapter 973 Temporary Solution

A few breaths into reading the letter, King Lutheran's expression turned gloomy with silent rage.

It was a letter addressed to the Crawford Empire, listed outrageous accusations and demands for the deaths of the Geyser Kingdom's envoys.

It had been stamped with the Geyser Kingdom's royal seal, but King Lutheran had no recollection of writing such a letter.

In fact, King Lutheran would never write such an absurd letter that could potentially spark a war between the two major countries.

The letter was clearly forged.

However, what upset King Lutheran the most wasn't the contents of the letter but the person who used his royal seal to forge the royal letter.

This was treason on the highest level of the kingdom's government!

"I apologize if this letter has caused you any distress or offended you, Queen Elizabeth. This letter was not written by me, nor are the contents of this letter my intentions," King Lutheran said with a sigh.

If King Lutheran had seen the letter without knowing the empire's strength, he would have unwillingly gone along with it to hide the internal problems in the kingdom.

After all, it was true that the Geyser Kingdom was barely holding on against the harmful sunlight, and the World Tree's protection could be their only solution.

However, since King Lutheran had seen the empire's strength, war was the last thing he wanted, more so than ever!

"I have no intention of making an enemy out of the empire, and I do not blame the empire for the ones truly responsible for the deaths of our kingdom's envoys."

"Oh?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow with interest after noticing King Lutheran's particular choice of words.

"That is to say that you are aware of the people responsible for killing your envoys, King Lutheran?" Elizabeth asked shortly after.

"I do," King Lutheran nodded before adding, "But it's not confirmed."

"There's a group of fanatics that has been causing problems in the kingdom. We call them Demon Worshippers. They worship the demon star as their god and draw power from it, which I still find hard to believe."

"Nevertheless, they've been a real headache. Even if we catch all of them, more will appear. They most likely have a hidden spawn somewhere, but we haven't been able to track it down."

"More importantly, these Demon Worshippers have been converting our people to their religion and may have spread to the empire," King Lutheran mentioned.

"Demon Worshippers, huh?" Elizabeth muttered.

However, she shook her head in the next moment. She did not come to talk about that.

"That matter aside, we haven't finished addressing the problem in this letter. It might not have been your intention, but it is clear that there are high-ranking people in your kingdom wanting to pick a fight with my empire," Elizabeth said with a sharp look.

"Yes, and it saddens me that they would resort to this method behind me," King Lutheran replied with a sigh.

King Lutheran already had a suspect in mind when he saw the forged letter stamped with his royal seal.

His blood brother, Duke Flugerd, had sided with the extremist faction during the high-level meeting a few days ago.

"I understand their discontent, but I am helpless to resolve it. The Cataclysm has made everyone hide under the water dome like a turtle tucked in its shell, making it no different from a cage," King Lutheran mentioned.

"Although the water domes protect most people from the cataclysmic sunrays, the Transcendents, who are closer in touch with the laws, are still mildly affected by the unknown law empowering the sunrays."

"Furthermore, it's getting worse by the day. If there's another powerful wave from the Cataclysm, it's hard to fathom what it will do to everyone. If you have any solution to remedy this situation, I am all ears, Queen Elizabeth."

"Heck, I am even willing to pay a high price if there is a solution to my kingdom's problem," King Lutheran added.

"A permanent solution, I do not have. The World Tree will eventually bless the whole world. But until there, everyone can only endure," Elizabeth stated.

King Lutheran felt disappointed after hearing that.

However, Elizabeth wasn't finished speaking. She suddenly added, "Although It won't resolve the immediate problem, I did bring something that could ease it."

Shortly after, Elizabeth took out a black plate with runic engravings and a crystal orb embedded in its center before handing it over for King Lutheran to check it out.

"This is…?" King Lutheran furrowed his brows.

He didn't understand what the enchanted black plate was used for, but he could sense the foul energy stored inside the crystal orb.

It was the same foul energy plaguing the world, Wrathful Demon Energy.

"It's a called a Demon Gathering Array," Elizabeth stated.

"Of course, it's only a miniature version of what we have back in the empire. I trust the Geyser Kingdom will have its own capable runemasters who can replicate the Demon Gather Array after studying it."

"As the name implies, the Demon Gathering Array will collect the demonic energy in its surrounding atmosphere and compress it inside. We use this back in the empire to collect the Wrathful Demon Energy areas unprotected by the World Tree," Elizabeth explained.

"What?"

King Lutheran's hands trembled as he held onto the black plate and stared at it seriously like he was looking at a priceless treasure.

However, King Lutheran suddenly furrowed his brows in the next moment.

"Are you saying that even if we remove all the Wrathful Demon Energy in the atmosphere with something like this, we still can't eliminate the problem?" King Lutheran understood from Elizabeth's words.

"Isn't that obvious?" Elizabeth casually replied.

"Even if you remove water from a flooded region, the ground would still be wet. In other words, even if we remove the Wrathful Demon Energy from a region, the region will still be affected by the Wrath Law."

"Wherever the sunlight touch is the domain of the Wrath Law. Unless we remove the source of the Wrath Law, the world will continue to be influenced by the Wrath Law," Elizabeth stated.

Chapter 974 Leon's Plan

"The Wrath Law, huh?" King Lutheran uttered with interest.

King Lutheran had learned many things about the world, but it was his first time hearing such a law. He wondered where Queen Elizabeth learned about it.

Nevertheless, that wasn't the most pressing issue.

After King Lutheran tested the Demon Gathering Array and confirmed its ability to gather Wrathful Demon Energy in the surroundings, he fixed his attention on Queen Elizabeth.

"Name your price, Queen Elizabeth. Whether it's Transcendent Crystals, Redstones, pills, spirit herbs, or minerals, everything is on the table. How much do you want for this Demon Gathering Array?"

Although King Lutheran understood that the Demon Gathering Array couldn't completely resolve the Transcendents' problem, a temporary remedy was better than none.

"My, King Lutheran is quite generous," Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised to hear King Lutheran offer Transcendent Crystals.

"I planned to gift the Demon Gathering Array as a form of goodwill from a fellow ruler in the Human Domain. After all, we humans have to stay united in times of difficulty… But if King Lutheran insists, I suppose we can talk about this deal in more detail…"

Suddenly, King Lutheran had a bad feeling.

Queen Elizabeth seemed quite generous when she said she would gift the Demon Gathering Array. However, her gaze looked like she wanted to rob him clean.

…

…

…

Crawford Empire, New Capital

"…And that's the gist of the situation, Father," Leon reported the religion problem to Heinrich in the study room after he returned with Faelyn.

Heinrich shortly dropped the documents onto the desk before pinching between his eyebrows as if to ease his newfound stress.

"I don't understand. Is the condition in the empire not very good right now? How can these people believe in a religion rather than the royal family?" Heinrich wondered with a frown.

"The condition in the empire is indeed very good right now. As proof of that, the people are working earnestly to develop the land once you passed down the order," Leon admitted.

"However, most people—or should I say all the people being converted into this unknown religion are refugees from Durham and Valaran. Although we regard them as people of our empire, they probably still regard themselves as people of the Durham Kingdom and the Valaran Kingdom."

"This is the problem with integrating the people of the defeated kingdoms. They don't feel like they are a part of our empire. The proud ones might even feel humiliated by it. In essence, it isn't easy to win over the hearts of these people."

"Un, I understand that much," Heinrich nodded.

"Furthermore, we were too focused on the development and stability of New Capital that we have neglected the people of Durham or Valaran living outside of the World Tree's protection. Thus—"

"We never neglected them," Heinrich interrupted with a sigh before Leon could finish.

"Oh? What do you mean, Father?" Leon uttered with surprise.

"While you were gone, I had Amelia and Ignis study the Demon Gathering Arrays you deployed in Old Capital. Thanks to their growing proficiency in runes, they perfectly replicated your Demon Gathering Arrays in a short time," Heinrich explained.

"After they reproduced more Demon Gathering Arrays, I sent people to deploy a few in every major city of Durham and Valaran. Furthermore, we've been sending food supplies to both regions every week to feed the people in need of it."

"Thus, it's baffling as much as it saddens me that people are putting their faith into this unknown religion when I've done so much for them," Heinrich stated.

After hearing that, Leon understood why his father had this look of betrayal on his face after learning about the unknown religion.

"Sometimes, doing so much for the people still isn't enough. And sometimes, doing so much for the people is too much," Leon said.

"At first, the people might feel grateful for the food supplies. But after a while, they become numb to it. And if the food supplies suddenly stopped coming, they may even blame you for it instead, father."

"Rather than sending food every week, it might have been better to send elves over to help them cultivate their crops. This will allow Durham and Valaran to become self-sustaining without us and save us the trouble."

"Nevertheless, I don't think this is the problem. The unknown religion must have something very convincing for people to put their faith in them. That, or the preachers are targeting the people's weakness to convert them."

"We don't know anything about this unknown religion yet, but I believe it won't be long before we learn something about them," Leon said.

"Even if we do, it will still be difficult to stop these preachers from spreading their religion in our empire. After all, we are in the open while they are in the dark," Heinrich thought.

However, Leon shook his head.

"I don't think it will be difficult at all, Father," Leon refuted before saying, "As you said, Father, we are in the open while they are in the dark. We can use our overwhelming influence to our advantage."

"How so?" Heinrich was intrigued to hear further from his son.

"We just have to put out an enticing bounty for these preachers and spread the news to every corner of the empire. It will be difficult for these preachers to move then," Leon casually stated.

"Furthermore, these preachers may be in the dark, but their newly-converted believers aren't. If we catch one of them to interrogate, we can learn more about their religion and come up with countermeasures against it."

"An educated mass will not believe in the fallacy of a crook. So long as our people understand where the truth differs from the lies, these religious preachers won't be able to gain anything," Leon stated.

After listening, Heinrich's eyes brightened at once.

"That's a brilliant idea, Son. It seems like I had nothing to worry about. You've already thought of the solutions for me," Heinrich said with a gratified smile, feeling relieved.

Leon smiled slightly.

"These methods can only be used when the religion's influence is still small and weak. If we let them grow huge in power, these methods might not work and may even backfire on us."