With a flick of his wrist, a small vial appeared on the assassin's palm. Thereafter, he sprinkled the contents over the clearing and on a nearby tree. Instantly, the grass and tree withered, turning black while the air grew heavy with the scent of death. The once calm and peaceful area now resembled the aftermath of a fierce battle.
From Wang Chen's memories, Lucian learned that the Moon Grove Forest had another name - Death Forest. However, that name was only used by weak Mages, since to them, entering this forest would result in certain death.
Within the forest roamed undead creatures. Therefore, without a certain level of strength and protection, a single touch from even the weakest undead creature would cause a person to instantly turn into a skeleton.
But the assassin was not quite done, yet. His mission was to make Wang Chen's death appear as though he had committed suicide.
With another flick of his wrist, the golden spatial ring on his finger glowed, and a skeleton wearing a bull-encrusted spatial ring appeared on the withered ground.
Looking at the bull-encrusted spatial ring, Lucian smiled. The bull was the Family Crest of the Wang Family. Not only that, the spatial ring on the skeleton's middle finger was one of the five spatial rings of the Wang Family.
'Wang Ming truly pulled out all the stops to kill Wang Chen.' Lucian thought disdainfully. No matter how useless Wang Chen was, at the end of the day, he was still Wang Ming's son. Yet, to remove the stain on his family, he did not even hesitate to order an assassin to kill his son and even make it seem like Wang Chen had committed suicide.
After a while, Lucian looked at the assassin, who had finished his task and was now respectfully bowing to him.
"Too bad you will soon be dead. Otherwise, you could have been a good spy within the Wang Family."
Even though Lucian spoke out loud, the assassin did not even flinch at his words.
Lucian could not help but marvel at how strong the Incubi were. An assassin who had been so close to killing him was now no different from a slave, who followed his every command as if he were God.
'...Well, I once was God.' Lucian laughed at his stupid joke.
Then, Lucian indifferently ordered, "Give me all of your bronze, silver, and gold coins." Then, Lucian took off his... Wang Chen's spatial ring off his finger and tossed it to the assassin, who quickly caught it, "Take this spatial ring. I'm sure Wang Ming would want some proof alongside your report. Also, give me a spare spatial ring."
On Arcadia, the smallest currency unit was the bronze coin, followed by the silver coin, and then the gold coin.
A hundred bronze coins were the equivalent of a single silver coin. Whereas, a hundred silver coins were equivalent to a gold coin.
Lucian initially wanted to completely empty the assassin of all his wealth; after all, the assassin was about to die, but he thought otherwise. He did not want to take any chances.
"Yes, Master." The assassin held out his hands, on which were five bronze coins and a black ordinary spatial ring.
Retrieving the coins and spatial ring, Lucian sighed at the depressing amount of coins and then indifferently ordered, "Return back to the Wang Family mansion and report to Wang Ming. Tell him that the task has been handled."
"Yes, Master. It shall be done as you command." The assassin respectfully replied and then melded into the shadows and disappeared.
—---------------
Following Wang Chen's memories, Lucian began making his way to Thunderfall City.
At the moment, Harmony City and Fire Cloud City were off-limits. The Wang Family was situated in Harmony City. Also, powerful mages resided in Harmony City, his Shape-Shifting skill would not work on them. Eventually, he would get discovered.
As for Fire Cloud City, despite the mages living there being relatively weak, he expected Wang Ming to send people to the city to keep up appearances.
Therefore, the safest place would be Thunderfall City, which was nearest to both cities. It was not situated in the middle of the two cities, either. Lucian wanted information and streams of news on the Wang Family, so he did not want to go far away.
After roughly two hours of running, Lucian was able to see the tall stone wall that protected Thunderfall City.
This was where his journey would begin.
Clenching his fists, for a moment, Lucian became slightly emotional before his expression changed to indifference.
Approaching the nearest gate, Lucian saw three carriages and a long line of people waiting to enter the city.
On top and around the city walls, armored men and women of various races patrolled. At the entrance, two armored soldiers were inspecting everyone who went in and out of the city.
Silently, Lucian joined the queue and waited.
After an hour, it was finally Lucian's turn to undergo the inspection.
The two soldiers eyed the white-haired, blue-eyed, eighteen-year-old teenager. From his appearance, aura, and smell, they quickly identified him as a Human.
"Name and purpose of visit?" One of the soldiers gruntled, his voice muffled behind his helmet.
"Lucian." Lucian indifferently replied. Since he wanted to keep his identity as Wang Chen a secret, he used his name. Also, he was Lucian, not Wang Chen.
"I plan to settle down here."
When the soldiers heard Lucian's words of wanting to settle down in Thunderfall City, they were slightly taken aback. They looked at each other and then at Lucian's clothes. He was clothed in a white and gold expensive-looking robe and exuded an air of nobility and indifference. Coupled with his handsome appearance, he appeared to be a noble.
Noticing the weird gazes from the soldiers, Lucian understood what they were thinking.
"Recently, due to …" Lucian's eyes became wet, and his voice choked with sadness and hatred. "Due to a tragic event, I am the only survivor of my family. I have come to Thunderfall City in hopes of beginning a new life."
Lucian responded with a story he came up with along the way to Thunderfall City. With Dao Immortal Lucian's cunningness, it was easy to create a story that benefited him. Eventually, he would become well-known, so he gave himself a tragic background that would not reveal anything about him.
Hearing Lucian's response coupled with his saddened, murder-filled face, the soldiers felt bad for the young man. Nevertheless, it was only for a moment; hearing news about families being wiped out was not something new to them or to others in Arcadia.
Soon, the soldier who had not spoken from the beginning asked with his hand outstretched, "Your identification."
Shaking his head, Lucian said with a determined expression, "Only when I make a name for myself will I assume my family name once again. For now, I would like to create a new identification."
Then, he put his hand into his pocket and touched the spatial ring, which glowed, and five bronze coins appeared.
"Here you go, sir." Lucian placed the five bronze coins on the soldier's hand, who nodded and started filling out a form.
After a few seconds, Lucian entered through the city gate with a determined, yet nervous expression as if he was about to go to war, which determined the fate of the Universe.
After Lucian left, one of the patrolling soldiers next to the two soldiers, said in disdain, "Another silver-spooned brat, who doesn't know how the world works. He wants to make a name for himself? Heh, I give him three days before his cold corpse is found in one of the alleyways in our city."
When the people lined up to enter the city heard his words, they frowned. No matter what, his words were too much.
The soldiers; however, were used to Zhang Cao's words.
—---------------
Lucian casually walked around the city to become acquainted with the city. After all, he would be staying here for an indefinite amount of time. Had Wang Chen visited this city, he would not have had to do so, but sadly, Wang Chen had only strolled around Harmony City and Fire Cloud City. His life was truly pitiful.
An hour later, Lucian was satisfied with beginning his journey in Thunderfall City.
The city was quite spacious and the mages who resided here were of fairly low rank… in terms of Lucian's standards.
The highest-ranked mages were only in the Bone Tempering Realm. From Wang Chen's memories, there should only be five such mages. Each Bone Tempering Mage rarely left their family's mansion. They were the ancestors and pillars of their family.
Zhang Ju of the Zhang Family.
Chu Wen of the Chu Family.
Song Liang of the Song Family.
Jie Deng of the Jie Family.
Unless those old farts broke through and became a Mana Vein Tempering Realm Mage, or a Mana Vein Tempering Realm Mage or higher entered the city, Lucian would be able to develop in peace.
Also, with his vast knowledge, once Lucian obtained the Mana Veins Restoration Potion from completing the quest, it would not take long before he surpassed them.
But to complete the quest, Lucian needed ingredients and a place to cook. Just as he was about to ask the System what he should do, suddenly, as if reading his mind, the System said:
[The Host does not need to worry about buying ingredients. An unlimited set of ingredients will be given to you. As for a place to cook, the System has already handled that task. Please make your way to your restaurant.]
Right after the System finished speaking, a set of memories flooded into his mind.
The System continued:
[Once the host arrives at his destination, please choose your preferred decoration style.]