"Master, are we really going to that place?" Litz was unsatisfied with his master's decision. "We have already explored three of the seven forbidden places on Nirvana!"
"Haha! I'm sorry Litz. I only have one son and there are few places that can give him hope!" Melodin patted Litz's shoulder lightly, looking apologetic, but his eyes implied that he wasn't going to change his heart.
"But, but, the shadows!!" Litz did not give up. He brought up the arch enemies of the cultivators in a bid to change Melodin's mind.
"Say no more, Litz. I will go even if I have to go alone!" Melodin squinted his eyes which essentially shut Litz up. Leave his master alone? He would rather die than separate from Melodin.
'It's all Sarde's fault! Being the only son of my peerless master, yet born with crippled veins, damaged heart, and subpar bones! Is he really my master's son?!'
Litz felt gloomy thinking about Sadre, that waste who was dragging his master down. Because of this trash of his master's son, his cultivation-freak master turned into a brainless risk-taking-freak who searched high and low for spiritual medicines!
In fact, the amount of time Melodin spent on searching a solution to Sadre's condition exceeded the amount of time he spent on his own cultivation!
"Sigh! Ok! You win!" Litz helplessly nodded and left to prepare for the upcoming journey.
As Litz finished packing everything, a shadow suddenly appeared at his back.
The shadow seemed to be prepared for a long time as it moved swiftly and swung the rough weapon in its hand at Litz's defenceless neck.
Litz, who had sensed the shadow's presence calmly reacted at the final moment. His back which was perfectly still until the previous moment suddenly zipped open as if it was a bag and his sides expanded outward rapidly.
In just a slight moment, his body had opened up and swallowed the shadow before contracting and returning to its usual state.
Melodin who was waiting some distance away did not sense a thing before the shadow was taken care of.
When Litz returned to his side, Melodin simply nodded and took out his sword. Litz too, took out his sword and both of them soared into sky vanishing rapidly from sight while riding their swords.
....
Three months later.
"Master, we have explored almost 90% of this forbidden area, but found no treasures until now! There is nothing here! The last 10% is the area of death! No one had returned alive after entering the last 10%! We should immediately retreat!"
Litz was exhausted. These three months, he had had always been on alert which exhausted his mind.
Wether it was the random appearances of strange yet useless mountains in their path, or the random free-falling pits or the random slipping on the ground and getting poked by a sharp thing in the ass, none of the situations in this forbidden area left Litz's mind in peace.
Hearing Litz's words, Melodin hesitated. He already knew that it was highly possible for them not to find any useful treasures in this trip but he wasn't willing to give up.
"Let's clear this place, lest I regret it at a later time!" Melodin was such. He would rather take risk than regret not taking the risk!
'Sigh!' Litz sighed in his mind. The love for his child is making Melodin irrational, not that Melodin always made rational decisions previously, but Melodin at least listened to him before now!
"Fortune Searching Technique, Yin-Yang calculation!" Melodin used a widely spread treasure searching technique to search for fortune in the surroundings.
Places with good fortune often contained treasures, but Melodin was left disappointed. There was zero fortune in his surroundings which essentially meant zero treasures.
He chose a random direction to explore the remaining 10% of the forbidden area while becoming even more alert. Litz followed behind Melodin, using a mystic eye technique to see through that that can't be seen!
....
A month later.
"A fortune sealing rock?!" Melodin muttered as he found the core of the forbidden area. "The legendary fortune sealing rock is the cause of the third most dangerous forbidden area?!" Melodin's eyes were dim even though he found a legendary treasure.
"Sigh! Master, we need to get away from the rock before it seals our fortune!" Litz informed the disheartened man.
Melodin nodded slightly. There was a reason that this place was classified as the third most dangerous forbidden area of Nirvana even though 90% of this forbidden area was relatively safe. This meant the last 10%, especially the core of the area was crazy dangerous! And they..were at the core!
Swish! Wish! Woosh!
Danger did appear! Shadows, the anti-cultivators, the arch enemies of cultivators appeared around Litz and Melodin in innumerable numbers, Litz easily counted a million shadows with a single glance.
These shadows carried rough shaped weapons in their hands which enhanced their scare points along with their vast population.
"Master, retreat this moment!" Litz suddenly shouted while charging forward with his sword.
Melodin was on his flying sword even before Litz finished his sentence.
A moment later, Melodin was a kilometer away from the core, speeding out of the forbidden area!
The shadows looked at the fleeing Melodin, then at Litz. Before long they made a decision. They surrounded Litz who was more dangerous to their future, while giving up on the fleeing prey.
....
Three days later.
Crack! Crack!
Litz was lying on the ground, his left arm broken as he panted like a dog. His bones emitted cracking sounds once in a while, reconnecting themselves while his Qi was expended to support the healing process.
'They are getting stronger!' Litz's expression was gloomy. The last time he fought the shadows for three days, he had been able to come out unscathed, but now, he had broken an arm.
Under the healing effects of his seemingly endless Qi, he had healed up in an hour.
Leaving his broken arm he felt rejuvenated!
He glanced at the Fortune Sealing Rock in the vicinity as a harmless smile appeared on his face.
'The last three treasures I sent over were ineffective to take his life. I want to see if he can escape death this time around?'
....