A man could be seen struggling against the river current, finally pulling himself to the shore. This time, Alister (Pure Yang Lord) was able to swim to safety because the currents had returned to normal following the death of the Soaring Sea Serpent.
But before he could get to his feet and walk further, the suppressed mortal poison relapsed, surging through his body and he fainted.
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Princess Sara braced herself, ready to face the two difficult foes. She knew that two powerful Martial Emperor-level enemies were approaching by sensing Alister's surface thoughts earlier.
She clenched her fists, whispering, "Be safe, Alister. I hope I'm strong enough to buy enough time for you to escape and repay you for saving my life."
She was prepared to sacrifice herself stalling them so that Alister could have a faint chance to escape safely in return for his saving grace.
Her armor and longsword returned to her body as she released the Pure Yin aura from her body reaching her strongest state, ready to face the enemies.
In the blink of an eye, one of the approaching silhouettes arrived before her eyes and released a massive tornado that went unobstructed through her yin defense hitting her body.
Her armor and precious longsword broke upon impact, leaving Sara bloodied with several injuries appearing on her body. She couldn't even stand properly after receiving the attack.
ROAR!
It was released by a mature Soaring Sea Serpent with fully developed wings.
"You'll pay for your life for killing my child," the serpent's words echoed through the surroundings as it released another powerful storm attack, aiming to kill Sara.
Sara let out a weary breath, her body exhausted and a sense of resignation settling over her. 'I'm not strong enough to even stall for some time. Farewell! I'll pay you back in my next life.'
But just as she closed her eyes expecting the worst, a figure cloaked in black clothes appeared in front of her and parried the attack from the Soaring Sea Serpent and created a powerful barrier.
"It's you again," the Serpent spoke with great anger. "It's annoying enough that you keep following me. Now, you're even interfering with my revenge. Argh…Today, both of you will die to appease my child's soul."
A great battle took place in the sky as the black-robed women and the mature Soaring Sea Serpent fought, releasing devasting attacks that brought great destruction to the surroundings.
Sara watched the fights with rapt attention while trying to heal her injuries, with a mixture of awe and hope in her eyes.
In the blink of an eye, they had traded hundreds of blows.
"Master," she mumbled recognizing the black-robed woman.
The black-robed women seemed at a disadvantage, accumulating injuries while the Soaring Sea Serpent had few injuries due to its robust body. Lightening seemed to be simmering in the Serpent's body as it accumulated energy to release a powerful attack.
Instead of stopping the Serpent from completing its attack, the black-robed woman suddenly slipped past it, grabbed Sara, and teleported a great distance using some mystical technique.
Having lost its target, the Soaring Sea Serpent's attack was useless. The Serpent roared with great anger releasing storms and lightning causing great havoc in the area.
The black-robed women and Sara appeared dozens of miles away after they went through several short teleportations consecutively before stopping to catch their breath.
"Master, are you alright?" Sara asked with great concern.
Her master, though visibly injured, brushed it off.
"I'm fine. It's just a few external wounds. It's nothing serious."
Sara's master assured her and sighed. "I underestimated that Soaring Sea Serpent. It had already awakened a portion of the dragon bloodline, making it far stronger than any ordinary Beast Emperors."
She tousled Sara's hair and spoke in a gentle tone. "Now, we're far from that beast."
"Master. I'm sorry for creating such a strong enemy." Sara spoke in an ashamed tone.
"Don't worry. Your master is willing to fight the world for you," her master shook her head and patted Sara's shoulders. "Actually, it's my fault that I couldn't stop the Soaring Sea Serpent from injuring you. It's master who is useless."
Sara wrapped her arms around her master and spoke with gratitude. "You're always so good to me, no matter what I do."
Sara's master continued. "The great oracles had predicted that you soon would face a life-threatening predicament. I immediately came to meet you after hearing about it. And I had even noticed the vicious Serpent storming in your direction and tried to intercept it but I'm ashamed that I couldn't match its speed…."
Thinking back to the safety of Alister, anxious, Sara wanted to go back and save him.
"But, master, there's someone—" She wanted to request her master to save him but her master cut her off.
"The oracles have also mentioned that the one born with the Pure Yang physique is dead. You don't have to stay in this rotten place anymore."
Her words had a totally different significance in Sara's heart.
'Then, who was the one that saved me.' She thought in confusion as she had confirmed that Alister had Pure Yang Physique before orchestrating a situation, provoking him towards suicide.
She shuffled through the memories she took from Alister and found quite a few memories after he fainted were oddly inconsistent—meaning some parts were obscured as if missing something.
Her master's voice interrupted Sara's thoughts. "The oracles also have said that this encounter will turn into a blessing for you if you can survive. Let's go. We need to quickly return back to prevent any unforeseen circumstances."
Before Sara could utter anything, her master grabbed her shoulder and flew at the greatest speed.
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Alister woke up in an unfamiliar stone house. Recalling his last few memories, he felt it all like a dream.
'System, are you there?' he asked in his mind as if to confirm if it was all an illusion.
[Yes.]
He sighed knowing that his life won't be the same anymore.
'How long was I out for?'
[Just two days.]
'What? I passed out for two days. Who saved me? How did I end up here?'
[A group of people appeared and saved you. They helped you heal the poison and brought you here.]
He felt the insides of his body to realize the poison had been treated.
He looked around. This house was crudely made up of stones with few small rooms and a wooden bed which looked simple in its structure. Just then, a slender figure in white clothes and fair skin walked in.
The short hair, flat chest, and body structure indicated him as a man. 'What a beautiful man,' he thought.
Even though he had seen plenty of beautiful women in his life, this one man still left a deep impression of beauty in his eyes.
'Damn, what's wrong with me? Feeling mesmerized by a man?' He shook his head, clearing his mind.
"You finally woke up." the man said in a feminine-sounding voice. "Feeling better now?"
"Yes. Much better. Thank you for taking care of me," Alister expressed his gratitude with a bow.
"Don't worry. You can help me hunt to repay for it," the man said nonchalantly. "My name's Arin. What's yours?"
"I'm Alister. You can call me Ali." Pure Yang Lord replied after a long pause, feeling a sense of oddness in his heart using a different identity.
'I should better get used to it,' he thought.
Arin gave him a bowl of meat and soup to eat. "Eat this. You'll quickly gain your strength."
Without wasting time, Ali took it and started gouging on the food due to extreme hunger overpowering any questions for the moment.
Satisfied with the meal, he asked. "So, what's this about hunting?"
"To earn food, we need to go hunting in the forest. Since I'm alone, I can't gather much by myself. Together, we'll definitely gather more this time," Arin said with great expectation in his heart.
"Did you eat food?" Ali asked, not expecting the food he ate to be scarce here.
"Don't worry. I'm already full." Arin had just spoken when his stomach growled, exposing him.
Concerned, Ali quickly searched through the other rooms in the house, finding only empty earthen pots and pans in the kitchen without any morsel of food. Ali felt a great weight hanging on his heart.
"Aren't there any farms or agriculture fields to grow food?" Ali inquired.
Arin shook his head. "Due to some unknown reasons, crops don't grow in these lands. Even livestock don't survive for long. Our only food source is hunting vicious beasts, but they're difficult to trap and capture alive, so we can't stock them."
"Then, how do these vicious beasts survive?" Ali questioned in confusion, the oddness of the situation in these lands giving him an ominous feeling.
"Some wild animals in the forest manage to feed on the vegetation, though it contains a terrible poison which they can barely withstand and digest. These vicious beasts in turn survive by eating these animals, but both of these creatures suffer from shortened lifespans due to the poison."
Ali stared at him with a frown in his face, "Won't we be affected eating meat from the poisoned vicious beasts? Did you also feed me poisonous meat?"