"You think I've got the wrong person?" The silhouette asked.
"I also think so. I mean, I could find stronger characters in the upper land, not this forsaken region, but fate seems to think differently from me. The saviour of this world has to be one with a different fate from this world, and only one not from this world can fulfil those conditions. You're the only one I could find. Even if you want to deny it, it's pointless. HE already knows you're here."
Asher's expression contorted.
The silhouette explained.
"The man who was after you just then is a soul clone of one of HIS men. It looks like a follower of HIS has been hidden in this realm for quite some time. This follower probably had his suspicions about you for a while, and it's obvious from the fact that he had a soul clone follow you. As it stands now, you have no choice. Even if you want to stay away from this battle for the world, they won't let you be."
'That's so great. Not only do I have a royal family and an entire kingdom after my head, but let's now add some cult from a different realm.' Asher glanced at the ceiling and sighed.
He didn't doubt what the figure said as he already guessed that the guide was from a different power other than those in the Great Dawn kingdom and the Kingdom of Terra. But Asher didn't readily believe him either.
"To be honest, I would have loved to wait till you're a bit older and stronger before letting you know about this, but you arrived earlier than I would have wanted. Fate is such a mysterious thing." The figure sighed.
'I blame my curiosity.' Asher commented in his head.
"It's already too late to do anything now. They've already noticed you and why the barrier between the Upper land and this realm can prevent HIM from coming here as well as reduce the chances of HIM knowing about your presence here, it can't keep you safe forever. Your future is bright and one day, you would have to go there if you wish to reach higher levels. Unless you have sufficient strength, you would be killed the very second you reach the Upper land."
"Sigh. So not only do I have to become some saviour of the world against my will, but I have no choice as I would be hunted by some strange guy and secretive organization." Asher glanced at the figure on the throne.
"Look at the bright side," the silhouette smiled. "Something tells me that you would find your way back home after all of this."
"Home…" Asher recalled his past life.
He always thought that his life as Yi Feng had come to an end and never dwelt back on it, but now discovering that there was a chance of going back to all of that made him feel weird. It wasn't to say that Asher didn't miss his past; he had many followers, friends, and even disciples he treated as his children. One could even say that he had a family there, but Asher also had one now. For this reason, even though he felt that this soul fragment could be lying, Asher still didn't want to see this world come to an end and lose his family. Even if he wasn't going to save this world, he would still want to save his family and that required strength from the soul fragment's description, Asher could see that the only place that could provide him with that strength would be the Upper land, but over there, an individual was waiting for him to come and before putting him to rest.
"Since you want me to save this world, you don't expect me to do so with nothing, right? I mean, you can't expect me to do something so selfless yet difficult, and still not provide me with any aid whatsoever?" Asher smiled.
'Since I have no choice, I might as well make the best out of this.' Asher thought.
The soul fragment was as strong as a seventh-stage Guardian mage or even more, so the original had to be way more powerful. Apart from that, the fragment had lived underneath the mine for decades and the original body was a very powerful being who had touched upon a law. There had to be some treasury of sorts here containing countless precious resources and pure raw magic crystals of the highest grade. These were Asher's targets. With his null body, increasing his mage level would be very difficult and consuming. Even the True Calming potion was becoming less effective on him after months of abuse, but he was still in the Human stage. Only purer high-quality resources could help him progress and this was what Asher wanted.
"Hehe. For a 'kid', you're quite greedy. That would make things easier." The soul fragment mocked.
"I see you have a storage ring." The soul fragment glanced at the ring on Asher's finger with a smile.
The storage ring was a gift from Asher's father to him right before he left for the academy. Darius had two of them, one of which was the family's ancestral item while the other was a gift from a strange man. It was the second one that Darius had given to Asher.
" Here."
The soul fragment pointed a finger at the ring and a ray of light shot straight into it.
"A gift from me to you for your journey." His voice sounded.
Asher, however, had his eyes wide open in shock.
'Spatial Movement, item class.'
Spatial Movement was a broad name that referred to a bunch of skills that allowed one to move an item or body through space. Item class spatial movement was a type of technique that allowed one to move objects through space. This was quite useful in transferring objects into a space ring without access to the ring's space, and it was quite a nifty trick in the 33 heavens. What made Asher stunned was that the prerequisite strength to use this skill was the Core Formation realm, or in this world, the Sage stage.
'He's not a seventh-stage Guardian mage, but a freaking Saint mage.' Asher's eyes chilled.
Having such a powerful entity beneath your house[1] without your knowledge was always a scary thing. This soul fragment could literally
The soul fragment believed Asher was stunned from seeing such a technique the first time, and he felt smug about it. But that didn't stop him from completing his task.
"Finally, this."
The soul fragment gestured to the floor between them. It was then that Asher noticed that there was a drawing right in the middle which was pretty much the same as the one on the door from before.
The Typhon symbol in the middle split into equal halves and following it was the ground. An opening was revealed and from it, a white stand rose with a box at the top. Once the box appeared, the mana in the throne room noticeably increased to be about three times what it was. One should recall that the mana concentration in tunnel number 5 was already twice that of the outside world and the concentration began to increase as Asher travelled deeper. In this throne room, it was previously four times that of the outside world, but it now stood at three times that. In other words, the mana concentration here was now twelve times that of the outside world, and this was simply because of the box in front of Asher.
"Inside there is something that would help you in your quest. Truth be told, I didn't make it and I don't know what it is either, but I believe that it would be useful to you." The soul fragment said.
Asher approached the stand and took a look at the palm-sized box. Just like the door and the floor, there was a drawing on it, but it differed slightly from the two. Rather than the usual 33 concentric circles, there were instead 22 concentric circles with 22 lines. At the centre of the innermost circle, there was the symbol of a hammer standing atop a mountain. Even with the memories from his past life, Asher could not figure out what the symbol meant.
When he brought his hand atop the box, it immediately vanished with a flash of light that dived right into the outstretched palm.
"What was that?" Asher asked.
"Just from the abrupt increase in mana concentration, it should be easy for you to guess that the box contains a heaven-defying item. Opening it in the open would display heavenly phenomena, and it would be difficult for you to hide it. The obvious increase in mana density would also make you stand out like a light bulb even if you leave the item within the box. The only option was to hide it within you." The soul fragment replied.
"I see."
Asher was not a stranger to such developments as it was quite common in the top sects of the 33 heavens.
'It looks like the Upper land has powers similar to status with those of a major heaven.' Asher thought.
"This is all I can give you and while I know it isn't enough, it's the best I can do." The soul fragment said.
"Can you tell me more about who I will be facing?" Asher asked.
"No." The fragment shook its head.
"Similar to myself, HE has also touched on the laws of fate. The mere mentioning of HIS name or that of those close to HIM, including myself and HIS organization, would attract HIS attention to this place and HE will find you. Although HE would later discover your existence, the longer that takes to happen, the better for you. Don't you agree?"
At the question, Asher couldn't help but sigh.
"I'll send you and your friends back to the surface. As for that soul clone, I'll take care of it."
The soul fragment waved its hand and the stand sunk back to the ground and the opening sealed up.
"It's best that you find the main body of the soul clone as soon as possible to prevent any complications in the future. One of the items I gave you would help you with that. Any more questions?"
"The shadow monsters, are they yours?" Asher asked.
He didn't call the shadow fiends by their true name, Hije, as Asher didn't want the soul fragment to know more about him. As of now, the soul fragment only knows about his background and the fact that he came from another world, but his background and status in his past life were a different story. As for why Asher wanted to keep this a secret, it was a cautious personality he had honed in the early days of his past life. Until he knew more about the person, he would prevent them from knowing more about him.
"Yes. Now, go." The soul fragment waved its hand.
With a brilliant flash of light, Asher's senses dulled for a second before he disappeared from the spot.
Ten seconds later, the soul fragment glanced up at the ceiling.
"Although I acted fast, you still noticed. 'God'."