After killing two more early Transcendent beasts over the next day, Silas decided it was time to take a break, so he headed toward Ironfang Village.
Soon, he was at the front gates of the small village, and it was surprising to him how similar it was to the village in his previous life.
'It looks just like home,' Silas thought with a sigh. From the small wooden fences that could at most stop a Mortal warrior for a couple of seconds, to the wooden houses and tents, it looked like home.
He couldn't help but think back to his little village and all the people in it. How were his parents? His cousins and uncles and aunts? Were his grandparents still alive? And most of all, he thought back to his wife, Lilian. Was she doing okay without him? Had she decided to get remarried, or would she spend her entire life alone? He wasn't exactly sure which choice he wanted it to be, but he couldn't help but think...
"Halt!" a warrior at the front gate yelled.
Silas stopped as commanded. While he was a scion of a major clan which was also the prefecture lords of this very land, he didn't want to give these villagers a hard time. In a past life, he was these villagers; he was this warrior. There were many times he had to guard the front gate and make sure no random person could walk unannounced into his village.
"Who are you?" the warrior asked.
Silas simply said, "My name is Silas."
"Silas..." Before the man could finish, a group of men came rushing over, and right behind them, a large beast followed.
The warrior quickly knew something was up, so he was on guard. Why had the new village leader, Thorne Ironhide, and his magical beast companion come rushing to the front gate?
But unknown to him, Silas had sent a message to Kai and Red, telling them he was here, and they were both currently sitting on the black panther. Red was calmly sitting on its back, while Kai was standing on its head, almost as if he was charging into battle on top of his war horse.
"Young master!" "Young master!" the group of men quickly all said.
The warrior at the front of the gate was now worried and confused. Why was the village leader bowing to this man?
A large commotion was immediately created at the front gate, with both the current village leader and the past village leader, as well as the new village guardian beast, all bowing to a young man at the front gate.
A murmur of 'Who's that?' 'Who is he?' and 'Young master?' could be heard throughout the crowd of people.
"Everyone, quickly bow and thank the young master!" Thorne Ironhide, the new village leader, and Varric Ironfang, the old village leader, both yelled.
Everyone quickly stopped their discussions and, without asking questions, did as they were told, "We thank the young master!"
Silas just stood there and slightly shook his head. This isn't why he had wanted to come to the village, but Kai likely had these people so tensed up that they must have thought he wanted it.
"Please, everyone calm down. That's not why I'm here. I'm just traveling by on my journey and need a good place to rest for the night," Silas said.
Thorne quickly stepped forward, "Of course, young master is always welcome to our village—no, our tribe. Thanks to the young master's kindness, we can upgrade from a small village to a large tribe. If the young master has any request, even if you asked me to take my life right now, all requests will be completed immediately."
Silas just sighed, "No, that won't be necessary, and please calm down. I just wish to experience your everyday life. Please treat me as a normal passerby."
"Why would you want that?" Red asked, confused.
"Boss, why would you want to be a normal villager?" Kai asked. While he had gained some of Silas's memories, the system left out the memories of his previous life, as it considered them meaningless.
"I just want to relive some of the good old days," Silas said.
Both Red and Kai were confused and asked more questions, but Silas was just silent and walked further into the small village and looked around.
Soon, he found an abandoned tent, so he walked inside and decided he'd spend the night there.
***
Hours went by, and soon it was the next day.
Silas woke up with the sun and walked out of his tent, ready to see the village go to work, just like in his past life.
'What should I do?' Silas thought. He wanted to spend the day as a villager, so he changed his appearance to that of an elderly man and started to casually walk through the village, not wanting to be bothered or bother anyone else.
Soon though, he walked past a small stream that cut through the village, and a young girl with silvery white hair and a young boy with brown hair, both around his age, quickly caught his attention. The girl, with her silvery white hair, looked very similar to his Lilian, while the boy, with his brown hair and scrawny build, resembled him from his past life.
He began to think about whether he would ever be able to find Lilian again in this life.
He now knew that the inheritance realm he was in was part of the universe called the Thousand Planet Realm, so he also knew how unlikely it would be to ever find her and his old village again. He didn't even know which planet he was originally from, so how would he be able to find a random tiny village on one of thousands of large planets? (The planets in this novel will be massive. They will each be much larger than even the sun. I know this would be like impossible, especially due to the sheer gravity, but it's fantasy, so…)
He then began to watch the two youths as they went about their daily life alongside each other, just like he and Lilian had done for many years.
***
Silas spent the next several months in the village. Sometimes he would walk around as an elderly man and not bother anyone, while other times he would change into a young man where he would run around the village helping people out like he did in his past life. But every couple of days, he would leave the village and go challenge an early or mid-Transcendent lifeform, and then after the battle, he would return to his new peaceful little village where he would comprehend what he had just learned.
***
Today was another day he was leaving the village. He was going to Vermilion Falls to challenge a suspected mid-Transcendent lifeform.
Soon, he was at the location, and the beast was in front of him.
[Vermillion Leopard (Fierce Beast) - Qi Cultivation: Late Transcendent - Body Cultivation: Late Transcendent]
"Dammit," Silas muttered. This was supposed to be a mid-Transcendent, which would already be a tough fight for him, but now it was a Late Transcendent. He didn't think he could win.
'Looks like I need to make a jump in my comprehension if I want to win,' Silas thought. He knew he could always just call Kai to come. It wouldn't take him more than about an hour or two running at full speed. That, or he could just use his innate ability. While it wouldn't be able to one-shot the beast, it would sure as hell hurt it. But he was on this entire journey to further temper himself, and this was honestly the kind of challenge he needed.
"Kai, you don't have to come yet, but be prepared to leave at a moment's notice," Silas sent to Kai through the system. While Red wouldn't be able to sense Silas's location with his current strength at this distance, Kai, like Silas, could sense him wherever he was, thanks to the system.
"You got it, boss," Kai responded.
"Okay, bring it on," Silas said to the beast.
"You're quite confident for a Mortal lifeform," the beast said with a laugh.
"Whoosh!" It then took off.
"Fuck," Silas said. He instantly knew that it had reached cosmic resonance in movement, so not only was he fighting a Late Transcendent lifeform for the first time, but he was also facing a beast at cosmic resonance for the first time as well.