In the open battlefield that was filled with a bloody atmosphere, a young man stood alone, surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
His face was pale, and his body was battered after hours of nonstop fighting he had just endured.
While fixing his white, disheveled hair, the young man scanned the surrounding area, where he saw hundreds of dead bodies scattered on the ground.
'To think that I'd die in this kind of situation,' the young man thought to himself as he shifted his gaze toward the crowd surrounding him.
Even in the grave situation he was in, he still didn't show any sign of backing down, not even an inch. Instead, his expression was filled with contempt.
"Can someone tell me who's the one that spread the information and planned all of this?" The young man asked with a chuckle.
"Kai, don't talk too much nonsense and hand over that 9-Petal Lotus Gem! I might spare your life if you do so." Someone from the crowd spoke. He was an old man with long white hair and black hands that looked as if they were poisonous.
"How about answering my question first? I'll even give you a better one," Kai said as he stuck his sword in front of him, looking at the old man with a wide smile.
"Hmmph! Do you really think we're kids?" The old man snorted.
"Well… If any one of you answers my questions, I'll even extract my strongest skill and store it in the 9-Petal Lotus Gem! Isn't that much better?" Kai took out the 9-Petal Lotus Gem before glancing at the crowd.
The crowd immediately showed greedy expressions as they looked at the item in his hand.
"Are you sure?" The old man frowned, feeling something amiss with the unexpected surprise that he wouldn't have ever imagined.
"Of course! Why should I lie in this kind of situation now?" Kai replied, shrugging his shoulders.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, the old man decided to comply as he explained in detail about the one who had spread the information about him getting his hands on the 9-Petal Lotus Gem and the one who had planned all of this.
When Kai heard it, he could only curse them in his heart while showing an irritated smile as he gritted his teeth.
Noticing the gaze from the crowd, Kai waved his hand and smiled. "Don't worry, I've never gone back on my words."
Kai then sat in a lotus position, smiling as he thought about the scene after his death.
The reason Kai proposed this was mainly to cause more casualties among them because he was sure that they would kill each other, given that the value of the item in his hands had just increased significantly.
Naturally, that wasn't the only reason, as he had actually been exhausted to the point that he might not even be able to make a move at the moment.
That's why he suggested this, thinking that at least he could drag more people to hell with him.
Let alone the fact that the skill he wanted to extract definitely wasn't his strongest skill—[Extraction of the Dead (9th Echelon–Level 9)].
However, what Kai didn't expect when he extracted his other 9th Echelon skill was that he suddenly felt something within him awaken.
His body suddenly burst with a power that no one in the crowd understood, not even Kai himself. A white–golden aura suddenly enveloped his body as a majestic yet small glowing white–golden halo appeared above his head.
The crowd felt the power that was full of life energy, yet at the same time, the dread power that was enough to make them shudder unknowingly as if they were faced with the lord of Dead himself.
"W-what is that power? How could he still have this much power?" Someone shouted from the crowd, making the old man come back to his senses.
"What are you daydreaming about now? Stop him all at once!" The old man shouted, waking up the others from the shock.
Looking at the hundreds, if not thousands, of people attacking him at once, Kai didn't even feel anything as their movements were so slow that he could even take a quick nap first before reacting with their attacks.
He even felt that he was full of power as he suddenly mastered an extremely terrifying power that he could even control the life or death of everyone present before him.
"Die!"
Kai commanded, creating a dreadful black halo that appeared beneath his palm as he raised his hand leisurely.
"Wh-what's tha—"
Before they could even react, a wave of dreadful aura suddenly spread out in his surroundings, annihilating every living thing, with the people and even the trees not spared as they immediately rotted away and perished.
Even Kai was surprised by himself, as he didn't even realize what he had just done.
…
At the same time, after Kai killed his enemies, an old man in a white robe suddenly opened his eyes slowly before raising an eyebrow, as he was surprised that he suddenly felt something interesting.
The old man was sitting in a lotus position in a pavilion, which was located in the middle of a tranquil lake. Above his head, there was a white halo that was similar to Kai's, except for the fact that his halo was as calm as the water in the lake, unlike Kai's halo, which was quite unstable since he couldn't control it.
The old man then tilted his head slightly to the left, narrowing his eyes a little bit as his gaze appeared to penetrate through anything until coming to a halt when he spotted a young man with white hair and golden eyes, as well as a white-golden halo above his head.
"Interesting…" The old man muttered and smiled slightly as he narrowed his eyes more, seemingly scanning the young man's body as well as looking into his past.
"Well, since it could be said as fate, let me help you a little bit then." The old man mumbled, widening his smile when he found something that he hadn't ever expected when he saw the young man.
However, before the old man could act to help the young man, he was surprised when he heard a young man's voice.
"Old man, who are you?" Kai asked, feeling confused himself when he suddenly noticed that an old man was staring at him, and he could see the old man as his gaze seemed to have penetrated space and time.
'Ohhh, he can see me?' The old man's eyes lit up, looking at the young man's curious expression with a smile.
"Old man, can you hear me?" Kai raised an eyebrow, thinking that the old man might not be able to hear him.
"Hahaha… Of course I can." The old man laughed as he stroked his long white beard.
He then added, "Before you ask any further, I will only answer one question from you with the condition that I can answer it. So, think wisely about your question."
After thinking for a few seconds, Kai finally made up his mind, as he thought that this should be the most important question that he needed at the moment.
"Old man, what are these halos above our heads?" Kai pointed at the halo above his and the old man's head.
"Unfortunately, that's one of the things that I can't tell you. Ask something else." The old man shook his head with a smile.
Kai was disappointed when he heard it, as he was really curious about what kind of power that he just awakened and how the old man could have it too.
However, he then immediately thought about something else that had become the sole reason why he wanted to become stronger.
"Old man, do you know the method to resurrect someone even when they had passed for a few years?"
Kai asked about it, thinking that the old man should have at least known about it even just a little bit, as he guessed that the old man must have been a really strong individual that was beyond the 9th Echelon Rank.
"Hahaha… Your question is similar to asking if a fish can swim or not." The old man laughed for a bit before waving his hand dismissively as he explained. "I'm sorry, you might not know this, but you will understand it by yourself in the future."
He then asked with a kind smile, "As for your question, do you ask it because you want to resurrect your little sister and your parents?"
When Kai heard it, he was shocked, as he hadn't thought that the old man even knew about it.
He then instantly became overjoyed since he thought that the old man must be really strong to the point that he might even know the method to resurrect someone, forgetting the fact of how the old man could know about it.
"Yes! Can you please tell me about the method?" Kai asked eagerly, his eyes lit up in anticipation.
"Not only do I know the method, I can even help you to resurrect them." The old man replied with a chuckle.
Kai was stunned, opening his jaw as he hadn't expected such an answer.
"Old man…No—old master, please help me! I will do anything for you if you can help me with it." Kai immediately kneeled on the ground, begging the old man as his life goal would be fulfilled if the old man resurrected his little sister and parents.
"Young man, never—ever kneel to anyone but your parents and master!" The old man shook his head.
He then added, "And as for your request, you don't need to go that far to the point of doing anything for it. You only need to swear on your Dao heart that you owe me a favor and will help me once in the future. What do you thi—"
Before the old man could finish his sentence, Kai instantly stood up as he swore loudly. "I swear upon my dao heart that I will owe you a favor and help you once in the future if you really manage to resurrect my little sister and parents!"
As Kai said that, he instantly felt a mysterious power envelop him as he felt that he needed to carry out what was sworn or else he felt something terrible would happen to him.
However, he didn't care that much since if the old man could really do what he had said, he would even help him tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times in the future.
'What a smart little fellow.' The old man smiled when he heard that Kai would only owe him a favor if he were really able to do it.
"Good!" The old man nodded in approval before opening his palms upside down, creating two halos between his palms.
"Let's meet again in the future." The old man said with a smile and clasped his palms, combining the two halos instantly.
Before Kai could react, the moment the two halos combined, he felt that he was somehow losing his consciousness slowly as he watched his body slowly fall to the ground.
However, before he lost all of his consciousness, he heard a few notifications ringing in his mind.
[Ding! Re-Awakening the host's class.]
[Ding! An error has been detected.]
[Ding! Finding a solution…]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, you have awakened the Immortality Lord Class (???)]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, your skill (Extraction of the Dead) has been upgraded to (??? level)]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, you have awakened your skill (Resurrection of the Dead)]
…