"Why do I feel so dirty?" Potin couldn't help but ask as he looked at the destruction left behind.
"It's normal, knowledge is never guilty, unfortunately those who have it may not share the same verdict." Minos sighed.
"You're right… By the way, have you figured a way out?" Potin spoke, wanting nothing more than to leave this place and never come back.
"I actually have figured something out, but whether it works or not is yet to be seen." Minos answered.
"Great, give it a try."
Nodding, Minos headed to the large Compo beneath the Crystal Display before tinkering with a few keys, pressing a very specific sequence.
As he did so, more gear grinding sounds came out from the walls, much to Potin's exhilaration.
Soon enough, a small door slowly opened up right next to the Compo, revealing a dark, slightly inclined tunnel leading deep into the earth.
"Common, let's go." Minos said, as he entered the tunnel.
So excited to leave, Potin didn't even bother questioning how Minos managed to discover such an exit, just running after him.
The two walked through the tunnel in silence, Potin's attention fully focused on his surroundings, worried that this tunnel may also be rigged with traps.
Fortunately for Potin, this was an escape path, hence it naturally had no traps, making the journey a peaceful one.
After walking for what seemed to be hours, the two arrived in a small cave, only stepping out of the tunnel for a second before it sealed back up.
Potin didn't care about that at all though, instead taking a deep breath as he ran towards the glimmer of light at the end of the cave.
Following behind him, the two finally come outside, a barren and sandy land stretching out for miles in front of them, the rising sun signaling the start to another day.
"I'd never thought that there would be a day I'd think the desert was beautiful, but today, I can see it…" Potin said, a smile uncontrollably forming on his face.
"It seems your journey wasn't completely pointless then." Minos said with a smile, causing Potin to laugh like he had never laughed before.
"It's just good to be alive! So what are your plans?" Potin asked as he turned towards Minos.
"I've got some family and friends I need to say hello to." Minos spoke.
"Hey, same here. The sect will probably register me as dead if I don't come back soon." Potin replied.
"I suppose this means goodbye then." Minos said.
"I suppose so… Hey Minos, thank you for saving my life, if you ever need anything, just come to the Myriad Mountain Sect and give me a shout, I'll always have time for you." Potin said sincerely.
"If I'm ever in the area, I'll be sure to take you up on the offer." Minos replied.
"Perfect. Well then, I'll see you later." Potin waved, before walking off into the sand.
"Take care." Minos replied, waving back.
Soon enough Potin disappeared over the horizon, and with his disappearance, Minos also had the privacy he needed for what he was going to do next.
Heading back into the cave, he looked around for a bit before finding a rock and flipping it over.
Underneath the rock was another dial filled with strange symbols, and after inputting a specific sequence, the tunnel from before reopened.
After confirming everything, Minos didn't head into the tunnel, but instead left the cave and scouted the surrounding area for a few hours.
Soon enough, the sun reached the middle of the sky, and Minos had finally found the perfect place, a well hidden cave hidden under the sand.
After checking the cave out and making sure it was okay, he opened his spatial ring and placed the DNA Extraction Pod and Compo into the cave.
After securing it, Minos ran back to the tunnel, running down it at full speed before soon entering another lab, storing another set of machinery into his spatial ring before running back to that cave again.
Like this, Minos headed back and forth between the two areas, soon filling that hidden cave with everything from the laboratories.
Dusting off his sandy hands in satisfaction, he stored the DNA Extraction Pod and Compo back into his spatial ring before leaving.
Now, even if Lilia came back, she would be devastated to find the place completely pillaged, with nothing to show for her journey except for a dead guard.
And once Minos had the proper tools, he could come back to this hidden cave and take everything for himself.
Thinking back on it, despite the danger, Minos realized he was the only one who actually benefited from the temple, it being a curse to everyone else involved.
Beyond all the Lukalu technology, the old man was even generous enough to send him another spatial ring, too bad it was already filled to the brim, so he couldn't use it to store anything.
Of course, compared to all this weird tech that Minos still had to figure out how to properly use, the old man's spatial ring was much more practical, filled with resources and techniques.
Pulling out his wooden flute, Minos began whistling a tune as he walked through the desert, the sand beneath his feet being the only thing to accompany his joy.
Walking on foot made the trip incredibly slow, but with his flute to keep him company, Minos enjoyed the solitude, a rare chance to be alone with his thoughts, his heart still not having fully recovered from his 'incident' with Lilia.
However, just like always, Minos found art therapeutic, using both music and painting to express his feelings in a way that felt secure.
His days were soon split into three hobbies, playing his flute in the morning, painting in the evening, and studying at night.
…
With these three hobbies keeping him busy, the next month passed in a flash, and soon enough Minos found himself in a small city located between the desert and forest.
This city was called Sand Grass City, the name not needing any explanation, and as a connecting city between the powers up north and down south, it was quite popular.
He had rushed on his way here, so he didn't really have a chance to check out any of the nearby cities, so this was a good chance to make up for that loss and also figure out what he wanted to do next.
He never expected he'd reach the Inner Heaven Realm so quickly, at least, definitely not with this journey alone, but things rarely went according to plan.
However, compared to other disturbances, this was a very pleasant one, but it still threw all of Minos's future plans out the window.
All the Inner Heaven Cultivators tended to migrate towards the center of the continent for a reason, pursuing the higher quantity of Nux as well as the abundance of resources that were completely absent on the edges of the continent.
If Minos wanted to maintain his rocket-like cultivation speed, then he also needed to head forward, likely saying goodbye to his friends and family for a long time to come.
He hadn't even gotten home yet and he was already making plans of leaving again, it really seemed he was destined to not spend much time at home.
Ultimately though, this was a problem of the future, and there was no point thinking about when he hadn't even gotten home yet.
Clearing his mind, Minos finally entered the city, appreciating the architecture that was completely different from what he was used to.
As he was looking around, he suddenly heard the loud sound of a horse neigh from behind him, the wheels of a large carriage scraping against the floor.
Moving to the side, Minos avoided the carriage, not expecting there would be such lawless people running amuck.
"Damn, the people from the Sento Family are really arrogant, aren't they?"
"Well their patriarch is the City Head, so it makes sense."
"Still, I wish there was someone brave enough to say something to them..."
Just as the crowd was whispering about the Sento Family, a little girl wandered into the street after her dropped toy, but even seeing this, the carriage didn't slow at all.
"Little girl, watch out!"
"Stop!"
"Someone save her!"
The crowd started shouting as they saw the scene, but as the carriage pulled closer, some looked away, not wanting to see the sight to come.
Suddenly, a pebble rocketed out from amidst the crowd, hitting the carriage wheel in an extremely precise location.
The sudden blow from the small pebble caused the wheel to come off from its axle, the carriage collapsing due to the sudden shift of weight, forcing the horses to a stop.
The girl was petrified in place, just an inch away from death, not even realizing that her life had just been saved.
Seeing the scene, the crowd was silent, and it was only when the daughter's mother forcefully took her away did they erupt in cheers.
"What are you bastards cheering about, do you know who my Young Master is?" The carriage man shouted.