Was this... a cultivation technique? What's it doing inside a skull of all things? At least put it on the outside like a normal person. How'd it even get in there? Why can he read it?
He could only conclude it was something very mystical, as expected of the humans.
He felt some destiny with this as his own title was the tyrant. Perhaps it was meant for him to find.
He studied it closely.
Like most cultivation techniques, it was separated by a number of stages, 8, oh so surprisingly.
The first stage, the path of blood.
The second, the path of fear.
The third, the path of deception.
The fourth, the path of pride.
And it goes on for the paths of tranquility, dominion, life, and death.
As he read the 8 paths, he began to feel an unfamiliar, yet familiar energy circulating in his body. Unfamiliar in that he had never felt it before, and familiar in that it feels as if it was with him his whole life. Was this perhaps worldly essence?
It circulated throughout his body in a cycle, as if it belonged there, and he instinctively felt that he had already broken through the body refining realm, and into the qi refining realm. He understood that in his dormancy, his body had long since been tempered by the worldly essence and he had been in the peak of the body refining realm the entire time.
He followed the Tyrant's Path of Blood, which he was more than familiar with, as blood and death took up a large portion of his life. He could vaguely feel a heavy, powerful energy coursing through the essence passageways carved by the worldly essence.
Eventually it coalesced inside his body and seemed about ready to form something, he knew it was the soul bound weapons the humans used. He wondered what it could be, he was no human after all. He had no hands, so he thought he could not use weapons.
But his curiosity would not be satiated, as the energy stopped gathering. He realized he had not completely broken into qi refining. It was literally impossible. It was because of his contract.
By the sacred bonds of the soul, their cultivation's could not be far apart. The little girl was too weak.
He had no choice but to make her stronger.
So he sought her out, through their soul link, it was easy to find her location. He equipped the skull with the 8 paths method, he couldn't be bothered to say the whole name every time, on his head. Simple and efficient.
With that he climbed to the rafters, to be less conspicuous, and walked along the beams to Ling'er's location.
He walked leisurely, until he stopped. There was a guard below with a bird on his shoulder, presumably his contract beast. It appeared not all beasts were barred from this building, and only ones owned by the guards could enter.
As he was now a cultivator, he could now sense worldly essence and qi, and approximate his strength. He could vaguely tell that the human's cultivation was above his own. He carefully avoided them and silently walked over their heads.
But if he could sense their qi, how could it be possible that the human couldn't.
The bird suddenly swiveled it's head in his direction, and let out a caw. Called to attention, the human saw him as well.
"What in **** is that?! ***** him down!" With his limited language skills, he could tell that the human wanted to subdue him. Well who wouldn't be suspicious when a strange cat wearing a human skull was walking on the ceiling beams like it was nobody's business.
In response to the human's cry, the bird, a hawk, fiery red, became a blur of color. It raced in his direction and extended its talons, intending to swoop him up in one go.
He was being underestimated. They could also feel his cultivation level, being merely pseudo qi refining. With him appearing weaker, it could only be expected.
This was the perfect chance to test the 8 paths. Through worldly essence and the tyrannical energy flowing in his body, he could feel his body being stimulated. His blood flowed after, his muscles stronger, his eyes sharper, and his claws and fangs longer.
He watched the red hawk rapidly approach. His sharp eyes noticed that there was one of the talons has a golden armour, which appeared to add an added sharpness to the already lethal talons. It must be it's soulbound treasure. Would he get something similar?
The hawk arrived, but to Hades, the move was too simple. Despite Tyrant's thousands of years in experience, the red hawk was both stronger and faster, and his own strength was meager compared to before. Fortunately the 8 path sharpened his eyes, and he could follow its movements. Along with his experience and naturally toned body, he could completely see through the attack.
He leaped backwards, completely avoiding the attack. He wanted to try and discern the level of beasts of this world. He couldn't discern anything about the wolf who injured him before, as he was unfamiliar with the concept of cultivation back then.
Now, he could compare the strengths of Chen Yan and the Shark man from before with the bird.
He could tell that it's strength and speed was close to that of the Shark man, so it must be in soul refining realm.
Done with his evaluation, he watched the hawk dive at him again. This time he leapt to the side, and when the hawk swooped past, his already prepared tail was already in front of it. Though fast before, the speed of his tail blade increase be about half with the aura of 8 paths. The red glow shimmered as it snakes around the hawk's neck, while the body continued to fly.
Anchored by his claws, Hades was fine, but the hawk's body moved while the head was held by Hades. As a result, whiplash damaged the bird's neck and it's body temporarily went limp.
Hades reeled in the hawk and severed its body into 4 parts with a single slash of his claws. The tyrant aura was truly incredible.
He decisively chose to kill the human as well, as he didn't want to trouble himself with a witness.
But he had only turned to look at him when a flurry of footsteps could be heard...