The man responded with a single word causing Zane to tear up internally…
'I… I told her to live on… Why? Why did she have to do this?' He thought to himself looking at Aurora.
She smiled bitterly seeing this gaze of his, although she didn't have her memories she still could faintly understand her situation and what he meant to her… The imprinting process strengthened that even further.
She gave him a kiss on the ridge between his eyes gently petting his forehead.
The old man didn't interrupt them, he gave them a moment. He knew this was a shocking revelation for Zane. Alexia was his childhood sweetheart, unfortunately, she came from a slightly big business family and they forcefully married her off when she was of age to the son of the CEO of a company her parents wanted to get on good terms with.
Although the guy wasn't a douchebag and genuinely treated Alexia right it was still a source of pain for him. The young man didn't even touch her in bed despite his own reluctance, because he understood that she was merely doing this to help her parents but it also hurt her and the one she truly loved.
Overall he was actually a decent guy and understanding. Still, Zane could also see the man genuinely liked Alexia, it wasn't just lust but genuine care for her.
So he could imagine the man was pretty upset now…
This made Zane's heart tighten.
What had happened on earth over these past years? Are Alexia's parents ok? Is the businessman mad? Is the son mad? What happened?
For a second his previously nonchalant without regrets character shattered as panic set in.
However quickly he managed to calm down.
He looked at the old man "Why would that existence cooperate with you?"
"Because, if it didn't, it would have had to destroy a part of this world's will in order to allow you and Aurora to reincarnate together. Thus in order to repair itself, the world would stop giving away the spiritual energy that it produces to recover faster… In short, it would cause a drought of spiritual energy if that happened."
Zane nodded before taking a deep breath.
"Can they be gained back?" Zane asked worriedly.
The man sighed shaking his head. "They weren't sealed or removed and stored somewhere else, they were genuinely erased… she might get glimpses once she reaches the earth realm, but even if she were to reach the hero realm only a few of her most treasured memories would fully come back."
Zane couldn't help but feel guilty over this… Knowing Alexia she definitely committed suicide in order to stay by his side. Even if the chance was slim.
Even after being married to that businessman's son, she would always make plans with Zane. She got a lot of hate and disgust for it from those who didn't know the situation, and it hurt Zane to see that, but she didn't mind.
"What do you want, you wouldn't tell me all of this for nothing."
"Simple, when you get strong enough, kill the 12 heroes, 24 champions, and 36 warriors. For every one of the warriors you kill I will give you 3 barrier fruits which can be used to help in comprehending any barrier you can think of, or reinforcing your knowledge of said barrier." He said.
"Of course, if those fruits don't interest you by then, we can figure something else out. I can offer you spiritual jades of this world's highest quality instead, I can also give you treasures, and so on. I collected quite the world-shattering sum of treasures in secret before the death of my body, I even got 30 treasures that surpass what the inhabitants of this world can create or what the world itself can create."
"So if you want something I probably got it." The man said.
Zane was surprised. Kill the transcendent 68? Is that even possible?
Considering Zane can instantly kill those within the same order of cultivation with his flame and lightning combination, not to mention his bodily strength, he was definitely strong.
"How many meridians do people from other worlds have?" Zane asked.
The man nodded in praise seeing him ask this question, most people would be blinded by greed from such a proposal.
"It varies, some humans are born with 9, others are born with 12, some might even have 36 like yourself. A few rare geniuses might have 64 or 128, there are even a few monsters with 512. Of course, it's not easy to unlock all the meridians. The average a person awakens is for every 9 meridians they have, they awaken 5 to 6."
"Most of the warriors have 36 meridians like you but most of them have only awakened 24 to 30 of them. There are really only 5 warriors that rival you but even the strongest one only has 32 of 36 unlocked. The champions have 48 with an average of 36 awakened, and the heroes have 60 with an average of 40 to 50 awakened."
Zane frowned "Then this body isn't enough to deal with the heroes. There's a multiplicative difference for every meridian awakened. Each meridian is a divide. If those monsters with 512 meridians you mentioned were to descend they could roam through this world unhindered as a mere earth realm. Even if they only had 256 of them awakened."
The man shook his head "Not necessarily, their power would be incredibly strong, and their body would be pretty tough too. However, unless they specifically tempered their body, their body would still be a weakness and could be killed if you got the right opportunity. However you are definitely right, they would be unhindered by a single individual it would take 3 of the 12 heroes working together to deal with such an individual."
Zane nodded understanding.
"As for the meridian gap, don't worry about it. You don't have to do it alone anyway. Just worry about killing the 36 warriors in the future for now."
Zane nodded slowly.
"Do I get anything in advance for accepting? Like a hiring bonus?"
The man nodded. The temple below him lit up as a scale flew out of it. This pearl white scale was as smooth as a mirror with a reflective surface, he could also see a rune engraved on it when he looked closely at the rune, he could have sworn he saw it made of smaller runes but he wasn't sure.
"A 9th Saint rank exalted defensive artifact, Saint Dragon Emperor Vladi the 30th's reverse scale. I used to be on good terms with the saint dragon clan before its destruction, thus its 30th saint dragon emperor of this era told his descendants that if he were to die, his reverse scale was to be turned into the best possible defensive treasure it could and given to me."
"This artifact can reflect 50% of all damage and negate the rest so long as it's not made by someone 5 orders above you. Of course, it requires lots of energy to maintain, so for you, it can only be used for at most half a second. Still, if you time it right that half a second can save your life as a last-ditch effort. Once you reach the 1st martial realm you will be able to maintain it for about 1.5 seconds. Unfortunately, its treasure spirit was injured in a battle so its effects are weakened."
Zane looked at this scale and smiled. He grabbed it and handed it to Aurora, this surprised the man.
"I accept, how do I bind it to her?" Zane asked.
"Are you sure? That artifact is enough to make a sovereign and even some overlords drool in greed…"
Zane simply shrugged "The safety of my loved ones takes priority."
The man sighed shaking his head "Such a waste… Alright, simply prick her finger and have her drop a drop of blood on it. If the treasure spirit is willing to follow her it will accept her as its master."
Zane looked at her [This will hurt, but I promise it's to keep you safe. Just bear with it.]
She took a step back with slight fear for a moment before nodding with trust evident in her eyes.
He transformed into his human form taking her in his arms before setting her down and pricking one of her toes with a needle handed to him by the man. He then dropped the blood on the scale.
The rune on the scale lit up a golden light as the appearance of an old man shot out of it. He looked around before seeing Aurora.
He then found the warrior to the side.
"Did my saint dragon clan force you to give it back to them?" The man asked gravely.
The ancient warrior shook his head "These are the last 2 saint dragons alive on this island, heavenly wrath descended after both of them were born. I'm merely giving it back per a deal between me and the young man."
The man's eyes widened. "Why?"
"Look for yourself, Vladi."
The man scanned Zane and Aurora and was surprised to see they had a mark of rebirth!
"I see… The mark of rebirth. Hers is really weak though, so my guess is she had her memories but doesn't anymore?" Vladi asked the man and the warrior nodded.
"Alright, very well."
"Young man, what's your name?" He asked looking at Zane.
"Greetings, ancestor Vladi. I was called Alex in my past life, but now I go by Zane. She was Alexia but now Aurora." Zane responded to which Vladi nodded while staring approvingly at Zane.
"I assume you wish for me to protect Aurora?"
Zane nodded.
"What if I don't want to but instead wish to protect you?" The soul remnant Vladi suddenly asked.
...
A/N: Greetings to everyone coming from the front page, I hope you've enjoyed the book, I know it seems fast-paced and boring rn, but that's because I was trying to skip the boring stuff early on. Things will be ramping up and getting more interesting over the next few chaps. For example, there's a fight with rather high stakes coming up, etc. There is also the golden dragon ruins mentioned previously, amongst other things, so yeah, things will be ramping up!
If you are looking forward to all that I would love it if I can get a power stone or two from yall, as I'd love to get a good position in the WPC#300 that this book is made for. Also if you like the book or have suggestions don't hesitate to leave a comment or review. Just keep things civil!
Also as mentioned... We got featured on the front page! More specifically as a potential starlet. I'm so happy to have one of my works featured on the front page, and I'm looking forward to the future where we make it into the top 10 of WPC#300! Keep them power stones coming!